Which topic carries the most marks in the WACE Economics external exam?

Economic knowledge and understanding (Unit 3) carries 45.3% of the marks across the 6 SCSA papers from 2020 to 2025, ahead of Economic knowledge and understanding (Unit 4) on 39.6%.

How are marks split between question types in the WACE Economics exam?

Short answer carries 48.0% of the marks, extended response carries 35.4% of the marks and multiple choice carries 16.6% of the marks, measured across 6 papers and 820 marks from 2020 to 2025.

Has the topic balance changed in recent WACE Economics papers?

Yes. Economic knowledge and understanding (Unit 3) moved down 8.0 percentage points, Economic knowledge and understanding (Unit 4) moved down 4.0 percentage points, Economic skills (Unit 4) moved up 7.9 percentage points and Economic skills (Unit 3) moved up 4.1 percentage points between the 2020 to 2022 and 2023 to 2025 papers.

How many past papers is this WACE Economics analysis based on?

6 SCSA external papers from 2020 to 2025, covering 180 questions and 820 marks. 1.6% of those marks carry no dot-point mapping and sit outside the percentages.

WACE Economics most tested topics

Across the six SCSA Economics external papers from 2020 to 2025, Economic knowledge and understanding (Unit 3) carries 45.3% of the marks against 6.5% for Economic skills (Unit 3), so the paper rewards Economic knowledge and understanding (Unit 3) more than any other topic. At dot-point level 4.2.0.3 carries 5.6% of paper marks, and seven of the 84 dot points that the board assesses externally have not appeared in one of these papers. Every percentage below covers the 98.4% of marks that map to a syllabus dot point.

Computed from 6 SCSA Economics external papers, 2020 to 2025: 180 questions, 264 question parts and 820 marks.

Unit, topic and dot-point shares below are of the 807 marks that map to a dot point, so each of those tables adds to 100%. 164 of the 264 parts are assessed against more than one dot point, and their 614 marks are divided evenly between the dot points they cover.

What these papers are

Year	Exam	Questions	Marks
2025	Exam	28	130
2024	Exam	28	130
2023	Exam	31	140
2022	Exam	31	140
2021	Exam	31	140
2020	Exam	31	140

Marks by unit

Unit	Share of marks
Unit 3: Australia and the global economy	51.7%
Unit 4: Macroeconomic theory and economic policy	48.3%

Marks by topic

Topic	Share of marks	Papers it appears in	Years
Economic knowledge and understanding (Unit 3)	45.3%	6 of 6	6 of 6
Economic knowledge and understanding (Unit 4)	39.6%	6 of 6	6 of 6
Economic skills (Unit 4)	8.7%	6 of 6	6 of 6
Economic skills (Unit 3)	6.5%	6 of 6	6 of 6

Marks by subtopic

Each topic above breaks into the subtopics below, in the same order.

Subtopic	Share of marks	Papers
Free trade and protection	8.9%	6 of 6
Exchange rates	8.4%	6 of 6
Balance of payments	7.4%	6 of 6
Australia’s international trade	7.2%	6 of 6
Foreign investment	7.2%	6 of 6
Terms of trade	6.2%	6 of 6
Fiscal policy	11.6%	6 of 6
Monetary policy	10.3%	6 of 6
Labour productivity	7.3%	6 of 6
The aggregate demand and aggregate supply models	5.5%	6 of 6
Australia’s macroeconomic performance and the business cycle	2.9%	6 of 6
The aggregate expenditure model	2.0%	6 of 6

Marks by dot point

Dot-point numbers and wording are SCSA's own. Where a dot point is written as a list, its items run together here separated by semicolons.

Dot point	Content	Topic	Share of marks	Papers
4.2.0.3	use macroeconomic models to analyse and convey economic theory and reasoning in relation to Australia’s economic policy and management, including the Aggregate Expenditure model; the Aggregate Demand/Aggregate Supply model (SRAS and LRAS); the Aggregate Production Function (APF)	Economic skills (Unit 4)	5.6%	6 of 6
3.1.1.1	Australia’s linkages between economies, including trade, investment, tourism and immigration	Economic knowledge and understanding (Unit 3)	3.4%	5 of 6
3.1.2.6	the impact of tariffs and subsidies using the demand and supply model on trade, market efficiency and the macroeconomy	Economic knowledge and understanding (Unit 3)	3.2%	6 of 6
3.1.5.6	effects of movements in the exchange rate	Economic knowledge and understanding (Unit 3)	3.1%	6 of 6
3.1.2.3	the benefits of trade liberalisation	Economic knowledge and understanding (Unit 3)	3.1%	5 of 6
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	Economic skills (Unit 3)	3.1%	5 of 6
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	Economic knowledge and understanding (Unit 4)	2.9%	6 of 6
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	Economic knowledge and understanding (Unit 4)	2.8%	6 of 6
3.1.4.4	the effects of changes in Australia’s terms of trade	Economic knowledge and understanding (Unit 3)	2.7%	6 of 6
3.1.6.5	the benefits and costs of foreign investment in Australia	Economic knowledge and understanding (Unit 3)	2.6%	5 of 6
3.1.5.5	the factors that affect the exchange rate	Economic knowledge and understanding (Unit 3)	2.5%	5 of 6
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	Economic knowledge and understanding (Unit 4)	2.4%	5 of 6
3.1.3.3	the reasons for Australia’s current account balance in terms of the factors influencing the trade balance; the income balance	Economic knowledge and understanding (Unit 3)	2.4%	6 of 6
4.1.4.2	the macroeconomic policy objectives of the Australian Government	Economic knowledge and understanding (Unit 4)	2.4%	5 of 6
3.1.3.1	the concept and structure of Australia’s balance of payments	Economic knowledge and understanding (Unit 3)	2.3%	6 of 6
4.1.6.2	the concept of labour productivity	Economic knowledge and understanding (Unit 4)	2.2%	5 of 6
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	Economic skills (Unit 4)	2.1%	5 of 6
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	Economic skills (Unit 3)	2.0%	6 of 6
3.1.6.6	the concept of Australia’s foreign assets, foreign liabilities and international investment position	Economic knowledge and understanding (Unit 3)	1.9%	5 of 6
4.1.6.5	the impact of changes in labour productivity using the AD/AS model and the Aggregate Production Function (APF)	Economic knowledge and understanding (Unit 4)	1.9%	5 of 6

These 20 dot points carry 54.6% of the paper marks between them. Another 57 assessed dot points share the rest, and 7 of the 84 externally assessable dot points have not been assessed in any of these 6 papers. Content that has not appeared is still examinable.

What has moved between papers

Comparing the 2020 to 2022 papers with the 2023 to 2025 papers, four topics have moved by more than 3.0 percentage points.

Topic	2020 to 2022 share	2023 to 2025 share	Movement
Economic knowledge and understanding (Unit 3)	49.1%	41.1%	down 8.0 points
Economic knowledge and understanding (Unit 4)	41.5%	37.5%	down 4.0 points
Economic skills (Unit 4)	4.9%	12.8%	up 7.9 points
Economic skills (Unit 3)	4.5%	8.6%	up 4.1 points

How the papers are built

The marks split across short answer on 48.0% and extended response on 35.4%.

Question type	Share of marks	Marks	Parts
Short answer	48.0%	394	101
Extended response	35.4%	290	27
Multiple choice	16.6%	136	136

Verb	Share of marks	Marks	Parts
explain	41.0%	336	39
describe	27.7%	227	33
demonstrate	13.5%	111	12
outline	12.3%	101	14
analyse	8.9%	73	8
discuss	6.3%	52	5
identify	5.1%	42	16
illustrate	3.9%	32	4

What these percentages do not tell you

Where to practise

Every topic above links to its own page of real SCSA questions with marking criteria and average scores attached: Economic knowledge and understanding (Unit 3), Economic knowledge and understanding (Unit 4), Economic skills (Unit 4) and Economic skills (Unit 3). For how students actually score on this content, read WACE Economics hardest topics, and for the full question bank start at WACE Economics.

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.