If you take your IB exams in 2023 (meaning you started the IB Diploma in 2022), you’ll study the new economics syllabus! The changes took place in the year 2022 as the economics syllabus has been the same for the past 9 years, so you’ll be the guinea pigs of the new content. We at ReWiser took the time to combine the new subject guide and compared it to the old one, to see just how different the course will be! We’ve highlighted a few differences that you need to be aware of. Keep reading to understand.

Revised Approach Dependent on Holistic Content Assessment

What do you mean by “holistic” in the context of the updated IB Economics course? It means that the assessment brings together different course aspects, instead of breaking them down and testing them one by one.

Due to this reason, IB Economics students should actively look for connections, similarities, and differences between concepts of courses. Consider making Venn diagrams as a part of your study timetable keeping the “bigger picture” in mind.

The changes in assessment don’t mean that students cannot use past IB Economics content to prepare for the updated tasks. Rather, we would recommend that students should practice responding to them from a broader angle.

Revisions to Paper 1 and Paper 2

Both SL(Standard Level) and HL(Higher Level) students are required to write Paper 1 and 2. Only HL students go with an additional task called Paper 3.

Earlier, Paper 1 had Section A and Section B, which tests microeconomics, and macroeconomics concepts. Section A and Section B had 2 subsections, the 1st of which usually required an explanation and the 2nd of which generally required discussion. For both Section A and Section B, students had the option to choose any one question to answer out of two. All subsections for the selected question were mandatory.

Paper 2 had a similar structure. It consisted of Section A and Section B which covered international, and developmental economics. Both questions had four subsections, and students again had a selection of questions.

Since May 2022, Paper 1 has become an “extended response paper that now assesses the whole course,” keeping with the newly holistic nature of IB Economics. Paper 2 includes both quantitative and qualitative data based on real-world scenarios or case studies.

For the revised version of Paper 2, students should feel comfortable working with both economics-related maths and written texts. Graphic literacy is a necessity, so students should look to expose themselves to a variety of visual representations of economic data throughout the calendar year.

Revisions to the Internal Assessment Portfolio

The revised internal assessment portfolio requires students to analyze 3-course concepts from the list: scarcity, choice, efficiency, equity, economic well-being, sustainability, change, interdependence, and intervention. Students should use this assignment to demonstrate how their three selected concepts apply to the real world.

To prepare for this task throughout the school year, students should stay alongside the major developments in the world of economics. Ways to do the same may involve reading financial news in publications such as The Wall Street Journal, which will help students become familiar with financial terminology, relevant graphs, charts, and trending topics.

Students need to be aware of these major changes to the IB Economics course to avoid unpleasant surprises and prepare for their best. To know more, you can also read the IB’s official explanation of these revisions.

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