Please be aware of the following changes to this topic in the new syllabus, especially when using or referring to resource for the previous course, such as past exam papers.

• Topic 3.1 - Trade unions have been removed as examples of microeconomic decision makers.
• Topic 3.2.1 (Influences on households’ spending, saving and borrowing) - Two additional influences have been added: (i) age, and (ii) culture, in addition to the existing three factors (income, rate of interest, and confidence). In addition, the phrase “between different households and over time.” has been removed.
• Topic 3.3.2 (Wage determination) now includes trade unions and their relative bargaining power. This was previously covered in Unit 3.4 (Trade unions) - This section of the syllabus now also includes drawing and interpretation of the effects of national minimum wages (previously featured in Topic 2.11.2 under the topic of market failure). Note that the role of trade unions in the economy (formerly in Topic 3.4.2) and the advantages and disadvantages of trade union activity (formerly in Topic 3.4.3) have both been removed from the new syllabus.
• In Topic 3.3.3 (Reasons for differences in wages), "Differences between primary, secondary, and tertiary sector workers" has been removed as a reason for wage differentials.
• Topic 3.3.5 (Division of labour) - This section of the syllabus no longer covers the advantages and disadvantages of division of labour for firms and countries (as was the case in the previous Topic 3.3.4). Note that specialisation by country is still covered in Topic 6.1.1 (Specialisation by country).
• Legacy Unit 3.4 (Trade unions) has been removed. This means there is no need to teach the definition of a trade union (legacy Unit  3.4.1), the role of trade unions in the economy (legacy Unit 3.4.2), or the advantages and disadvantages of trade union activity (legacy Unit 3.4.3).
• Topic 3.4.2 (Mergers) - The new syllabus explicitly includes the definitions of different types of mergers. This is in addition to examples, advantages, and disadvantages of different types of mergers (which also appeared in the legacy syllabus).
• Topic 3.4.3 (Economies and diseconomies of scale) - There is now an explicit requirement for candidates to draw and interpret average total cost (ATC) diagrams to illustrate economies and diseconomies of scale. This is clearer than the guidance in the legacy syllabus for Topic 3.7.2 (Definition, drawing, and interpretation of diagrams
  that show how changes in output affect costs of production).
• Topic 3.5.3 (Production and productivity) - The learning outcomes for this section of the new syllabus now includes an additional topic: “the effects of changes in investment on productivity”.
• Legacy Topic 3.5.3 (Causes and forms of the growth of firms) has been removed. There is no longer a need to teach forms of internal growth or external growth. However, note that different types of mergers (namely horizontal, vertical, and conglomerate) are taught in Topic 3.4.2 (Mergers).
• Topic 3.7 (Types of markets) - "Types of market structure" has been renamed and is now called "Types of markets".
• Topic 3.7.1 (Competitive markets) - An additional learning outcome has been added to this section of the syllabus: “Characteristics, advantages, and disadvantages of competitive markets”.
• Topic 3.7.2 ( Monopoly markets) - An additional learning outcome has been added to this section of the syllabus: “Effect of having only one firm on price, quality, choice, profit”.