IB Diploma · Years 12-13
IB Economics tutors
The Internal Assessment, commentaries on real news articles using course diagrams, is a substantial slice of the grade and is very trainable. HL adds quantitative content that catches out students who chose Economics as a humanities subject.
- USD 30-36 per hour
- One-to-one, online
- Free 1-hour trial class
What IB Diploma actually demands
Six subjects plus Theory of Knowledge, the Extended Essay and CAS. The workload is the defining feature, and the Internal Assessments, coursework worth a substantial share of each subject grade, are what most often slip.
Two subjects in one: diagrams that must be drawn precisely and labelled correctly, and essays that must reach an argued judgement. Students are usually comfortable with one half and losing most of their marks in the other.
Where IB Economics students lose marks
- Diagrams drawn from memory with axes unlabelled or shifts in the wrong direction, losing marks that were free
- Essays that explain both sides thoroughly and never actually answer the question asked
- Elasticity understood as a formula rather than as a way of predicting what happens to revenue
- Macro policy questions answered without acknowledging trade-offs, time lags or the starting state of the economy
Is this the right subject at this level?
Students heading for economics, finance, PPE or business degrees. It suits students who enjoy argument and are willing to be quantitative: a combination that is rarer than the subject's popularity suggests.
What it costs
USD 30-36 per 60-minute one-to-one lesson at IB Diploma, the same rate in every city we teach in. Billed monthly against lessons actually taught, with no prepaid blocks and no minimum commitment.
Paired lessons (2 students) are USD 21-25 per student. Small group lessons (up to 6 students) are USD 15-18 per student. What each format is good for is here.
How we teach it
One-to-one, online, with a shared whiteboard. The first thing we establish is the exact syllabus the student is entered for: schools do not always publish the version they actually enter, and preparing for the wrong paper structure wastes a term.
After that the work is diagnostic: a past paper under timed conditions, marked together against the published scheme, to find out where the marks are genuinely going. That is almost always more useful than covering the syllabus again more slowly. The full process is here.
Economics: questions parents ask
What is the fastest way to raise an Economics grade?
Usually essay structure rather than more content. Most students already know enough; they lose marks by explaining both sides thoroughly and never reaching an argued judgement about which matters more, and why, in the specific context given.
How important are diagrams?
They carry easy, reliable marks that students throw away. Axes unlabelled, curves shifted the wrong way, no indication of the new equilibrium: each is a mark lost on something that takes thirty seconds to get right with practice.
Does my child need Maths A Level for an Economics degree?
Many competitive courses require it, and nearly all assume it in practice. First-year economics uses calculus and statistics from the start, and students without Maths A Level feel the difference immediately. Check each university's stated requirement.