Economists Stretched by College Alumni

Economists at Solihull Sixth Form College have been collaborating with staff at the University of Warwick this term, including visiting the university to stretch their learning.

Year 12 Economics learners were invited by Assistant Professor Joshua Fullard to attend a bespoke lecture at University of Warwick. Dr Fullard is a former College student, who went on to study Politics, Philosophy and Economics before gaining his PHD. The visit to Warwick followed two lectures delivered at the College earlier this term.

The lectures went beyond the A level syllabus and gave students an insight on how Economic thought could be applied to a number of real-life situations. One of the lectures was entitle “One chocolate bar a day, Nobel prize not so far away?” and it examined the economics incentivising dishonesty, discrimination in hiring, the economic benefits of beauty and the unexpected consequences for behaviour of introducing a fine. The second lecture was titled, “Does more money always motivate?” and used the example of how in 1914 Henry Ford doubled wages to boost worker productivity and argued this was a cost-cutting measure.

The final lecture was titled “How to win customers”. This examined when and why people deviate from the basic economic assumption that individuals do the thing that gives them the greatest expected happiness. Students were introduced to a range of behavioural science concepts and discussed how sellers can take advantage of this behaviour. At the end of the lecture, students were presented with certificates of achievement certifying that they had successfully completed Warwick Business School’s “Applied Economics Academy”.

The visit to the University of Warwick campus included opportunities for Year 12 students to talk to Admissions staff about entry requirements, as well the type of student they select when giving offers to prospective students. This was followed by a tour of the campus with student ambassadors and a question-and-answer session. Students welcomed the opportunity to discuss important issues such as campus accommodation versus living off-campus and other costs.

Manish Patel, Economics teacher, commented:

"I taught Joshua Fullard in 2011-2012. It's wonderful to see the successful career he has forged in academia and I'm grateful he has taken time out to help the next generation of economists. Our learners got a lot out of the three lectures, which stretched them beyond the A level syllabus."

25 March 2025