Which QCE Economics past paper do students score lowest on?

The 2024 Exam, averaging 57.1% across 62 marked attempts on AusGrader. The 2024 Exam is the highest on 57.1%.

Which QCE Economics dot points give the best return on revision time?

4.3.3.2 (6.2 marks at risk per 100), 4.1.0.3 (3.8 marks at risk per 100) and 4.1.0.6 (3.1 marks at risk per 100). Marks at risk combines a dot point's share of paper marks with the marks students drop on it, so it ranks by recoverable marks and not by score alone.

How many attempts is each QCE Economics figure based on?

12,852 marked attempts overall, with the per-row count shown in every table. Any cut below 50 attempts is withheld instead of published.

Do these averages show how the QCAA cohort performed?

No. They are AusGrader users' marked attempts, a self-selected group practising when they chose to and often without exam timing. They corroborate what QCAA publishes about this subject and do not replace it.

QCE Economics hardest topics

Across 12,852 marked attempts on AusGrader, QCE Economics students average 63.9% on questions taken from board external papers. Explain is both the lowest scoring command verb on 70.4% and the costliest, because it carries 31.3% of the paper on its own. These are self-selected users practising when they chose to, not the QCAA cohort under exam conditions.

How to read these numbers

The figures are AusGrader users' marked attempts, not QCAA results. They corroborate what the board publishes about this subject and do not stand in for it.
Any cut with fewer than 50 attempts is withheld, which on this page is 5 papers, 2 dot points, 1 question type and 16 verbs. Every figure shown carries its attempt count.
Scores cover questions mapped to the QCE Economics syllabus from any board's external papers, which is why the sample is larger than the 6 QCAA papers alone. The paper table below is the exception and uses QCAA papers only.
Internal assessment and school-uploaded exams are excluded throughout, so these averages differ from the ones on QCE Economics performance stats, which count every attempt.

Score by past paper

Year	Exam	Average	Attempts
2024	Exam	57.1%	62

The lowest average belongs to the 2024 Exam on 57.1% from 62 attempts, and the highest to the 2024 Exam on 57.1% from 62 attempts. A paper's average reflects both how hard it was and who chose to sit it, so treat the spread as a guide to which papers make demanding practice.

Score by question type

Question type	Average	Attempts
Multiple choice	63.4%	12,436
Short answer	66.9%	398

Score by unit

Unit	Average	Attempts
Unit 4: Contemporary macroeconomics	62.2%	8,494

An attempt counts once per unit, so a question assessed across two units appears in both rows and the column adds to slightly more than 12,852.

The priority list: heavy topics with low scores

Topic	Share of marks	Average	Attempts	Marks at risk
Economic management	71.5%	63.3%	3,655	26.2
Macroeconomic objectives and theory	28.5%	61.3%	5,275	11.0

Economic management tops the list on 26.2 marks at risk per 100 paper marks, 15.2 ahead of Macroeconomic objectives and theory.

The same cut at subtopic level

Subtopic	Share of marks	Average	Attempts	Marks at risk
Demand management policies — monetary policy	18.5%	67.1%	1,198	6.1
Supply side and microeconomic policies	23.1%	74.2%	482	6.0
Demand management policies — fiscal policy	12.3%	52.9%	1,554	5.8
Economic management	17.6%	71.6%	668	5.0

The same cut at dot-point level

Dot point	Content	Share of marks	Average	Attempts	Marks at risk
4.3.3.2	Comprehend, explain, analyse and evaluate the concept of inflation targeting and the significance of monetary policy on the level of economic activity, and include a discussion of percentage change and basis point change; transmission mechanism and channels of monetary policy, and their influence on the level of aggregate demand; impact on and/or effectiveness of monetary policy responses to achieve Australia’s economic objectives	18.2%	66.2%	984	6.2
4.1.0.3	Comprehend and explain cyclical and structural factors affecting movements and shifts of short- and long-run aggregate demand and supply; the factors affecting the production possibility curve; the concept of the multiplier effect and calculate the value of the simple Keynesian multiplier, in terms of the marginal propensity to consume and save; the four phases of the economic cycle, in the context of macroeconomic objectives; the macroeconomic objectives of sustainable economic growth: full employment; price stability; external stability; sustainable development; and improved living standards; how interest rates and federal budget decisions are policy tools that influence economic growth	11.4%	66.4%	1,842	3.8
4.1.0.6	Comprehend and explain causes, effects, benefits and costs of the following to different groups and economic agents sustainable economic growth; unemployment, including cyclical, structural, frictional, seasonal, natural, hidden, long-term and underemployment; inflation, including headline, underlying, demand-pull, cost-push, imported and inflation expectations	6.8%	54.7%	1,086	3.1
4.3.2.1	Comprehend and explain the sources of government revenue (direct and indirect taxation; progressive, proportional, and regressive taxation) and the components of government expenditure (current, capital and transfer payments; public utilities and merit goods) in the federal budget	6.0%	49.4%	1,308	3.0
4.3.1.1	Comprehend and explain a rationale for the government to develop and implement economic policies that consider efficiency, equity and trade-offs; stabilise the economic cycle and attain a range of economic objectives including sustainable economic growth; economic prosperity and wellbeing; internal stability; external stability	12.0%	80.1%	213	2.4
4.1.0.5	Comprehend, explain and apply the aggregate demand/aggregate supply model to determine the overall price level and equilibrium level of real output in an economy	4.9%	52.6%	294	2.3
4.3.2.2	Analyse and evaluate the impact and/or effectiveness of fiscal policy responses to achieve Australia’s economic objectives in the future	6.3%	66.5%	254	2.1
4.3.1.2	Comprehend and explain demand management and supply side policies and their limitations including structural deficits, time lags, global influences and political constraints	5.6%	69.2%	458	1.7
4.1.0.7	Comprehend and explain the role in fiscal policy of automatic stabilisers and the role of discretionary spending in influencing aggregate demand and stabilising the economic cycle, and apply using diagrams	5.4%	77.2%	466	1.2
4.3.4.1	Comprehend and describe the nature and aims of aggregate supply policies (including microeconomic reforms) and explain their relationship to domestic macroeconomic objectives	2.3%	75.4%	434	0.6
4.3.4.2	Comprehend and explain how a government policy focused on a supply side improvement can impact Australia’s economic growth through productivity, efficiency or competitiveness, using infrastructure; education and training; research and development; innovation, and deregulation	0.8%	76.6%	461	0.2
4.3.3.1	Comprehend and explain the role of the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) and the objectives of monetary policy as outlined in its charter	0.3%	69.7%	437	0.1

Which command verbs cost the most marks

Verb	Share of marks	Average	Attempts	Marks at risk
explain	31.3%	70.4%	188	9.3
describe	4.3%	76.3%	72	1.0

Explain is both the lowest average at 70.4% and the costliest verb at 9.3 marks per 100, because it carries 31.3% of the paper. Each verb above is practised in the QCE Economics question bank, where the marking criteria show what QCAA expects the answer to do.

What this does not measure

Where to practise

Work the priority list from the top: Economic management and Macroeconomic objectives and theory first, then the dot points above. Each topic page holds real QCAA questions with marking criteria attached. For what the papers actually cover, read QCE Economics most tested topics.

Syllabus and assessment material referenced in this guide is © State of Queensland (Queensland Curriculum and Assessment Authority), licensed under CC BY 4.0. See our QCAA licensing notice. AusGrader is an independent study tool and is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or operated by the QCAA.