IB Economics SL & HLTopic 5 — Exam Skills and AssessmentPaper 1Exam technique~8 min read
What Paper 1 Asks For
Paper 1 is the essay paper. No data booklet, no case study, no calculator — just you, one question you have chosen yourself, and 75 minutes. A lot of the marks are decided before you write a single sentence, in the few minutes you spend picking the right question and planning it.
📚 What you need to know
The paper has three questions. You answer one of them.
Your chosen question comes in two parts: part (a) is worth 10 marks and part (b) is worth 15 marks — 25 marks in total.
You get 1 hour 15 minutes, and no calculator is allowed.
Part (a) asks you to explain. Part (b) asks you to evaluate or discuss.
Diagrams are expected wherever they help — and they must be fully labelled.
Each of the three questions comes from a different part of the syllabus (micro, macro, international), and each question sticks to one topic.
Part (b) needs a real-world example. Part (a) does not.
How the paper is put together
The shape of Paper 1 never changes, so you can walk in knowing exactly what the page in front of you will look like. Three questions, you pick one, and that one question splits into a short explanation and a longer evaluation.
The three questions cover different parts of the syllabus, so read all of them before committing to one.
Choose your question on part (b), not part (a). Part (a) is usually doable on any of the three. It is part (b) — the 15 marks — that decides your grade, so pick the one where you already have a real-world example in your head.
Part (a): the 10-mark explanation
Part (a) is a test of whether you understand the theory and can walk someone through it. There is no argument to make and no side to take. You are showing a chain of cause and effect, and usually supporting it with a diagram.
Command term
What it is really asking
Explain
Give the theory and show how one thing leads to another
Explain how
Focus on the mechanism — the step-by-step process
Explain why
Focus on the reason or cause behind the outcome
A strong part (a) does four things: it defines the key terms, states the relevant theory, draws and labels a diagram, and then explains the diagram in words. That last step is the one students skip. A diagram sitting on the page with nothing written about it earns very little.
Evaluation is not wanted here. If you start writing “however, this depends on…” in part (a), you are spending time on something the mark scheme does not reward. Save it for part (b).
Part (b): the 15-mark evaluation
Part (b) asks you to weigh something up. The command term is usually evaluate or discuss, and both mean the same thing in practice: show both sides, support each side with theory, bring in a real example, and finish with a judgement that you have actually justified.
A real-world example is not decoration. It has to be specific — a named country, policy, market or firm — and it has to do a job in the argument. Saying “for example, in many countries…” is not a real-world example. Saying “Mexico introduced a tax on sugary drinks in 2014 and consumption fell in the first two years” is.
🧩 What a 15-mark answer needs
Definitions of the key terms in the question, in one or two lines.
The case for — theory, a diagram if it helps, and a chain of reasoning.
The case against — the costs, the limits, the people who lose out.
A real-world example woven into one of those two sides, not bolted on at the end.
A judgement — which side is stronger, and what it depends on.
“It depends” is only worth marks if you say what it depends on. Time frame, the size of the elasticity, how the money is spent, whether the government can enforce it — name the condition and you turn a vague ending into a real judgement.
Spending the 75 minutes
The single most common Paper 1 disaster is a beautiful part (a) followed by a rushed part (b) that never reaches a conclusion. Part (b) is worth 50% more than part (a), so it needs more time, not less.
Timings are a guide, not a rule — but if part (b) gets less time than part (a), something has gone wrong.
Worked examples
WORKED EXAMPLE
Unpacking a part (a) question before you write
Explain how an increase in the price of a substitute good affects the market for a good. [10]
Step 1: find the command term
“Explain how” → I need the mechanism, step by step. No evaluation.
Step 2: find the variable
The thing being affected is the market for the good — so price and quantity, not welfare or government revenue.
Step 3: decide on the diagram
Demand and supply, with demand shifting right. Label axes, both curves, both equilibria.
Step 4: write the chain
substitute gets dearer → consumers switch → demand for this good rises → shortage at the old price → price is bid up → new equilibrium at higher P and Q.
Plan done in 90 secondsEvery sentence you write now has a job. That is what stops waffle.
WORKED EXAMPLE
Choosing between two part (b) questions
You can either answer “Evaluate the use of indirect taxes to reduce consumption of demerit goods. [15]” or “Discuss the effects of a rise in the minimum wage on an economy. [15]”. Which do you pick?
Step 1: which one has a real example I can name?
Demerit goods → Mexico’s 2014 tax on sugary drinks. Minimum wage → I know the idea but no country or figure.
Step 2: which one can I diagram confidently?
Indirect tax → supply shifts left, tax burden split. Yes.
Step 3: can I reach a judgement?
Yes — it depends on how inelastic demand is, and on what the tax revenue is spent on.
Answer the demerit goods questionPick the question you can finish, not the one that sounds cleverest.
💡 Exam tip
Read all three questions before you choose. The first one is not always the easiest, it is just the first.
Underline the command term and the variable in the question. Those two words control everything you write.
Label every diagram fully — both axes, every curve, both equilibrium prices and quantities. An unlabelled diagram is close to worthless.
Refer to your diagram in the text. “As shown, the supply curve shifts from S1 to S2” is what turns a picture into marks.
Have three or four real-world examples ready before the exam, one from micro, one from macro, one from international.
Leave five minutes at the end to finish the conclusion. An answer that stops mid-argument loses the judgement marks.
⚠ Common mix-up
Writing a memorised essay. Examiners are told to penalise answers that do not address the actual question, however good the economics.
Evaluating in part (a). It costs time and earns nothing there.
Forgetting the real-world example in part (b). This alone can keep an otherwise strong answer out of the top band.
Drawing the diagram but never mentioning it. The explanation is where the marks sit.
Writing more instead of writing better. Paper 1 rewards the quality of the argument, not the number of pages.
Answering two questions “just in case”. Only one is marked, and you have halved your time.
Up next: What Paper 2 Asks For — the data-response paper, where the stimulus material stops being background reading and becomes the source of your marks.
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