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We asked one of our best Economics tutors, Jack, about his experience completing IB Economics and how he got a 7.
What score did you achieve in IB Economics?
Looking back, the most daunting aspect of starting the IB was that the processes felt so alien, like every subject had its own unique code which could only be unlocked through trial, error and immersion. This made it
tricky to focus on what’s important. My goal here is to provide some of that perspective which doesn’t always come naturally.
My name is Jack and I’m one of the IB tutors here at Top IB Tutors. I graduated from the diploma program in 2025 with a score of 43 and band 7 in economics, now studying commerce at the University of Sydney. I took a particular interest in this subject at school, even wrote my extended essay on it, and hopefully I can share some of the insights I gained over those two years.
How does IB Economics work?
Economics is all about cause and effect, incentives and critical thinking. This subject requires you to consider changes in government policies and behaviour, and analyse the resulting impacts on various stakeholders through diagrams and economic logic. Writing is a crucial skill here. Good students are able to clearly explain the sequence of events following a policy implementation which leads to the predicted outcome. Better students can analyse those outcomes and determine whether the benefits of economic decisions are worth the sacrifices.
However, the core challenge of economics is that everything is interrelated, where a single decision can spark ripple effects across all stakeholders which both support and counteract the original decision. The best students view questions wholistically rather than isolated in a particular subtopic. They consider the context of a nation, micro and macro impacts, the perspectives of all stakeholders and the many secondary ripple effects of changes when evaluating.
Like all IB subjects, your marks are split between your final exams and a project submission called an internal assessment. The split varies slightly between SL and HL, but roughly a quarter of your grade comes from the IA. Higher level students also receive a third exam paper with extension content, but compared to other subjects this jump isn’t massive. I would vouch for any students debating whether they can handle the extra workload.
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Standard level:
Higher level:
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How did you study for IB Economics? What techniques did you use to study?
The best resource is actual past papers. You can find these at ibdocs.re by navigating to “Past Papers by Subject”. Just remember the syllabus changed recently, so the most accurate papers are found from 2022 onwards. Complete questions under timed conditions and get your teacher or tutor to provide feedback. Another resource that comes to mind is Youtube channel EconplusDal, which provides very useful explainer videos for economic concepts, as well as evaluation points. This was my go-to when constructing notes for long response questions. Finally, remember to take care of yourself. Find something about the subject that excites you to make study interesting, and take regular breaks to do something you enjoy. Best of luck!
Find everything you need to know about IB Economics in our comprehensive review
What is your advice for Economics students for the IA?
Let’s start with the IA, where your task is to create three commentaries, one for each of micro, macro and global. A commentary involves finding a news article detailing some economic policy change under this syllabus area, and analyse the impacts and validity of this policy decision with respect to a course concept. With only 800 words per commentary, your challenge is succinctness rather than generating ideas.
Always begin with a short introduction outlining the policy, the purpose of the commentary and the course concept you are working with. Then, utilise a paragraph and a diagram to explain the economic issue which your policy is attempting to solve, and why we consider this problem worth solving in the first place. What are the real-world impacts of failing to act? With your setup complete, your next paragraph and diagram demonstrates the policy in action, and (briefly) explains why it should work in theory.
Finally, you need to critically analyse the policy to determine its impacts. This is where the marks come from, so it should be at least half of your word count. Balance your evaluation by providing 2-3 benefits and 2-3 limitations of the policy (quality over quantity), considering the context of that country and the theoretical impacts. Often your primary benefit will simply be that the policy achieves the purpose it was designed for. That is completely fine, but try to dig deeper and see what other impacts occur.
Wrap up your commentary with a final evaluation. Consider the original aims of the government and what stakeholders they want to prioritise. For example, a price ceiling may significantly harm businesses, but if the purpose of that price ceiling is to reduce burdens of consumers, then regulators are willing to accept harms towards businesses to achieve their goals (to some extent). Decide whether the outcomes of this policy are worth the costs.
What is your advice for Economics students for the end of year exams?
Economics exams vary a lot, both in the content covered and the type of questions asked. The good news is each question type has a fairly uniform strategy, so do plenty of practice responses and make sure you know the course content back to front. I found the best way to study was to alternate between testing myself on pure content through reciting my notes, and applying that content on practice questions.
Paper 1 involves a set of two essay questions, where you get the luxury of choosing between micro, macro and global. The biggest challenge here is the requirement for real world examples in the 15 mark question, meaning you have to memorise economic statistics for various countries plus examples of each policy covered in the course. Try to learn these alongside the content itself. My main piece of advice is to game the system and only study examples for two of the three topics, meaning you reduce the mental burden but still have a fallback. I chose micro and macro, but that’s up to you.
Paper 2 has a wider range of short response questions. These 4-mark explanation and diagram questions are the core of economics exams and should be the ones you practice the most. Examiners can be very picky about using specific language and structuring your diagrams correctly, so make sure you know the process well to avoid missing out on easy marks. Finally, the 15 mark question in paper 2 covers economic development 95% of the time, so become very familiar with evaluating development strategies.
Some more information about our tutor, Jack
Jack graduated from the IB in November 2024 with a score of 43, and is now studying commerce and economics at the University of Sydney. He enjoyed the opportunity to research topics of his own interest through his IB subjects, achieving an A in both Theory of Knowledge and his economics Extended Essay. Jack has excellent communication skills stemming from 8 years of competitive debating, and is passionate about helping students to create projects and achieve results which they are proud of. In his free time, Jack is an avid tennis player and loves mountain sports such as rock climbing, MTB and skiing.
If you would like to book a session with Jack, please submit an application today.
