How to Prepare for Your IB Economics Internal Assessment (IA): A Step-by-Step Guide
By That Econs Tutor
The IB Economics Internal Assessment is one of the most high-stakes components of your final grade — worth 30% at SL and 20% at HL. Yet many students treat it as an afterthought, scrambling to find articles and write commentaries at the last minute. At That Econs Tutor (TET), a specialist IB economics tuition centre in Singapore, we see this pattern constantly — and it’s entirely avoidable. The IA is one of the few parts of IB Economics where you have full control over your outcome. With the right preparation, it’s where you lock in easy marks.
Understanding What the IB Economics IA Actually Is
Your IA portfolio consists of three commentaries, each based on a different real-world news article. Each commentary carries a strict 800-word limit and must cover a different section of the syllabus — Microeconomics, Macroeconomics, and International or Development Economics. Each must also reference a different one of the nine key concepts: Scarcity, Choice, Efficiency, Equity, Economic Well-Being, Sustainability, Change, Interdependence, and Intervention.
How the IA Is Marked
Each commentary is marked out of 14, with an additional 3 marks awarded for meeting overall portfolio requirements — different syllabus sections, different key concepts, and different news sources. That’s a total of 45 marks. The five marking criteria test your use of economic terminology, application of concepts and theories, quality of economic analysis, strength of evaluation, and accuracy of diagrams. Understanding this structure before you start is non-negotiable. Every decision — from article selection to paragraph structure — should be guided by where the marks are. This is the first thing any good IB economics tutor will establish with you.
Step 1: Choose Your Articles Strategically
Article selection is where most students either set themselves up for success or doom themselves to a mediocre score. A well-chosen article makes the commentary almost write itself. A poor one forces you to stretch thin content across 800 words.
What Makes a Good IA Article
A strong article is data-rich and describes a clear economic event or policy — ideally one where there is a problem, a policy response, and room to evaluate whether that response works. Shorter, focused articles tend to outperform long feature pieces that touch on too many topics. The article should give you enough factual material to use as evidence, but it should not already contain the economic analysis for you. If the article itself explains the supply and demand implications of the policy it describes, you have nothing left to add.
What to Avoid
Steer clear of opinion pieces, editorials, or articles already heavy on economic analysis. The IB wants to see your reasoning — not a summary of someone else’s. Also avoid articles older than 12 months from the date you write your commentary. And critically: plan all three articles together before you commit to any one of them. You need three different syllabus units, three different key concepts, and three different news sources. Picking articles one at a time risks painting yourself into a corner by the third commentary — a mistake we help students avoid in our IB econs tuition programme at TET.
Step 2: Identify the Economic Mechanism Before You Write
Once you’ve chosen your article, resist the urge to start writing immediately. First, identify the core economic mechanism the article illustrates. Is it a market failure? A policy intervention shifting supply or demand? A macroeconomic shock affecting output and employment?
Map Your Chain of Reasoning
Then ask: what is the chain of reasoning? How does A lead to B lead to C? Map this out before writing a single word. This backbone of causal analysis is where the majority of your marks come from. A common mistake is treating the article like a comprehension exercise — restating what happened without explaining why it happened in economic terms. The article is your evidence. Your job is to apply economic theory to explain and evaluate the situation it describes. This is the same analytical skill developed in our H2 Economics tuition sessions, and it transfers directly to the IA.
Step 3: Integrate Your Diagram Into the Analysis
Diagrams are not decorations. The IB awards marks specifically for relevant, accurately labelled diagrams that are fully explained in your commentary text. Your diagram should directly illustrate the economic mechanism you’ve identified.
How to Use Diagrams Effectively
If you’re discussing a subsidy on renewable energy, your diagram should show the effect on the market — the shift in the supply curve, the new equilibrium, the change in price and quantity, and the area representing government expenditure. Crucially, you must then walk the examiner through what the diagram shows and how it connects to the real-world situation in your article. Drawing a technically correct diagram and never referring to it in your text is one of the most common ways students lose marks unnecessarily — something any experienced economics tutor will flag immediately on a practice draft.
Step 4: Build Evaluation Into Every Commentary
Evaluation is the single biggest mark differentiator in the IA — just as it is in the exam. Many students make the mistake of treating evaluation as a conclusion tacked on at the end: “In conclusion, there are pros and cons to this policy.” That earns minimal marks.
What Strong IA Evaluation Looks Like
Strong evaluation is woven throughout your commentary and grounded in the specific context of the article. Ask yourself: under what conditions would this policy work well, and when might it fail? What are the short-run effects versus the long-run effects? Who benefits and who bears the cost? What assumptions does the economic model rely on, and do those assumptions actually hold in this case? The strongest commentaries arrive at a clear, reasoned judgement — not a vague “it depends,” but a position supported by the evidence and analysis presented. This evaluative rigour is central to how we approach both IB economics tuition and A Level econs tuition at TET.
Step 5: Respect the 800-Word Limit
With only 800 words per commentary, every sentence must earn its place. This is not the time for lengthy introductions, restating the article, or padding with definitions.
A Practical Structure That Works
- Introduction (50–80 words): Briefly introduce the economic issue, state the key concept, and signal the direction of your analysis.
- Analysis with diagram (350–400 words): Apply economic theory to explain the situation. Integrate your diagram and build the chain of reasoning step by step.
- Evaluation (250–300 words): Critically assess the outcomes. Consider competing effects, contextual factors, and arrive at a reasoned judgement.
- Conclusion (50–80 words): Tie your evaluation together with a final, justified position.
If you’re consistently running over the word limit, you’re likely restating the article too much or including analysis that doesn’t directly serve your argument. Cut ruthlessly.
Common IA Mistakes to Avoid
Choosing the Wrong Article
An article that’s too broad, too analytical, or too short leaves you with nothing to work with. Spend real time on article selection — it’s the highest-leverage decision you’ll make in the entire IA process.
Describing Instead of Analysing
Restating what the article says is comprehension, not economics. Your commentary must go beyond the article by applying economic theory and building causal chains of reasoning.
Generic Evaluation
If your evaluation could apply to any country or any policy without changing a word, it’s not evaluation — it’s description. Ground every judgement in the specific context of your article.
Ignoring Portfolio Requirements
Losing the 3 portfolio marks for failing to use different syllabus sections, different key concepts, and different sources is entirely avoidable. Plan all three commentaries at the outset.
Leaving It to the Last Minute
Your teacher can only review each commentary once. Use that feedback wisely by submitting a polished, complete draft — not a rough first attempt.
Final Thought: Knowing vs Applying
The IA is not a test of how much Economics you know. It’s a test of how well you can apply what you know to a real-world situation, analyse it with precision, and evaluate it with genuine critical thinking. That distinction — between knowing and applying — is exactly what separates students who score well from those who don’t. It’s the same skill the IB tests in your exams, and it’s the same skill we build systematically at TET through our proprietary Parachute Concepts.
Get Structured IA Support with TET IB Economics Tuition
If you’re preparing your IB Economics IA and want a clear analytical framework to approach each commentary with confidence, TET is here to help. Our IB economics tuition programme is built specifically for students who want to move from surface-level content knowledge to the kind of precise, structured application that earns top marks — in the IA and in the final exam.
Don’t leave your 30% to chance.
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