igcc economics is a subject that I see a lot of people struggling with but if you study the right way then getting an AAR is a piece of cake trust me I know I almost entirely self-studied the exam and got an e star with a score of 93 on the subject not sure how to go about this don't worry you're in the right place to find out hey I'm Arian and this is my guide to getting an AAR on igcs economics as someone that got a 93 on the subject first things first understanding the content is absolutely crucial simply memorizing definitions or topics is not enough you need to understand how economic Concepts work in real life and how they connect with each other economics is more than just facts it's about understanding how those facts work together in different situations take the time to properly grasp how Concepts like Supply demand inflation government policy and others interact with each other your textbook is a great way of doing this read through all of the chapters thoroughly paying specific attention to the parts where they link different topics across chapters alternatively the notes given on websites like znotes or save my exams are great ways to revise Concepts after you're done studying them for the first time from the textbook for a full guide to online resources that you can use as an igcc or a level subject check out the video I'll have Linked In the description down below unlike most other subjects I wouldn't really recommend doing topical questions for igcc economics most of the questions on your exam whether that be in paper one or paper two are usually cross topic and assess your ability to connect different concepts together therefore past papers are the way to go when practicing IGCSE economics make sure to time yourself especially when you're practicing paper two or structured questions you need to manage your time effective between the case study and the 20 marker questions I'd say that you should allocate about 30 to 45 minutes to the case study and then about half an hour each to each of the 20 markers remember this always includes both checking and rereading your answers to make sure that you haven't made any simple mistakes that can be quickly corrected oh by the way speaking of the case study question make sure to not restrict yourself to the content given in the case study paragraph while writing your answers most of the case study questions are actually quite open-ended remember this isn't a reading comprehension this isn't an English exam it's an economics exam you're expected to use your own existing understanding of Economics to make observations and analyses based on the content given in the case study there's usually one or two calculation based questions in the case study these are virtually free marks if you've done enough of them beforehand so make sure to pay specific attention to them while you're doing past papers something that is absolutely absolutely imperative to understand while doing igcc economics papers is that you have to pay attention to the keyword that each question begins with there's a full list of these command words as they're called in the official syllabus document for igcs economics given on the Cambridge International website I'd highly recommend going through the entire list in detail unlike a lot of other C subjects which have a lot of command words all with different meanings IGCSE economics only has nine of them and understanding the meaning of each and every one of these will help you consistently score higher on your exam when you're dealing with the 20 marker questions given in paper two you'll find that each of the questions usually begins with a different command words and each of these command words will give you a pretty solid indication of what is expected from you on that answer the first question as in the two marker usually begins with words like Define identify or state this glues you into the fact that you only need to provide a definition or identification of some Factor policy measure or concept you don't need to provide examples or explain them in detail to the contrary the second question or the four marker usually begins with the word explain this means that you need to provide both the why and the how for the phenomenon or policy described in the question you need to make the relationships between different concepts evident in your answers and you get marks for drawing logical well- reasoned connection between these Concepts the six marker almost always begins with the word analyze the official syllabus document states that to analyze means to examine in detail to show meaning and identify details and relationships between Concepts basically this means that you need to perform a detailed analysis of whatever is given in the question make sure to explain the meaning of any concepts or keywords that you're going to be referencing in your answer something that I found helpful was to find any concepts that I was going to be using in the answer at the starting of the answer in order to make my line of thinking clear to The Examiner lastly you have the final eight marker which always begins with the word discuss the syllabus document is pretty vague on what it means by the word discuss simply stating that it means to write about a topic or Concept in a structured manner in detail however there's actually a lot we can get from both this and the marking guidelines given for these eight markers in the mark scheme for one you need to understand that eight markers are marked a little differently from the rest of your answers the rest of your answers are marked such that you get a mark for each correct point that you've written in your answer however eight markers are marked using bands meaning that your answer is first assigned a band based on the quality of its structure and content and is then assigned a mark from within that band's marking range you can understand what is required from you for each of these different bands by reading the marking guidelines given in the mark scheme but in general you need to write a properly structured well-rounded answer I recommend using a four paragraph structure to write your eight markers paragraph one start by clarifying the question Define any key terms that need explaining so that the examiner understands that you have an in-depth understanding of what you're talking about paragraph 2 discuss all the reasons and Arguments for one side of the question and in paragraph three discuss the reasons and Arguments for the other side of the question finally in paragraph 4 write a conclusion for igcc economics you don't need to pick a side in your answer but make sure to summarize all of the points you talked about and end with a balanced stance using this structure makes it clear to The Examiner that you're capable of understanding different perspectives and applying the same economic Concepts to get different results across these perspectives which is something that they love to see in high level answers now that we've talked about individual questions in detail here's a huge General tip that I have for you draw as many graphs as possible seriously whenever you get the chance to throw a graph into one of your answers do it especially the more common or important graphs like ppcs or Adas graphs they're a great way of showing your complete understanding of the topic that you're discussing and are also a good visual way of getting your point across my advice practice drawing these graphs beforehand get good at drawing them quickly and neatly make sure they're well labeled and identify everything from equilibrium points to the axis to any shift even if the question doesn't specifically ask for one if you can find a way to strengthen your explanation using a graph it can really set your answer apart all right so that's all to wrap it up understand your content draw as many graphs as possible and pay attention to the structure of your answers especially with those pesky eight markers if you found any of the advice that I gave you in this video helpful make sure to like the video and subscribe to the channel so you never miss an upload and hey if you have any questions about igcc economics or want to share your own igcc success stories feel free to leave a comment in the comment section down below I'll try to answer as many of yall's questions as possible anyways that's all for today I'm out and thank you very much for watching