Which diagrams earn marks in IB Economics exams?
I coded every sub-question of the eight exam sessions since the current syllabus started (May 2022 to November 2025) by the diagram it asks for or its markscheme expects. This is how I decide which diagrams my students practise first.
Diagram families by exam session
Share of all available marks by diagram
Table view
Count
Number of sub-questions where the question or the markscheme names this diagram (required, expected or optional). A sub-question naming two diagrams counts for both.
Direct marks
Marks the markscheme awards for the diagram itself. A 4-mark “using a diagram” part in Paper 2 or 3 with no explicit split counts as 2 (2 for the diagram, 2 for the explanation). Paper 1 essays score 0 here because they are marked with level bands.
Marks at stake
The full mark value of every sub-question that names the diagram, shared equally when it names several. A 15-mark essay whose markscheme lists one diagram adds 15 to that diagram; if it lists two, each gets 7.5.
Time zones
Sessions have one to three time-zone versions of each paper, so raw totals grow with the number of versions. “Per exam version” divides by that number, which gives what one set of papers contains. “All versions summed” counts every paper that was printed.
How to read it
Figures count questions that appeared, not what one student writes (Paper 1: choose 1 of 3; Paper 2: 1 of 2). The combined SL/HL Paper 2 counts under both levels. All eight sessions of the current syllabus (first exams May 2022) are included. From May 2024 Paper 2 is one combined SL/HL paper instead of two, so with level “All” Paper 2 counts drop at the grey line; the SL and HL views are not affected.