PREPARING Level 2 ECONOMICS
STUDENTS FOR EXTERNALS
The time spent preparing students between finishing your teaching/learning
programme and exam leave is critical so it is worth putting in place a structured
revision programme.
Preparation falls into three areas:
 Formal exam etiquette
 Revision of content
 Examination technique
FORMAL EXAM ETIQUETTE
Sitting at a desk for up to three hours of continuous writing and not being able
to communicate to others is foreign to even the most prepared of students. The
school’s PN or Exam Centre Manager will probably discuss examination
behaviour in a formal assembly. These rules/expectations are likely to be more
readily understood if you talk students through what to expect and how to
behave. Walk them through the whole procedure from before, during and after
the exam.
You could discuss the following:
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Where the exam will be held and how the room is set up, how seating is predetermined, etc.
The fact that supervisors are not teachers so cannot give subject-help.
The equipment that is needed for Economics (this information comes from
assessment specifications) ~ in the case of Level 2, a blue or black pen
(though a spare is useful), a ruler (for graphs) and a calculator.
The number of booklets they should expect in their plastic pack. It might be
that students were originally entered for all three externals but they have
actually only been taught two ~ ensure students are clear about which ones
they are sitting; they should check standard number and/or its name.
Get them to consider the order they will attempt standards in (suggest most
confident first in case time is an issue).
How to manage their time, particularly if they are sitting all three externals.
Stationery they must not use in the exam and why:
o Markers use red pen
o Check markers use green
o If pencil is used the paper cannot be sent for reconsideration
o If white-out fluid is used paper cannot be sent for reconsideration
What to do if they need more paper, pen runs out etc.
What to do if they panic (breathe deeply!)
What to do if they make a mistake.
What to do when all papers have been completed ~ re-read, ensure anything
not to be marked has been crossed out, ensure answers on spare back pages
have been numbered and that there is reference to these additional answers
within the original writing spaces
While your general advice for students will be to ‘have a go’ at all of the
externals for which they are entered, some students will need a one-on-one
discussion with you. Talk through with individuals the standards they will
attempt and the pros and cons of a void script. Discuss the difference between a
SNA (standard not attempted) result and a NA (not achieved) result.
Make sure students know the credits they have in Economics so far and how
many more they need for their certificate. Target also the students eligible for a
Merit or Excellence endorsed certificate (14 credits at this level of which at least
one standard must be external). Discuss how the externals can contribute
towards literacy credits. [See Economics Level 2 Record document on the
national social sciences wikispace.1]
If your school has a culture of students not turning up for external examinations
try to think laterally. Some teachers try to get them to attend with the promise
of a treat afterwards. Others check who turns up for the exam and ring home if
they do not. They still have half an hour to get there! Ensure students know they
will be able to borrow a calculator from you if they neglect to bring one on exam
day.
REVISING CONTENT and PRACTISING SKILLS
Revision in class time
We tend to economise on photocopying so often reduce past papers to A4
landscape, and sometimes do not copy the front cover or spare pages at the
back. Ensure students see these ~ project them on screen or hand out some
actual past papers.
Use checklists of each standard’s topics to guide whole-class and students’ own
revision.
Go through the advice of past examiners using assessment reports from the
NZQA site.
Plan a balance of ‘one size fits all’ revision (such as past papers) and
differentiated revision based on the specific needs of individuals. Students could
identify their own revision needs, though check they do not only opt for easy
revision such as definitions. Your knowledge of students’ strengths and
weaknesses from their in-class work and their school exams can guide your
selection of revision material. Students with similar needs could work in revision
groups.
Individual revision at home
1
Secondarysocialscience.wikispaces.com ~ click on Economics tab
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Emphasise to students that they will need to do some of their own individual
revision if they are to succeed. Discuss issues here such as:
 How to set up a study timetable
 Where to study (consider light, distractions, able to leave books out, etc)
 When to study (morning or night person, set treats to aim towards)
 How to study (revision cards, star diagrams, peer or parent testing) –
consider using quizlets for this. Some can be found at
http://quizlet.com/subject/ncea-economics/ or have students create their
own.
 The extent to which you are prepared to help them (email for queries or if
you will mark questions they try)
Emphasise the need to both revise content and practise skills. The former is
easier than the latter!
CONTENT
It is important that students use precise economic language. The 2012
assessment report states:
 Candidates who were awarded Excellence … used appropriate economic terms, e.g. ‘laying off
workers’ or ‘making workers redundant’, rather than ‘firing workers’/
 Candidates who were assessed as Not Achieved typically … did not use correct economic
terminology in their explanations … used incorrect, inappropriate and/or outdated economic
terms
Ensure your students know what to expect in each exam paper. This information
comes from the Specifications, special notes for 2.1, 2.2 and 2.3
For higher levels of achievement, candidates should use relevant resource material to contextualise
their answers. Use of appropriate economic terminology and integrated relevant economic graphs to
aid explanations are also required.
Candidates may be required to use a Government policy context when analysing causes of change in
inflation, trade, and growth.
Candidates may also be required to analyse the effects of exchange rate appreciation and
depreciation on inflation, trade, and growth.
Questions in each paper will draw on specific examples from contemporary New Zealand contexts.
Students must take care to present accurate, appropriately labeled graphs.
Assessment report comments emphasise this point:
Candidates who were assessed as Not Achieved typically … had incomplete and/or inaccurately
labeled graphs.
Impress on students they must use a ruler for graphs.
Within each standard the models need to be referred to in written answers. For
Excellence they need to be integrated into detailed explanations.
EXAMINATION TECHNIQUE
It is important to tell students that knowing content is often only part of the
battle. It means nothing unless you they can use it to answer the question.
Stress the importance of attempting every question. Past assessment reports
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state:
 The majority of the students who achieved at the higher level completed all parts of all questions
 Candidates who were assessed as Not Achieved for this standard typically … failed to attempt all
parts of a question.
Go over the layout of past papers so that students know how many questions to
expect.
Look at the space available for answers and how this guides students as to the
length of answers. In saying this, ensure they know not to fill the space with
waffle. The following comment appeared in the 2012 Assessment Report
It should be noted that the space provided for each question is sufficient for detailed explanations that
meet the requirements for Excellence.
We can take from this that extra space (at the back of the exam booklet) should
only be used by those with exceptionally large handwriting, or if an answer has
been crossed out and re-attempted.
Convince students that it is worth investing time in planning answers before
starting them. They can ask the supervisor for extra paper for this purpose (this
is probably better than using the extra pages at the end of the exam booklet).
These comment from Level 1 reports could also apply to Level 2.
 Candidates who were awarded Excellence commonly … linked ideas in a planned, logical
sequence, rather than giving short answers … made accurate and complete reference to resource
material [including models]
 Those who read and used (but not merely copied) the material from the resource were better able
to link the economic concepts with the context of the question.
Demonstrate how bullet points are designed to guide student responses. While
not a specific comment about Level 2 Economics, a past assessment report
states:
The majority of the students who achieved at the higher level … effectively linked the terms given in
the question and used the scaffolded bullet points to develop their responses further. Conversely,
Candidates who did not achieve did not use the terms provided in the questions for scaffolding
purposes.
Ensure students have a clear understanding of the range of academic
language/command words used in Level 2 Economics exams. There are
command word documents and a student activity (the cake!) on the wikispace.
The 2012 assessment report gives some good guidance.
 Achievement requires candidates to provide an explanation; candidates have to give a reason for
their answer.
 Merit requires detailed explanations; candidates have to either provide more than one reason
and/or add depth to the answer by providing a reason which links the main cause to the main
result, e.g. ‘a depreciation improves the current account because it makes exports more price
competitive and imports less price competitive which increases net exports’.
 Excellence requires candidates to compare and contrast causes of changes and impacts of
changes in inflation, trade or growth. Candidates are expected to specifically refer to BOTH
events in their answers and also integrate relevant economic models into their answer by
referring to changes they have made to graphs.
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