Which WACE Economics past paper do students score lowest on?

The 2021 Exam, averaging 65.0% across 88 marked attempts on AusGrader. The 2024 Exam is the highest on 83.3%.

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

3.1.1.1 (1.3 marks at risk per 100), 3.2.0.3 (1.2 marks at risk per 100) and 3.1.3.1 (1.1 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 WACE Economics figure based on?

13,448 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 SCSA 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 SCSA publishes about this subject and do not replace it.

WACE Economics hardest topics

Across 13,448 marked attempts on AusGrader, WACE Economics students average 65.3% on questions taken from board external papers. Explain is both the lowest scoring command verb on 65.9% and the costliest, because it carries 41.0% of the paper on its own. These are self-selected users practising when they chose to, not the SCSA cohort under exam conditions.

How to read these numbers

The figures are AusGrader users' marked attempts, not SCSA 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 1 paper, 33 dot points and 14 verbs. Every figure shown carries its attempt count.
Scores cover questions mapped to the WACE Economics syllabus from any board's external papers, which is why the sample is larger than the 6 SCSA papers alone. The paper table below is the exception and uses SCSA papers only.
Internal assessment and school-uploaded exams are excluded throughout, so these averages differ from the ones on WACE Economics performance stats, which count every attempt.

Score by past paper

Year	Exam	Average	Attempts
2025	Exam	65.1%	255
2024	Exam	83.3%	50
2023	Exam	75.2%	102
2021	Exam	65.0%	88
2020	Exam	70.5%	61

The lowest average belongs to the 2021 Exam on 65.0% from 88 attempts, and the highest to the 2024 Exam on 83.3% from 50 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	64.0%	12,593
Short answer	67.4%	801
Extended response	71.6%	54

Score by unit

Unit	Average	Attempts
Unit 4: Macroeconomic theory and economic policy	64.7%	8,999
Unit 3: Australia and the global economy	66.9%	4,713

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 13,448.

The priority list: heavy topics with low scores

Topic	Share of marks	Average	Attempts	Marks at risk
Economic knowledge and understanding (Unit 3)	45.3%	68.4%	4,460	14.3
Economic knowledge and understanding (Unit 4)	39.6%	65.4%	7,778	13.7
Economic skills (Unit 4)	8.7%	62.6%	2,122	3.3
Economic skills (Unit 3)	6.5%	57.8%	644	2.7

The topic list is close: 14.3 against 13.7 marks at risk separates first from second, so topic choice alone will not order revision. The dot-point list below spreads further.

The same cut at subtopic level

Subtopic	Share of marks	Average	Attempts	Marks at risk
Fiscal policy	11.6%	65.2%	2,482	4.0
Balance of payments	7.4%	57.3%	1,224	3.2
Monetary policy	10.3%	70.2%	1,864	3.1
Terms of trade	6.2%	53.9%	501	2.9
Australia’s international trade	7.2%	62.9%	240	2.7
Exchange rates	8.4%	72.4%	878	2.3
The aggregate demand and aggregate supply models	5.5%	60.8%	1,758	2.2
Free trade and protection	8.9%	78.2%	1,130	1.9
Labour productivity	7.3%	74.5%	930	1.9
Foreign investment	7.2%	78.5%	522	1.6
Australia’s macroeconomic performance and the business cycle	2.9%	60.4%	966	1.1
The aggregate expenditure model	2.0%	54.2%	696	0.9

The same cut at dot-point level

Dot point	Content	Share of marks	Average	Attempts	Marks at risk
3.1.1.1	Australia’s linkages between economies, including trade, investment, tourism and immigration	3.4%	63.2%	168	1.3
3.2.0.3	use microeconomic models to analyse and convey economic theory and reasoning in relation to Australia’s international transactions, including the Production Possibility Frontier (PPF) model; the demand and supply model; the theories of absolute and comparative advantage	3.1%	60.1%	257	1.2
3.1.3.1	the concept and structure of Australia’s balance of payments	2.3%	51.2%	477	1.1
3.1.2.3	the benefits of trade liberalisation	3.1%	68.4%	232	1.0
3.1.3.3	the reasons for Australia’s current account balance in terms of the factors influencing the trade balance; the income balance	2.4%	59.5%	908	1.0
4.1.4.7	the impact of expansionary and contractionary fiscal policy stances on the level of economic activity using the AE and AD/AS model	2.9%	66.9%	627	1.0
3.1.5.6	effects of movements in the exchange rate	3.1%	70.3%	151	0.9
4.1.3.5	the impact of changes in aggregate demand and aggregate supply on the equilibrium level of income/output using the AD/AS model	2.4%	62.3%	693	0.9
4.1.5.6	the impact of expansionary and contractionary monetary policy stances on the level of economic activity using the AE and AD/AS model	2.8%	70.5%	254	0.8
3.2.0.4	use economic information and data to identify trends and relationships in Australia’s international trade; analyse issues and events; make predictions on Australia’s international trade; link economic theory to contemporary economic events and issues; justify a conclusion	2.0%	58.6%	85	0.8
3.1.2.6	the impact of tariffs and subsidies using the demand and supply model on trade, market efficiency and the macroeconomy	3.2%	76.1%	657	0.8
4.1.4.2	the macroeconomic policy objectives of the Australian Government	2.4%	68.6%	212	0.8
3.1.4.2	factors that affect the terms of trade, including changes in commodity prices	1.5%	51.5%	231	0.7
4.2.0.4	select and/or use economic information and data to identify trends and relationships in relation to Australia’s economic policy and management; analyse macroeconomic issues and events; make predictions on Australia’s economic policy and management; link economic theory to contemporary macroeconomic events and issues; justify a conclusion	2.1%	67.3%	276	0.7
4.1.1.2	the relationship between the business cycle and economic indicators	1.7%	61.3%	828	0.7
3.1.5.5	the factors that affect the exchange rate	2.5%	73.9%	788	0.7
4.1.4.8	strengths and weaknesses of fiscal policy	1.7%	62.9%	72	0.6
4.1.4.5	methods of financing a budget deficit and the impact of government debt	1.4%	57.0%	254	0.6
4.1.4.3	the different budget outcomes, i.e. balanced, surplus and deficit budgets	1.1%	51.0%	534	0.5
3.2.0.2	apply mathematical techniques relevant to international trade, including calculating Australia’s trade intensity; opportunity cost ratios; balance of payments data, including balance on goods and services, income balance, current account balance; the terms of trade index; the exchange rate	1.1%	53.3%	306	0.5

Which command verbs cost the most marks

Verb	Share of marks	Average	Attempts	Marks at risk
explain	41.0%	65.9%	461	14.0
describe	27.7%	66.3%	167	9.3
analyse	8.9%	69.9%	153	2.7
identify	5.1%	79.0%	50	1.1

Explain is both the lowest average at 65.9% and the costliest verb at 14.0 marks per 100, because it carries 41.0% of the paper. Each verb above is practised in the WACE Economics question bank, where the marking criteria show what SCSA expects the answer to do.

What this does not measure

Where to practise

Work the priority list from the top: Economic knowledge and understanding (Unit 3) and Economic knowledge and understanding (Unit 4) first, then the dot points above. Each topic page holds real SCSA questions with marking criteria attached. For what the papers actually cover, read WACE Economics most tested topics.

Syllabus and assessment material referenced in this guide is used under licence, © School Curriculum and Standards Authority. See our SCSA licensing notice. The School Curriculum and Standards Authority does not endorse this publication or product.