What's the IA, exactly?
The big picture, before you panic.
The Internal Assessment is a portfolio of three commentaries. Each one asks you to find a real news article and write 800 words of economic analysis about it: analysed through the lens of one of the nine IB key concepts. That's it. Three articles, three commentaries, three concepts, one portfolio.
The numbers
One commentary per unit
Each commentary must cover a different unit of the syllabus. You pick one article from each of these three:
- Unit 2: Microeconomics
- Unit 3: Macroeconomics
- Unit 4: The Global Economy
Unit 1 (Introduction to Economics) is excluded. You can't write a commentary on it.
How it's marked
Each commentary is marked out of 14. The portfolio as a whole gets an extra 3 marks (Criterion F) for meeting the diversity rules. That's 45 in total.
| Criterion | What it's about | Marks |
|---|---|---|
| A | Diagrams: construction and explanation | 3 |
| B | Terminology: using the right words correctly | 2 |
| C | Application & Analysis: theory applied to the article | 3 |
| D | Key Concept: linking your chosen concept throughout | 3 |
| E | Evaluation: reasoned judgments, CLASPP | 3 |
| Per commentary (× 3 commentaries) | 14 | |
| F | Portfolio requirements: diversity, timing, overall | 3 |
| Grand total | 45 | |
The nine key concepts
Each commentary must use a different key concept as a "lens" for your analysis. Use the same one twice and you lose marks. You've got nine to choose from: plenty to work with.
The three non-negotiable rules
- Different unit for each commentary (micro, macro, global).
- Different news source for each commentary: you can't use the BBC three times.
- Different key concept for each commentary.
Break any of these and Criterion F takes the hit.
And the article?
You must choose your own article: Sam can't give it to you. It needs to be from a real news outlet (not a blog, not an opinion column, not a government report) and published within the last 12 months of when you write the commentary. More on all of this in the next stage.
Next: Pick Your Article →