Examiners’ Report
June 2023
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 2023
Publications Code 9EB0_03_2306_ER
All the material in this publication is copyright
© Pearson Education Ltd 2023
GCE Economics B 9EB0 03 2
, Introduction
This paper proved to be as accessible as previous series of 9EB03, with some very good
responses showing high levels of knowledge, analysis and evaluation. Even so, many answers
lacked application and supporting evidence, this is particularly disappointing given that the
topic is released well before the exam. Centres should have taken full advantage of this and
used the topic of markets in classwork, assignments and wider study; looking at a wide range
of case studies and examples. Answers that showed evidence of this were unfortunately rare,
many just treated the exam paper as a comprehension exercise and some were wholly
generic. It is worth reminding candidates that the higher levels in the mark scheme all
require good use of supporting evidence.
The main reasons for some candidates underachieving were the usual ones of not heeding
command words and not reading the questions carefully enough. Once again, command
words are still being ignored by a sizeable number. Instructions to ‘assess’ and ‘evaluate’ were
not followed by some candidates.
Often candidates missed out on marks because they did not answer the question that was
set. For example, for Q01(b) some candidates concentrated on the car market and its
barriers to entry rather than focusing on the impact they have on market structure in
general. Too many candidates just relied on copying the text from the case study rather than
considering the wider implications of the question, this was particularly prevalent in Q01(c)
and Q02(d).
Candidates need to apply proper context and to use examples to reinforce their responses.
Generic or stock answers are very unlikely to access the higher levels of the mark scheme. It
is worth stressing that the ‘use of relevant evidence’ is a key part of the level descriptors in
the mark scheme, without this, candidates will struggle to reach the higher levels.
3 GCE Economics B 9EB0 03
, Question 1 (a)
Despite the clear instruction in the question, some candidates did their best to explain the
workings of a labour market in rural Cumbria 144 years ago! Those that read the question
more carefully were usually able to explain how market forces were able to shape wage rates
in a modern labour market. Balance usually took the form of the impact of trade unions and
occasionally the influence of a monopsony employer. Given the number of industrial
disputes in the news recently it was surprising that very few candidates used them as
examples to reinforce their argument.
This Level 3 response scored 8 marks.
GCE Economics B 9EB0 03 4
June 2023
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 2023
Publications Code 9EB0_03_2306_ER
All the material in this publication is copyright
© Pearson Education Ltd 2023
GCE Economics B 9EB0 03 2
, Introduction
This paper proved to be as accessible as previous series of 9EB03, with some very good
responses showing high levels of knowledge, analysis and evaluation. Even so, many answers
lacked application and supporting evidence, this is particularly disappointing given that the
topic is released well before the exam. Centres should have taken full advantage of this and
used the topic of markets in classwork, assignments and wider study; looking at a wide range
of case studies and examples. Answers that showed evidence of this were unfortunately rare,
many just treated the exam paper as a comprehension exercise and some were wholly
generic. It is worth reminding candidates that the higher levels in the mark scheme all
require good use of supporting evidence.
The main reasons for some candidates underachieving were the usual ones of not heeding
command words and not reading the questions carefully enough. Once again, command
words are still being ignored by a sizeable number. Instructions to ‘assess’ and ‘evaluate’ were
not followed by some candidates.
Often candidates missed out on marks because they did not answer the question that was
set. For example, for Q01(b) some candidates concentrated on the car market and its
barriers to entry rather than focusing on the impact they have on market structure in
general. Too many candidates just relied on copying the text from the case study rather than
considering the wider implications of the question, this was particularly prevalent in Q01(c)
and Q02(d).
Candidates need to apply proper context and to use examples to reinforce their responses.
Generic or stock answers are very unlikely to access the higher levels of the mark scheme. It
is worth stressing that the ‘use of relevant evidence’ is a key part of the level descriptors in
the mark scheme, without this, candidates will struggle to reach the higher levels.
3 GCE Economics B 9EB0 03
, Question 1 (a)
Despite the clear instruction in the question, some candidates did their best to explain the
workings of a labour market in rural Cumbria 144 years ago! Those that read the question
more carefully were usually able to explain how market forces were able to shape wage rates
in a modern labour market. Balance usually took the form of the impact of trade unions and
occasionally the influence of a monopsony employer. Given the number of industrial
disputes in the news recently it was surprising that very few candidates used them as
examples to reinforce their argument.
This Level 3 response scored 8 marks.
GCE Economics B 9EB0 03 4
