2026 WACE Economics exam: What to learn from last year's mistakes

WACE Economics is on Tuesday 10 November at 9:20 am, WA time.

Last year's mean was 61.43%. The examiner report points to incomplete models, missing explanations and gaps in recent economic knowledge. I've checked the report against the 2025 marking key.

Here are four things worth fixing.

1. Question 22(a): The unit is part of the answer

Where an answer loses marks: The marking key required the dollar sign and billions when reporting the foreign-investment value. A bare number was incomplete.

What you needed: Read the graph's scale and state the value with its unit.

My practice routine: circle the unit before calculating. Then check whether you are reporting a level, a percentage, a percentage-point change or a growth rate. Those are different claims, even when the arithmetic looks similar.

2. Question 23(d): Trace the commodity-price shock

Where students went wrong: This was the hardest part of the lowest-scoring data question. The key required analysis linked to AD/AS and the multiplier.

What they should have done: Explain the fall in export earnings and aggregate demand, then the effects on output, employment and the price level in the specified model.

My revision check: write the causal chain before drawing. Point to the curve movement in your explanation and account for subsequent spending rounds. A correct-looking diagram without an explanation leaves the reasoning unfinished.

3. Question 28(b): Use the requested model and historical period

Where students went wrong: Many did not satisfy all requirements of this monetary-policy question.

What they should have done: Analyse the 2023–24 stance using an aggregate-expenditure model, transmission channels and the multiplier. The key expected contractionary policy and a downward AE shift.

My practice drill: highlight the model, dates and command verb separately. A memorised AD/AS essay cannot simply replace an AE answer. Label the axes and equilibrium clearly, then explain how the policy reaches household and business spending.

4. Across the paper: Update your economic evidence

Where students went wrong: The report stresses knowledge of economic performance over the relevant three-year period, alongside accurate model construction.

What they should have done: Connect theory to the period being examined rather than recycle an old policy description.

My revision method: build a short, dated evidence sheet from official releases. For each indicator or decision, record what changed and the mechanism it illustrates. Keep the 2025 paper's historical answer separate from the evidence you need for 2026. This post is a breakdown of last year's exam, not a claim about today's policy stance.

Sources: 2025 examiner report and 2025 marking key. Revision routines are my suggestions.

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