The following is a breakdown of the different types of assessments. Note the differences between SL and HL. For the internal assessment, both SL and HL candidates are required to produce a portfolio of three commentaries based on published extracts from real-world news media using the key concepts as a lens. In addition, for the external assessment, there are two examinations for SL and three examinations for HL.
Type of Assessment | Format of Assessment | Time | Weighting of final grade (%) - SL | Weighting of final grade (%) - HL |
External | 70 | 80 |
Paper 1 | Extended response paper on all units of the syllabus | 1 hour 45 mins | 30 | 20 |
Paper 2 | Data response paper based on all units of the syllabus | 1 hour 45 mins | 40 | 30 |
Paper 3 (HL Only) | Policy paper based on all units of the syllabus | 1 hour 45 mins | - | 30 |
Internal |
Portfolio | Three commentaries based on different units of the syllabus (except the introductory unit) and from published extracts from the news media, analysed using different key concepts | 20 hours | 30 | 20 |
The information in this article was extracted from the IB DP Economics Subject Brief – Individuals and societies: Economics.