Closing the gap and economic change in the UK
From microfinance to transnational corporations, and from coal to call centres: how development gaps narrow, and how the UK economy has been rewired.
Lesson overview
What you'll learn in this lesson
Explain development gaps, strategies to reduce them and economic change in the UK.
Key learning points
- • Strategies to reduce the gap
- • Tourism and TNCs
- • Deindustrialisation and the UK
- • The UK in the wider world
This lesson at a glance
- 30 minutes
- 21 parts to scroll through
- 4 quick checks
- Marked quiz at the end
- Gentle pace: short sittings with pauses
Words to know
Scroll down — the lesson carries on below
Watch & discover
Part 1 of 21
Visual introductionPicture this
Closing the gap and economic change in the UK
From microfinance to transnational corporations, and from coal to call centres: how development gaps narrow, and how the UK economy has been rewired.
In a nutshell
Explain development gaps, strategies to reduce them and economic change in the UK.
Learning cycle
Part 2 of 21
Learning cycle 1 of 2
Part 1 · Strategies to reduce the gap
A short piece of teaching, then a check to make sure it has landed.
Explore the idea
Part 3 of 21
Learn
Strategies to reduce the gap
Investment, industrial development, aid, intermediate technology, fair trade, debt relief and microfinance loans. Evaluate by scale, who controls the money and whether benefits reach the poorest — top-down projects deliver infrastructure, bottom-up projects deliver ownership.
Reset break
Part 4 of 21
Pause
That's sitting 1 of 5 done
Stretch, get a drink, look out of the window. There is no timer and nothing is counting down — your place is saved, so you can come back in five minutes or tomorrow.
Explore the idea
Part 5 of 21
Learn
Tourism and TNCs
Tourism can convert natural assets into income and jobs, but leakage sends profits abroad and employment is often seasonal and low-paid. Transnational corporations bring investment, technology and export earnings while repatriating profits and sometimes exploiting weak labour or environmental regulation.
Quick check
Part 6 of 21
Quick check
Part 7 of 21
Reset break
Part 8 of 21
Pause
That's sitting 2 of 5 done
Stretch, get a drink, look out of the window. There is no timer and nothing is counting down — your place is saved, so you can come back in five minutes or tomorrow.
Learning cycle
Part 9 of 21
Learning cycle 2 of 2
Part 2 · Deindustrialisation and the UK
A short piece of teaching, then a check to make sure it has landed.
Explore the idea
Part 10 of 21
Learn
Deindustrialisation and the UK
Globalisation, cheaper overseas production and government policy shifted the UK from manufacturing towards services, finance and research. Science and business parks cluster near universities and motorways, and the north-south divide reflects where that transition landed hardest.
Explore the idea
Part 11 of 21
Learn
The UK in the wider world
Trade, culture, transport and electronic communications tie the UK to global markets. Rural areas experience both growth, in commuter and second-home villages, and decline, in remote areas losing services and young people.
Reset break
Part 12 of 21
Pause
That's sitting 3 of 5 done
Stretch, get a drink, look out of the window. There is no timer and nothing is counting down — your place is saved, so you can come back in five minutes or tomorrow.
Quick check
Part 13 of 21
Quick check
Part 14 of 21
Explore the idea
Part 15 of 21
Worked example
Model answer: 'Evaluate the contribution of TNCs to development' (6 marks)
TNCs contribute investment that a host government could not raise alone, creating waged employment more reliable than subsistence work and transferring technology and management skills that can spread through local supply chains. Export earnings also improve the balance of trade. Against this, profits are largely repatriated rather than reinvested, wages are set low precisely because low costs attracted the investment, and weakly enforced environmental regulation can allow pollution that the host country ultimately pays for. TNC investment therefore accelerates measurable economic growth while distributing its benefits unevenly, so it works best where governments negotiate conditions on employment and environmental standards.
Reset break
Part 16 of 21
Pause
That's sitting 4 of 5 done
Stretch, get a drink, look out of the window. There is no timer and nothing is counting down — your place is saved, so you can come back in five minutes or tomorrow.
Challenge round
Part 17 of 21
Game · Sort it
Which of these are true?
Drag each card into the right column. Tap a card first if dragging is fiddly.
True
Not true
Challenge round
Part 18 of 21
Game · Fill the gaps
Finish the sentences
Choose the word that belongs in each gap.
Investment, industrial ____, aid, intermediate technology, fair trade, debt relief and microfinance loans.
Challenge round
Part 19 of 21
Game · Recall cards
What is 'leakage' in tourism?
Card 1 of 4
Mastery quiz
Part 20 of 21
Marked quiz
End of lesson quiz: Closing the gap and economic change in the UK
4 questions, marked with the reasoning shown. No timer.
1. What is 'leakage' in tourism?
2. Which strategy most directly gives local people ownership?
3. What has driven UK deindustrialisation?
4. Where do science parks typically locate?
Lesson round-up
Part 21 of 21
Lesson round-up
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Ask LunaPart 1 of 21 · Watch & discover