By Cyril KimbiEconomics is the GCE subject where candidates most often write a great deal and score badly. The material is not the problem — the problem is that the paper rewards a very specific way of answering, and most candidates answer as though it were a general-knowledge essay.
The four-part answer
Almost every mark in Economics falls into one of four places, and building the habit of covering all four is worth more than any amount of extra reading.
- Define the key term in the question. One sentence, precise.
- Explain the mechanism — not what happens, but the chain of causes. This is where the bulk of the marks sit.
- Draw the diagram if the topic has one. Labelled axes, labelled curves, the shift or movement shown clearly.
- Give an example, ideally a Cameroonian or African one.
A candidate who defines, explains and draws will usually outscore one who writes three eloquent paragraphs of description, because the second has covered one of the four.
Explaining a mechanism properly
This is the skill the subject actually tests, and it separates grades more than anything else.
Weak: “When price rises, demand falls.” That is a statement of the relationship, and it is worth one mark at most.
Strong: “When the price of a good rises, it becomes more expensive relative to substitutes, so some consumers switch to those substitutes; at the same time the real purchasing power of income falls, so consumers can afford less of the good. Both effects reduce the quantity demanded.”
Notice the chain: cause, intermediate step, intermediate step, effect. Each link is a mark. The habit to build is to keep asking and therefore? until you reach the outcome the question asked about.
Diagrams are the cheapest marks in the subject
Most Economics topics have a standard diagram, and drawing it correctly earns marks independently of your prose. Candidates skip them because they take time, which is a poor trade.
- Label both axes with the variable and, where relevant, the unit.
- Label every curve — D, S, and the new positions after any shift.
- Show the change explicitly: an arrow, the original and the new equilibrium marked.
- Distinguish a shift from a movement. This distinction is examined constantly and confused constantly — a change in the good’s own price moves along the curve; anything else shifts it.
- Refer to the diagram in your text. “As shown, equilibrium moves from E1 to E2” links the two and secures both.
Practise drawing the core set from memory until it is automatic: demand and supply, elasticity cases, the production possibility curve, cost curves, market structures, and the circular flow of income.
Command words decide the shape of the answer
| Command | What it wants | Common failure |
|---|---|---|
| Define / State | The precise term or meaning | Explaining at length for one mark |
| Explain | The chain of causes | Describing the outcome only |
| Distinguish | Both concepts on the same axis | Two separate definitions |
| Analyse | Mechanism plus consequences | Stopping at the mechanism |
| Discuss / Evaluate | Both sides, then a judgement | One side only, or no judgement |
On evaluation questions the judgement is a separate mark. Having argued both sides, you must actually come down somewhere and say why — “it depends” without a reason scores nothing.
Use Cameroonian examples
Examiners reward concrete illustration, and a candidate who can reference the local economy stands out immediately from one recycling textbook examples.
Areas worth having ready: agriculture and cash crops and their price volatility; the informal sector and why it complicates measurement; mobile money and financial inclusion; imports, exports and the balance of trade; fuel and transport costs; and the CEMAC framework and the shared currency.
You do not need statistics you cannot verify — and you should not invent any. A described example is enough: “a cocoa farmer facing a fall in the world price” illustrates inelastic supply in the short run without requiring a figure.
A revision routine
- One page per topic: the definitions, the diagram drawn from memory, and the mechanism written as a chain.
- Draw the diagram set weekly until it is automatic.
- Write answer plans, not full essays. Ten minutes each: the four parts, in order. Twenty plans beat five essays.
- Mark yourself strictly against the scheme, and log what you lost.
- Do full papers timed in the final month. Nothing new that late.
The Economics past questions supply the material.
Frequently asked questions
Do I need diagrams in every answer?
Wherever the topic has one. They carry marks independently of the prose and are frequently the difference between grades.
How long should an essay answer be?
Long enough to cover the four parts. Length without a mechanism scores badly; a shorter answer with a full causal chain scores well.
Should I memorise definitions?
Yes. Economics definitions are precise and a paraphrase frequently misses the required element.
Is Economics maths-heavy?
Not at this level, but calculation questions appear — elasticity, index numbers, national income. Practise them; they are reliable marks.
Can I use examples from other countries?
Yes, but local examples are usually more convincing and easier to explain accurately.
