Examiners’ Report
June 2022
GCE Economics B 9EB0 03
,Edexcel and BTEC Qualifications
Edexcel and BTEC qualifications come from Pearson, the UK's largest awarding body. We
provide a wide range of qualifications including academic, vocational, occupational and
specific programmes for employers. For further information visit our qualifications websites
at www.edexcel.com or www.btec.co.uk.
Alternatively, you can get in touch with us using the details on our contact us page at
www.edexcel.com/contactus.
Giving you insight to inform next steps
ResultsPlus is Pearson's free online service giving instant and detailed analysis of your
students' exam results.
See students' scores for every exam question.
Understand how your students' performance compares with class and national averages.
Identify potential topics, skills and types of question where students may need to develop
their learning further.
For more information on ResultsPlus, or to log in, visit www.edexcel.com/resultsplus. Your
exams officer will be able to set up your ResultsPlus account in minutes via Edexcel Online.
Pearson: helping people progress, everywhere
Pearson aspires to be the world’s leading learning company. Our aim is to help everyone
progress in their lives through education. We believe in every kind of learning, for all kinds of
people, wherever they are in the world. We’ve been involved in education for over 150 years,
and by working across 70 countries, in 100 languages, we have built an international
reputation for our commitment to high standards and raising achievement through
innovation in education. Find out more about how we can help you and your students at:
www.pearson.com/uk.
June 2022
Publications Code 9EB0_03_2206_ER
All the material in this publication is copyright
© Pearson Education Ltd 2022
GCE Economics B 9EB0 03 2
, Introduction
This paper proved to be slightly less accessible than the previous series of 9EB03, possibly
due to the difficulties many students encountered in Q2a. However, there were many very
good responses showing high levels of knowledge, analysis and evaluation. Even so, many
answers lacked application and supporting evidence. This was particularly disappointing
given that the topic was released well before the exam. Centres should have taken full
advantage of this and used the topic of economic growth in classwork, assignments and
wider study, looking at a wide range of case studies and examples. Many just treated the
exam paper as a comprehension exercise and some answers were wholly generic. Many
answers showed a simplistic and frequently erroneous mix of assertions and assumptions.
Candidates who do this are unlikely to convince examiners that their chains of reasoning are
sound. It is worth reminding students that the higher levels in the mark scheme all require
good use of supporting evidence. Having said that, it was pleasing to see some students
using a wide range of examples and evidence, including recent economic events, to illustrate
and reinforce their arguments.
Centres also need to appreciate the requirement to demonstrate quantitative skills (QS) as
stated in the specification. The stimulus material contained a range of data, in both written,
graphical and numerical form. QS9 (see specification, appendix 3) requires candidates to be
able to ‘interpret, apply and analyse information in written, graphical, tabular and numerical
forms’. Many candidates chose to ignore the data or did not make full use of it, once again
limiting their attainment.
3 GCE Economics B 9EB0 03
, Question 1 (a)
Some candidates struggled to define or show accurate knowledge of GDP but most were able
to say why it was useful as a measure of economic growth and how it was easily comparable
over time or between economies. Rather surprisingly most chose to show balance by
claiming that HDI was a much more accurate measure; this was not always a convincing
argument. Others chose to argue that GDP needed to be used as a per capita figure or in real
terms to remove the effects of inflation. Surprisingly, few took the option of looking at the
impact of the informal or black economy.
GCE Economics B 9EB0 03 4
June 2022
GCE Economics B 9EB0 03
,Edexcel and BTEC Qualifications
Edexcel and BTEC qualifications come from Pearson, the UK's largest awarding body. We
provide a wide range of qualifications including academic, vocational, occupational and
specific programmes for employers. For further information visit our qualifications websites
at www.edexcel.com or www.btec.co.uk.
Alternatively, you can get in touch with us using the details on our contact us page at
www.edexcel.com/contactus.
Giving you insight to inform next steps
ResultsPlus is Pearson's free online service giving instant and detailed analysis of your
students' exam results.
See students' scores for every exam question.
Understand how your students' performance compares with class and national averages.
Identify potential topics, skills and types of question where students may need to develop
their learning further.
For more information on ResultsPlus, or to log in, visit www.edexcel.com/resultsplus. Your
exams officer will be able to set up your ResultsPlus account in minutes via Edexcel Online.
Pearson: helping people progress, everywhere
Pearson aspires to be the world’s leading learning company. Our aim is to help everyone
progress in their lives through education. We believe in every kind of learning, for all kinds of
people, wherever they are in the world. We’ve been involved in education for over 150 years,
and by working across 70 countries, in 100 languages, we have built an international
reputation for our commitment to high standards and raising achievement through
innovation in education. Find out more about how we can help you and your students at:
www.pearson.com/uk.
June 2022
Publications Code 9EB0_03_2206_ER
All the material in this publication is copyright
© Pearson Education Ltd 2022
GCE Economics B 9EB0 03 2
, Introduction
This paper proved to be slightly less accessible than the previous series of 9EB03, possibly
due to the difficulties many students encountered in Q2a. However, there were many very
good responses showing high levels of knowledge, analysis and evaluation. Even so, many
answers lacked application and supporting evidence. This was particularly disappointing
given that the topic was released well before the exam. Centres should have taken full
advantage of this and used the topic of economic growth in classwork, assignments and
wider study, looking at a wide range of case studies and examples. Many just treated the
exam paper as a comprehension exercise and some answers were wholly generic. Many
answers showed a simplistic and frequently erroneous mix of assertions and assumptions.
Candidates who do this are unlikely to convince examiners that their chains of reasoning are
sound. It is worth reminding students that the higher levels in the mark scheme all require
good use of supporting evidence. Having said that, it was pleasing to see some students
using a wide range of examples and evidence, including recent economic events, to illustrate
and reinforce their arguments.
Centres also need to appreciate the requirement to demonstrate quantitative skills (QS) as
stated in the specification. The stimulus material contained a range of data, in both written,
graphical and numerical form. QS9 (see specification, appendix 3) requires candidates to be
able to ‘interpret, apply and analyse information in written, graphical, tabular and numerical
forms’. Many candidates chose to ignore the data or did not make full use of it, once again
limiting their attainment.
3 GCE Economics B 9EB0 03
, Question 1 (a)
Some candidates struggled to define or show accurate knowledge of GDP but most were able
to say why it was useful as a measure of economic growth and how it was easily comparable
over time or between economies. Rather surprisingly most chose to show balance by
claiming that HDI was a much more accurate measure; this was not always a convincing
argument. Others chose to argue that GDP needed to be used as a per capita figure or in real
terms to remove the effects of inflation. Surprisingly, few took the option of looking at the
impact of the informal or black economy.
GCE Economics B 9EB0 03 4
