How CueCurve checks its diagrams
A diagram that looks right isn't enough: it has to earn the marks. So every CueCurve diagram is checked against what the exam boards actually reward – their specifications, mark schemes and examiner reports.
What examiners give marks for
The mark schemes agree on a short list of drawing habits. Every CueCurve diagram follows them.
- Both axes labelled, with the right words. Price and quantity for a market; price level and real output for the whole economy. Examiners regularly take marks off for mixing them up.
- Every curve labelled, including the old and the new curve after a shift.
- The old and new equilibrium marked on both axes, which is often a mark of its own.
- The direction of the change shown, with an arrow or by numbering the curves. CueCurve does both, and the arrows can be switched off.
- Areas shaded and named, such as consumer surplus, tax revenue or a welfare loss, and the area gained or lost after a change.
- Nothing extra. No titles, grid lines or numbers, which examiners don't credit. That's why CueCurve's diagrams look like an exam answer, not a chart.
Your exam board's own words
The boards don't all use the same terms. Choose your board and CueCurve uses its words: a production possibility frontier or curve, supernormal or abnormal profit, and the board's own names for each topic, listed in its specification's order.
Keeping it right
- Tested in economics classrooms. CueCurve is used in real A-level lessons, and gets better from what happens there.
- Kept up to date. When an exam board changes what it asks for, CueCurve changes with it.
- Accessible. CueCurve is tested against WCAG 2.2 AA, and our accessibility statement says openly what's still being fixed.
- Tell us if something's wrong. Spotted a label or a shape that doesn't match your mark scheme? Email hello@cuecurve.co.uk and we'll look into it promptly.
Independent of the exam boards
CueCurve is independent. It isn't endorsed by, or connected with, any exam board. No questions, mark-scheme wording, diagrams or candidates' answers are copied onto this site or into CueCurve: the diagrams are CueCurve's own, drawn to match what the mark schemes reward.