IB Course Guide 2024

Economics

E C O N O M I C S

Economics offers pupils a brand-new perspective on the world around them. The questions asked throughout the course reframe our experience of day-to-day life, as well as the wider world around us. Why are prices rising so quickly? What factors determine people’s future income? Why are some people rich, and others poor? Economics attempts to take a scientific approach to understanding systems of human behaviour. On a microeconomic scale, pupils will examine the basic decision-making framework of individuals and businesses, and learn how the interactions of these decisions lead to the allocation of resources and the setting of prices around the economy. Pupils will explore the extent to which this free market system works, why it can go disastrously wrong, and the ways in which governments can attempt to fix it. On the way, pupils will examine recent real-world examples and engage with recent developments in economic theory. Pupils also study macroeconomics, where they will learn how the very same market systems covered in microeconomics lead to big-picture changes that affect everyone: economic growth, inflation rates, unemployment. The course examines the government’s role in promoting key macroeconomic objectives, as well as the significance of the wider international economy, including asking crucial questions about the drivers of economic development and poverty. The IB course is well-suited to developing a range of skills, with analytical and mathematical skills featuring strongly alongside extended essay-writing, including a comprehensive internal assessment. The economics department at Teddies also affords lots of opportunities for pupils to engage in economics outside the classroom, with a rich set of learning opportunities available to pupils, including clinics to secure learning, a vibrant pupil-run Economics Society, and further opportunities for those who want to pursue economics beyond their time at Teddies. Internal Assessment For both HL/SL pupils: three 800-word commentaries analysing newspaper articles using economic theory completed at regular intervals, with a total weighting of 20% (HL) or 30% (SL) External Assessment Paper 1: An extended response paper. Students answer one, two-part, question from a choice of three. Time allowed: 1hr 15min. HL 20%, SL 30%. Paper 2: A data response paper. Students answer one, multi-part, question from a choice of two based on a case study. Time allowed: 1hr 45min. HL 30%, SL 40%. Paper 3: Taken only by HL students. Students answer two compulsory questions containing both quantitative and qualitative content. Time allowed: 1hr 45min. HL 30%

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