IB Economics HL onlyTopic 5 — Exam Skills and AssessmentPaper 3Exam technique~8 min read
What Paper 3 Asks For
Paper 3 is the HL paper where the numbers do the talking. You calculate, you interpret, you draw — and then you use everything you have worked out to argue for one policy. It is the most predictable paper of the three, because the marks go to method and evidence rather than to writing style.
📚 What you need to know
Higher Level only. SL students do not sit this paper.
Two questions, both compulsory. There is no choice any more.
60 marks in 1 hour 45 minutes, and a calculator is allowed.
Each question has a long part (a) made of short subparts, then a 10-mark part (b).
Answers go in the boxes provided, and all workings must be shown.
Numerical answers must be exact or correct to two decimal places unless the question says otherwise.
Part (b) asks for one policy, justified with the numbers you produced in part (a).
The shape of the paper
Both questions look the same. A long run of small quantitative tasks, then a single extended answer that asks you to recommend a policy for the country or market in the data.
Each question mixes micro, macro and international content, depending on the context in the data.
Part (a): working accurately with data
Part (a) is a series of small, precise tasks. Nothing is very hard on its own. The marks are lost through carelessness rather than confusion.
Calculating — balances such as the current account, price changes using exchange rates, revenue, expenditure, surplus and welfare effects, multiplier effects.
Interpreting — time-series data, tables and diagrams.
Constructing and explaining — exchange rate, tariff, subsidy, monopoly and poverty cycle diagrams.
Method marks are real. Even when the final number is wrong, a clear formula and clear substitution can still earn most of the marks. A bare answer with no workings earns nothing if it is wrong.
A diagram in Paper 3 has to be explained, not just drawn. If you sketch a tariff diagram and never say which area is government revenue, you have drawn a picture rather than answered the question.
Part (b): the policy recommendation
This is a 10-mark answer, and it is not an essay. It asks you to pick one policy that fits the problem in the data, explain how it works, use your own calculations as evidence, weigh up its limits, and land on a clear recommendation.
What part (b) is really asking
one policy → how it works → your numbers as proof → limits → judgement
Listing three possible policies looks thorough and reads as indecisive. The mark scheme rewards depth on one choice, so choosing quickly and committing is part of the skill.
Spending the 105 minutes
Do not rush the calculations, but do not polish them either — the recommendation needs its share of the clock.
Worked examples
WORKED EXAMPLE
Following the instructions exactly
A subpart asks: “Calculate the value of the multiplier. [2]” The data gives a marginal propensity to save of 0.15, a marginal rate of tax of 0.10 and a marginal propensity to import of 0.05.
Step 1: write the formula firstk = 1 ÷ (MPS + MPT + MPM)Step 2: substitute, showing the numbersk = 1 ÷ (0.15 + 0.10 + 0.05) = 1 ÷ 0.30Step 3: round only at the end, to 2 d.p.k = 3.3333… = 3.33k = 3.33Keep 3.3333 in your calculator for later parts. Rounding early quietly ruins the next answer.
WORKED EXAMPLE
Reading what part (b) is actually asking
“Using information from the text/data, recommend a policy the government of Country X could use to reduce its current account deficit. [10]”
Step 1: how many policies?
“A policy” → exactly one. Naming three caps the marks.
Step 2: what is the problem?
The current account deficit — not growth, not unemployment. Stay on target.
Step 3: what evidence do I already have?
My part (a) figures: the deficit as a % of GDP, the export and import values, the exchange rate change.
Step 4: what must the answer contain?
policy → mechanism → my numbers → limits → judgement.
One policy, five movesDecide the policy in the first 60 seconds, then spend the rest proving it.
💡 Exam tip
Write the formula before the numbers, every single time. It is the cheapest mark in the paper.
Keep unrounded values in your calculator and round only the final answer.
Units and signs matter — dollars, percentages, billions, and the minus sign on a deficit or on PED.
Star your part (a) results as you go, so part (b) is easy to feed.
Label every diagram and explain the areas you have shaded.
Answer inside the boxes. Work written outside them may not be seen.
⚠ Common mix-up
Treating Paper 3 like an essay paper. Long generic paragraphs with no numbers lose serious marks.
Recommending several policies to look balanced. It reads as indecision and caps the mark.
Ignoring part (a) in part (b). Answers that never reuse the calculations cannot reach the top bands.
Rounding at every step and drifting away from the correct value.
Skipping workings because the sum felt easy, then losing everything on one slip.
Thinking there is a choice of question. Both questions are compulsory.
Up next: The Economic Skills Examiners Reward — the four assessment objectives that sit behind every command term on every paper.
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