How many marks is the IB Economics IA worth?

The complete IB Economics IA portfolio is marked out of 45. Each of the three commentaries receives up to 14 marks across Criteria A-E, producing 42 available marks. Criterion F then contributes another 3 marks for the portfolio requirements. The IA contributes 30% of the final Economics grade at SL and 20% at HL. The same commentary criteria are applied to SL and HL students.

What score out of 45 is needed for a 7 in the Economics IA?

The IB does not normally award a separate final grade from 1-7 for the IA portfolio. Your moderated IA mark out of 45 is combined with your examination marks to calculate the overall subject result. Component and overall grade boundaries may change between examination sessions, so there is no permanent IA score that guarantees a 7. A strong portfolio should therefore be judged against the published criteria rather than an unofficial fixed boundary. Aim to earn every defensible criterion mark instead of treating a particular raw score as guaranteed.

Do I need two diagrams in every Economics IA commentary?

No official descriptor requires exactly two diagrams. Criterion A asks for relevant, accurate, correctly labelled diagrams with a full explanation. One diagram can earn 3/3 if it completely represents and supports the economic analysis. A second diagram is useful when the article involves another mechanism, policy alternative, or consequence that the first model cannot show clearly. Adding unnecessary diagrams can consume space and create further opportunities for errors.

Does the 800-word limit affect Criterion F?

The 800-word maximum is an official requirement, but it is not one of the three requirements directly counted under Criterion F. Criterion F concerns different syllabus units, different appropriate sources, and articles published within one year of writing. The practical penalty for exceeding 800 words is still serious because moderators are not required to read beyond the limit. Any analysis or evaluation after the limit may therefore contribute nothing to the mark. Students should finish below the maximum rather than relying on a word processor's count being interpreted generously.

Can I use the same key concept in two Economics IA commentaries?

You should not repeat a key concept because each commentary must use a different concept as its analytical lens. If a concept has already been used in another commentary, the repeated commentary can receive 0 for Criterion D. This issue is distinct from the three administrative marks under Criterion F. Plan all three concepts before writing so that each one fits its article naturally. Suitable choices depend on the issue, such as intervention for indirect taxation, change for monetary policy, or interdependence for international trade.

What is the difference between analysis and evaluation in the Economics IA?

Analysis explains the economic mechanism connecting causes and consequences. For example, it may show how an indirect tax shifts supply, raises the consumer price, and reduces equilibrium quantity. Evaluation judges the significance, desirability, or likely effectiveness of those effects using supported reasoning. It may consider elasticity, stakeholder impacts, short-run and long-run outcomes, implementation problems, and policy alternatives. Strong commentaries analyse what is likely to happen and then evaluate how much it matters, for whom, and under which conditions.

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IB Economics IA Criteria: How It Is Marked

IB Economics Internal Assessment IB IA

• 3 Oct 2026•11

IB Economics IA Criteria: How It Is Marked

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IB Economics IA Criteria: How It Is Marked | RevisionDojo

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IB Economics IA Criteria: How It Is Marked

IB Economics Internal Assessment IB IA

• 3 Oct 2026•11

The IB Economics IA criteria reward accurate diagrams, precise terminology, article-specific analysis, a meaningful key-concept link, and balanced evaluation. Each of your three commentaries is marked out of 14, while a portfolio criterion contributes another 3 marks, producing a maximum of 45.

This guide explains what each criterion requires and separates official rules from common recommendations. That distinction matters because markers award evidence that matches the descriptors, not compliance with unofficial formulas.

How the IB Economics IA is marked

Both SL and HL students submit three commentaries based on published news-media extracts. The portfolio must include one commentary on microeconomics, one on macroeconomics, and one on the global economy.

The task is identical at both levels, although its weighting differs. According to the official IB Economics subject brief, the portfolio contributes 30% at SL and 20% at HL.

Criterion	Focus	Marks
A	Diagrams	3 per commentary
B	Terminology	2 per commentary
C	Application and analysis	3 per commentary
D	Key concept	3 per commentary
E	Evaluation	3 per commentary
A-E	Total for each commentary	14
F	Complete portfolio requirements	3
Total	Three commentaries plus Criterion F	45

Your teacher marks the portfolio before the IB externally moderates a sample. As the IB assessment overview explains, moderation checks whether schools have applied the criteria accurately and can result in marks remaining unchanged or being adjusted.

Criterion A: Diagrams, 3 marks

Criterion A assesses whether you can construct and explain economic diagrams. A technically correct diagram is insufficient for full marks if the commentary does not explain its mechanism.

Mark	Practical meaning
0	No relevant diagram reaches the required standard.
1	A relevant diagram is included but is not explained, or the explanation is incorrect.
2	The diagram is relevant, accurate, and labelled, but its explanation is limited.
3	Relevant, accurate, correctly labelled diagrams are fully explained.

For 3/3, identify the original equilibrium, explain why a curve shifts or why movement occurs along it, identify the new outcome, and connect the change to the article. An indirect-tax diagram might show the initial and post-tax supply curves, consumer and producer prices, quantities, equilibria, and tax wedge.

There is no official requirement to include exactly two diagrams. One fully relevant and explained diagram can satisfy the top descriptor. Extra diagrams help only when they add analysis that you can explain within the word limit.

Common errors include confusing price with price level, representing a movement as a curve shift, omitting equilibrium labels, drawing welfare areas inaccurately, or including a diagram that is never discussed.

Criterion B: Terminology, 2 marks

Criterion B rewards appropriate economic terminology used consistently throughout the commentary.

Mark	Practical meaning
0	Terminology does not reach the required standard.
1	Relevant terminology is included.
2	Relevant terminology is used appropriately throughout.

A list of definitions does not secure 2/2. Terms such as negative consumption externality, allocative efficiency, price elasticity of demand, and welfare loss must support the reasoning.

Precision is important. If price rises along an unchanged demand curve, quantity demanded contracts. Saying demand decreases incorrectly describes a shift and may weaken Criteria A, B, and C. Defining every term is not an official requirement, so define central or unfamiliar terms without filling the commentary with textbook material.

Criterion C: Application and analysis, 3 marks

Criterion C assesses whether theory is applied and analysed in the article's specific context.

Mark	Practical meaning
0	No relevant application and analysis.
1	Relevant theory is applied, but analysis is limited.
2	Theory is applied throughout with appropriate analysis.
3	Theory is applied throughout with effective economic analysis.

Application connects theory to the named country, market, policy, evidence, or stakeholders. Analysis builds a logical chain of causes, mechanisms, and consequences.

For example, rather than merely stating that a sugary-drink tax raises prices, explain that it increases producers' costs, shifts supply left, raises the consumer price, and reduces equilibrium quantity. You can then connect lower consumption to imperfect information or external costs discussed in the extract.

For 3/3, the explanation should be specific enough that it could not be transferred unchanged to another article. The RevisionDojo Economics IA guide and Economics IA writing tips offer planning methods for connecting theory with contextual evidence.

Criterion D: Key concept, 3 marks

Each commentary must use a prescribed key concept as an analytical lens. The IB Economics course page identifies nine: scarcity, choice, efficiency, equity, economic well-being, sustainability, change, interdependence, and intervention.

Mark	Practical meaning
0	No adequate link is established, or the concept is repeated.
1	A concept is identified and a connection is attempted.
2	The connection is partially explained.
3	The connection to the article is fully explained.

Mentioning intervention in the introduction and conclusion is not enough. For a sugary-drink tax, explain why intervention may correct overconsumption, how it changes incentives, whether it improves efficiency, and what could limit its effectiveness.

Each commentary must use a different key concept. Repeating one can result in zero for Criterion D in the affected commentary, rather than a deduction under Criterion F. Choose the concept after identifying the article's central issue so that it genuinely organizes the argument.

Criterion E: Evaluation, 3 marks

Criterion E assesses whether judgments are supported by reasoned argument. Evaluation is more than an opinion or a list of advantages and disadvantages.

Mark	Practical meaning
0	No supported judgment reaches the required standard.
1	Judgments receive limited support.
2	Judgments are supported by appropriate reasoning.
3	Judgments are supported by effective, balanced reasoning.

Useful evaluative dimensions include stakeholder effects, short-run and long-run consequences, elasticity, policy size and enforcement, model assumptions, unintended consequences, and alternatives.

A strong judgment might argue that a sugary-drink tax will reduce consumption more substantially when demand is elastic and substitutes are available. If demand is inelastic, consumption may decline little, although the government could use tax revenue for healthcare or information campaigns. The conclusion should identify the most important effect and the conditions affecting it.

Balance does not mean treating every argument as equally convincing. It means considering relevant counterarguments before reaching a qualified conclusion. The RevisionDojo high-scoring commentary guide explains how to integrate evaluation throughout the analysis.

Criterion F: Portfolio requirements, 3 marks

Criterion F is awarded once for the complete portfolio.

Mark	Requirements met
0	None
1	One
2	Two
3	All three

The three requirements are:

The articles cover different syllabus units: microeconomics, macroeconomics, and the global economy.
Each article comes from a different appropriate news-media source.
Each article was published no earlier than one year before the commentary was written.

The 800-word limit is official but is not one of the three Criterion F requirements. Moderators are not required to read beyond 800 words, so overlength work may lose analysis that supports several criteria.

Certain items, including diagrams, short diagram labels, calculations, citations, and references, may be excluded under the guide's specified conditions. Analysis, explanations, definitions, and quotations remain part of the commentary and should not be hidden in footnotes. Use the RevisionDojo Economics IA checklist to check dates, sources, concepts, coversheet details, and word counts.

How the criteria work together

The criteria overlap in practice. A tax diagram can support Criterion A, while precise terminology and article evidence strengthen Criteria B and C. Connecting welfare effects to intervention or equity supports Criterion D, and judging likely effectiveness contributes to Criterion E.

Before submitting, check:

A: Is every diagram accurate, labelled, relevant, and explained?
B: Is terminology precise throughout?
C: Is theory connected to article evidence?
D: Does the concept shape the discussion?
E: Are judgments supported, balanced, and conditional?
F: Do the articles satisfy the unit, source, and date rules?

RevisionDojo Economics IA exemplars can help you distinguish the criteria, but compare each exemplar with the descriptors rather than copying its structure.

Common misconceptions

More diagrams do not automatically earn more marks, and a terminology list does not demonstrate consistent usage. Summarising the article is not application, while repeatedly naming a key concept is not a fully explained link.

Similarly, listing pros and cons is not necessarily evaluation because arguments must be weighed. The IA also receives no standalone grade from 1-7. Its moderated mark out of 45 is combined with examination components using session-specific boundaries.

Conclusion

The IB Economics IA criteria reward connected economic reasoning rather than isolated checklist features. Strong commentaries combine accurate models, terminology, contextual evidence, a suitable concept, and supported evaluation within the official limits.

Mark each draft against Criteria A-E, then verify Criterion F separately. RevisionDojo's IA guides, exemplars, and IB Economics Questionbank can support the diagram, application, and evaluation skills needed for both coursework and examinations.