IB Economics SL & HLTopic 5 — Exam Skills and AssessmentPaper 2Essay skill~9 min read
Structuring the Paper 2 Extended Response
Part (g) is worth 15 marks — more than a third of the whole question. It looks like a Paper 1 essay, and that resemblance is a trap. Here the stimulus is not background reading; it is the evidence your argument has to be built from.
📚 What you need to know
Part (g) is a 15-mark data-response evaluation question.
It has the same mark total as a Paper 1 part (b) but tests different skills.
Evaluation must be rooted in the stimulus: the text, the tables and the figures.
Answers that read like Paper 1 essays are capped, even when the theory is perfect.
It mainly assesses AO2 application and AO3 evaluation, supported by AO1 and AO4.
Top-band answers integrate figures and trends into the analysis instead of listing them.
Use a diagram only when it adds something, and explain it in words.
What separates the bands
Three students can write about the same policy and land in three different bands. The difference is rarely how much economics they know. It is whether the theory and the data are doing the work together.
Generic theory is the most common reason a well-written part (g) stalls in the middle bands.
The shape of a strong part (g)
You are not writing four separate sections. Each paragraph should do the same four things in miniature, then move on to the next idea.
Step 3 is the one that separates Paper 2 from Paper 1. Never let a paragraph finish without touching the stimulus.
🧩 The overall plan
Introduction — define the key terms and name the economic issue in this context.
Analytical paragraphs — theory, explicit reference to the data, clear cause and effect.
Evaluation — short run against long run, who gains and who loses, and the limits of the data itself.
Conclusion — a reasoned judgement tied directly to the evidence you used.
You are allowed to question the data. A small sample, a short time period, figures given in nominal rather than real terms — noticing a limitation of the evidence is high-level evaluation, and most students never do it.
Worked examples
WORKED EXAMPLE
Turning a generic sentence into a Paper 2 sentence
The stimulus says that after Country A placed a tariff on imported cars, imported car sales fell by 18% and the average price of a car rose by 9%.
The generic version
“A tariff raises the price of imports, so consumers buy fewer of them and domestic producers benefit.”
Why it stalls
Every word is true, and none of it comes from the text. This is a Paper 1 sentence.
The Paper 2 version
“The tariff raised the price of imported cars, and the text shows average car prices rose by 9%. Higher prices reduced quantity demanded, which is consistent with the 18% fall in imported car sales, shifting demand towards domestic producers.”
Same theory, twice the creditThe theory did not change. The evidence attached to it did.
WORKED EXAMPLE
Planning a 15-mark part (g)
Using the text/data provided, evaluate the effects of the tariff on imported cars in Country A. [15]
Introduction
Define tariff; name the issue: protecting domestic car producers in Country A.
Paragraph 1 — domestic producers gain
Theory: import price rises, demand switches to domestic output. Data: the 18% fall in imported sales. Judgement: the gain depends on whether domestic firms can expand.
Paragraph 2 — consumers lose
Theory: higher prices, less choice. Data: the 9% price rise. Judgement: this hits lower-income buyers hardest.
Paragraph 3 — government and the wider economy
Tariff revenue against the risk of retaliation and higher costs for firms that use imported parts.
Evaluate the evidence itself
The data covers only one year, so long-run effects on efficiency are not visible.
Conclusion
Short-run gains for domestic producers, clear costs for consumers; whether it is worth it depends on how long the protection lasts.
Every paragraph touches the dataWrite the plan in the margin in three minutes. It is the difference between an argument and a ramble.
💡 Exam tip
Underline three or four figures in the stimulus before you start, and plan where each one goes.
Quote precisely. “Imported sales fell 18%” is evidence; “sales fell a lot” is not.
Say what a figure means, do not just repeat it. The interpretation is the mark.
Cover more than one stakeholder — consumers, producers, government, workers, other countries.
Comment on the limits of the data if you can. Very few students do, and it reads as real economic thinking.
Keep the conclusion tied to the evidence you actually used, not to general opinion.
⚠ Common mix-up
Writing a pre-learned essay on the topic and hoping the stimulus fits it.
Using data as decoration — a figure dropped in with no explanation of what it shows.
Leaving all evaluation to the last two lines when time has run out.
Drawing a diagram out of habit that adds nothing and eats five minutes.
Ignoring the command term and describing instead of evaluating.
Repeating an earlier subpart at length instead of building on it.
Running out of time because subparts (a) to (f) were treated as the main event.
Up next: Working Through Paper 3 Questions — the HL paper where your own calculations become the evidence for a single, clearly argued policy.
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