Leaving Cert economics: ‘No short cuts and nowhere to hide’

This year’s Leaving Cert economics exam had plenty of topical questions but proved challenging in parts, according to teachers.

Friday’s exam accounted for 80 per cent of the overall marks. Students submitted a research project in January which accounted for 20 per cent of the overall result.

Mairead O’Sullivan, a teacher at Glenstal Abbey School and economics representative for the Business Studies Teachers Association of Ireland, said there were “no short cuts and nowhere to hide” for students.

“Students needed to have a thorough knowledge of the entire economics specification in order to do this paper thoroughly because all questions featured a mix of topics,” she said.

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“Even with the extra choice on the paper, there was no possibility of cutting down the paper which may have been the case in other subjects this year.”

While the 40-page exam booklet may have seemed daunting, she said this was a good feature as students had plenty of room to develop their points fully in order to gain optimum marks.

However, she said many students reported that they found the paper long and were writing to the very last minute, which was needed for ‘thinking time’ and point development.

“They had to ‘think on the spot’ to figure out what they were being asked and then apply concepts. These skills need time,” she said.

Many fellow teachers commented on how “wordy” the paper was and thought some questions could have been asked in a more straightforward way.

“Students needed to read questions and infographics very carefully to understand what was being asked. Some teachers worried that students may have found the paper difficult to navigate in order to make the best selection of their three long questions,” Ms O’Sullivan said.

Teachers also noted that students were not rewarded for knowing definitions in this paper or other more complex concepts that may have been asked in previous years such as LDMR, MPP, etc.

[ Examwatch 2022: Leaving Cert exam reaction ]

“There appears to be a movement away from defining terms which was very much in evidence in this paper,” Ms O’Sullivan said.

She also noted that there was a mix of topics within questions which is a trend that began with last year’s paper and has continued this year.

“The choice available to students was very welcome this year as a means of compensating for this,” she said.

Overall, she said section A provided enough choice for most students to find five questions they could complete out of the 10 provided.

Section B was more challenging and it was really important that students read through questions carefully before making their choice of long questions, Ms O’Sullivan added.

Carolyn Marren, an economics teacher at St Joseph of Cluny Secondary School, Dublin agreed that the paper offered plenty of choice the year, but was also challenging and required in-depth knowledge of the curriculum and of current issues.

While section A was “fair, topical, and not overly challenging”, she said section B was more challenging.

“Some questions contained a number of unrelated topics within them which will not suit students who may have narrowed down their revision,” said Ms Marren, a subject expert with Studyclix.

“On a positive note, many topical issues appeared, such as house building inflation, and 15 per cent corporation tax rate. making the paper relevant to current economic issues of the day.

“In keeping with the new syllabus, questions included a lot of infographics that students were to interpret. Overall this section required detailed knowledge of the curriculum.”

Keith Hannigan, economics teacher at The Institute of Education, cautioned that the paper was very long and could have been overwhelming for some students.

“Although very diverse, there were at least five nice short questions which would have suited students and the choice here would have really helped them too,” he said.

“The format of the long questions meant that multiple topics on the course were combined in some questions. Because of this it was important that students read questions right to the very end before they started. Most students however would have found three long questions that suited them.”

Ms Marren said the ordinary level paper also had a wide selection of questions ranging across a broad number of topics. Again this paper contained a number of questions on current economic issues — inflation, 15% corporation tax, the minimum price for alcohol, etc.

“In line with the new specifications graphs and infographics appeared. In summary, this paper was fair but challenging in parts requiring students to have up-to-date knowledge on current issues,” she said.

Try this one at home:

-Leaving Cert economics, higher level

Brexit and possible supply chain issues have led to fewer illegal fireworks in Ireland during Halloween 2021.

(a) Explain what is meant by the economic term hidden economy.

(b) Outline two reasons for supply-chain issues which many companies experienced in Ireland in 2021-22