Knowing the economics is only half of answering an exam question. The other half is doing the job the question sets.
If you describe what happens when interest rates fall but never explain why, your answer leaves the mechanism unfinished. If you explain how a subsidy works but never judge whether it is effective, you haven't answered an evaluation question.
Read every question as four instructions: the command word, the economic issue, the precise scope and the number of marks. The command word tells you what to do; the rest of the question tells you what to do it to.
This guide covers every Cambridge 9708 Economics command word, with practical examples, calculation methods, paragraph structures and advice for data response and essays.
About the examples
the practice questions and answers are original teaching material. They are not official questions or guaranteed full-mark answers.
The essentials
- Command word + issue + scope + marks: read all four before you write.
- Explain means finishing the cause-and-effect chain. Ask "why would that happen?" after every claim.
- Evaluation is 30% of Papers 2 and 4. Even the 8-mark Paper 2 essay parts include 2 evaluation marks.
- Two commands joined by "and" mean two tasks. Answering only the first leaves marks behind.
- A judgement needs a deciding condition, not "there are advantages and disadvantages".
Cambridge Economics command words at a glance
The Cambridge 9708 syllabus (2026–2028) lists 17 command words. Here they are in plain English — always read them as part of the whole question.
| Command word | What to do |
|---|---|
| Define | Give the precise economic meaning |
| State | Express the answer in clear terms |
| Identify | Name, select or recognise the relevant item |
| Give | Produce an answer from a source or from memory |
| Calculate | Work out an answer from the figures or information given |
| Describe | Set out the main points or features |
| Outline | Set out the main points |
| Explain | Show how or why, making the relationships clear and supporting them with evidence |
| Demonstrate | Show how, or give an example |
| Compare | Identify or comment on similarities and/or differences |
| Analyse | Examine in detail: identify the elements and the relationships between them |
| Consider | Review the information given and respond to it |
| Comment | Give an informed opinion |
| Discuss | Write about the issue in depth, in a structured way |
| Assess | Make an informed judgement |
| Evaluate | Judge the quality, importance, amount or value of something |
| Justify | Support a case with evidence or argument |
Watch out
don't memorise a fixed number of paragraphs for each command. A 2-mark explanation and a 12-mark one need very different amounts of development — the marks tell you how far to go.
1. Define, state and identify: be precise
Define: give the meaning, not just an example
Example
Define opportunity cost.
- Weak: "Opportunity cost is what you lose when you make a choice."
- Precise: "Opportunity cost is the value of the next best alternative forgone when a choice is made."
"Next best" matters: opportunity cost is not the value of every alternative, and it isn't necessarily a money payment. An example can clarify a definition, but it can't replace it.
Include the feature that makes each definition precise:
- Inflation: a sustained rise in the general price level — not a rise in one product's price.
- Price elasticity of demand: the responsiveness of quantity demanded to a change in price.
- Public good: a good that is non-rival and non-excludable — not simply something the government provides.
Tip
learn definitions by underlining the words that make them economically precise.
State or identify: give exactly what is asked
Example
Identify one component of aggregate demand.
"Investment."
That fully answers the question. Before writing, check:
- How many items are required?
- Must the answer come from the source?
- Is a particular type of example requested?
A longer answer can't make up for missing the item the question asked for. In a recent Paper 2 data response, for instance, a one-mark "identify the overall trend" question was answered simply by stating that the trade deficit had fallen.
2. Calculate: formula, substitution, answer
Worked example
A product's price rises from $10 to $12, and quantity demanded falls from 100 to 90 units. Calculate the price elasticity of demand, using the original values as the base.
% change in quantity demanded = (90 − 100) ÷ 100 × 100 = −10%
% change in price = (12 − 10) ÷ 10 × 100 = +20%
PED = −10% ÷ 20% = −0.5
The value is less than 1 (ignoring the sign), so demand is price inelastic over this change.
PED has no units, because it is a ratio of percentage changes. Showing your method makes the answer easy to check — and follow any instruction about rounding or method.
Your turn
A product's price falls from $20 to $16 and quantity demanded rises from 50 to 65 units. Calculate the PED and say whether demand is elastic or inelastic.
AnswerShow answerHide answer
% change in quantity = (65 − 50) ÷ 50 × 100 = +30%
% change in price = (16 − 20) ÷ 20 × 100 = −20%
PED = 30% ÷ −20% = −1.5. Ignoring the sign, 1.5 is greater than 1, so demand is price elastic over this change.
Percentage change versus percentage-point change
If unemployment rises from 4% to 6%:
- the increase is 2 percentage points;
- the percentage increase is (6 − 4) ÷ 4 × 100 = 50%.
These describe different things. Similarly, if a price index rises from 120 to 126, the percentage increase is (126 − 120) ÷ 120 × 100 = 5%, not 6% — the starting value is always the denominator.
Your turn
A central bank raises its interest rate from 2% to 3%. Describe the change in two correct ways.
AnswerShow answerHide answer
It rises by 1 percentage point, which is a 50% increase in the interest rate: (3 − 2) ÷ 2 × 100 = 50%.
Check
correct formula, correct starting value, clear substitution, sensible rounding and the right units.
3. Describe and compare: make the data useful
Describe: identify the pattern accurately
| Year | Inflation rate |
|---|---|
| Year 1 | 8% |
| Year 2 | 6% |
| Year 3 | 4% |
Example
- Useful: "Inflation falls steadily from 8% to 4%, a decline of four percentage points."
- Wrong: "Prices fell."
Inflation stayed positive throughout, so the general price level was still rising, just more slowly. That is disinflation, not deflation.
When describing data, look for the overall direction, turning points or exceptions, unusually large changes, and the figures that support your description. You don't need to repeat every number or explain every possible cause.
Compare: connect the two directly
Example
Country A has unemployment of 4%; Country B has 7%.
"Country B's unemployment rate is three percentage points higher than Country A's."
For a theoretical comparison:
Model answer
"Both structural and cyclical unemployment involve people willing and able to work who cannot find jobs. However, structural unemployment arises from a mismatch between workers' skills or locations and the jobs available, whereas cyclical unemployment results from insufficient aggregate demand."
Two separate definitions leave the comparison for the examiner to work out. Words such as both, whereas, higher than and in contrast make the relationship explicit.
4. Explain: finish the cause-and-effect chain
An explanation makes the mechanism visible.
Example
Explain how a fall in interest rates may increase aggregate demand.
- Underdeveloped: "Lower interest rates increase consumption and investment, so aggregate demand rises."
- Developed: "Lower interest rates reduce the cost of borrowing. Households may therefore borrow more to buy durable goods, while firms may find more investment projects profitable because financing costs fall. Consumption and investment are components of aggregate demand, so an increase in either raises aggregate demand, other things being equal."
The developed answer connects four links: the change in interest rates → the cost of borrowing → how households and firms behave → the effect on aggregate demand.
Rule
change → incentive or constraint → behaviour → economic outcome
After every claim, ask yourself "why would that happen?" If your answer jumps straight from a policy to an outcome, you have probably missed a link.
Watch for questions with two instructions
Many questions contain two tasks. A real Cambridge Paper 2 essay question asked students to explain the difference between public goods and merit goods, with examples, and consider whether markets always provide enough of both. The mark scheme gave 3 marks for knowledge, 3 for analysis — and 2 for evaluation, which you can only earn by doing the second task.
Watch out
don't stop reading after the first command word. Plan for every task joined by "and".
Your turn
"Explain how a minimum wage can cause unemployment and consider whether it always does." What are the two tasks, and what must the second one include?
AnswerShow answerHide answer
- Explain: set out the mechanism — a minimum wage above the market wage raises the cost of labour, so firms demand less labour while more people want to work, creating unemployment (ideally with a labour market diagram).
- Consider whether it always does: test the claim. For example, if the minimum wage is set below the market wage it has no effect, and if labour demand is wage inelastic the fall in employment may be small. Then reach a judgement on when the effect is likely.
5. Analyse: develop relationships, not a list of effects
Analysis uses economic reasoning to show how the parts of an issue connect. It overlaps with explanation — there is no rule that "explain" means short and "analyse" means long.
Example
Analyse the effect of an indirect tax on the market for a product.
- Underdeveloped: "Price rises, quantity falls and the government receives revenue."
- Developed: "A specific indirect tax increases the cost of supplying each unit, so the supply curve shifts vertically upwards by the tax per unit. At the new equilibrium, consumers pay a higher price and a lower quantity is traded. Producers receive the consumer price minus the tax, so the burden is shared between consumers and producers."
You can deepen the analysis by explaining tax incidence:
Model answer
"When demand is relatively price inelastic compared with supply, consumers cut their purchases relatively little when the price rises, so producers can pass on a larger share of the tax. Government revenue equals the tax per unit multiplied by the quantity sold after the tax."
Now the answer explains both the direction of the effects and what determines their size.
Make diagrams part of your reasoning
For the tax example:
- Label the axes price and quantity.
- Label demand, the original supply curve and the supply curve including the tax.
- Mark the original and new equilibria.
- Show the difference between the price consumers pay and the price producers receive.
- Explain these changes in your writing.
A diagram should contribute to the argument. Don't leave the examiner to work out what it shows.
Check the model's assumptions
Be careful with welfare claims. In a market without externalities, a tax can create a welfare loss by preventing trades that benefit both sides. Where consumption creates a negative externality, a well-designed tax may instead improve allocative efficiency. Choose the model that fits the question — a familiar diagram in the wrong context produces a wrong argument.
6. Discuss, assess and evaluate: reach a reasoned judgement
In an evaluative answer, develop the relevant arguments, test them and decide what they imply. You don't need equal numbers of advantages and disadvantages — you need enough reasoning to justify your answer to this question.
Decide what "successful" means
Example
Assess whether a subsidy is an effective way to increase consumption of a merit good.
Here the test is increased consumption. If the question asked whether a subsidy corrects market failure, you would judge whether consumption moves towards the socially efficient level instead. Related, but different, tasks.
Develop the case
Model answer
"A subsidy to producers reduces their costs, shifting supply to the right. A lower market price makes the merit good more affordable and increases the quantity demanded. This may reduce underconsumption where affordability is an important barrier."
Test the argument
Model answer
"However, if underconsumption mainly arises because consumers underestimate the good's benefits, reducing its price may have a limited effect. Information campaigns could tackle that problem more directly. The subsidy's effectiveness therefore depends partly on why the good is underconsumed."
Reach a judgement
Model answer
"A subsidy is likely to be effective where price is the main barrier to consumption and producers can expand supply. Where poor information is the main problem, a subsidy alone is less convincing; combining it with information provision is more likely to increase consumption substantially."
This judgement names the deciding condition and explains how it changes the recommendation.
Turn "it depends" into evaluation
| Weak comment | Developed evaluation |
|---|---|
| "It depends on elasticity." | "If demand is highly price inelastic, a price cut causes only a small rise in quantity demanded, limiting the subsidy's effect on consumption." |
| "There are time lags." | "Training takes time to improve workers' skills, so it is unlikely to reduce a sudden rise in unemployment quickly." |
| "Government failure could occur." | "If the government overestimates the external benefit, an excessive subsidy may encourage consumption beyond the socially efficient level." |
| "There are opportunity costs." | "Funding the subsidy may mean cutting another programme, so its benefits should be compared with those of the spending given up." |
These are possible lines of reasoning, not phrases to drop into every essay. Choose the condition that matters here and explain how it changes your answer.
7. Consider, comment and justify: don't overlook them
These commands often appear inside questions that first look like plain explanations.
Consider
Look closely at what follows the word. "Consider whether" asks you to test a claim; "consider which is most important" asks you to rank factors.
Example
Consider whether falling inflation necessarily improves living standards.
"Falling inflation may protect purchasing power if nominal incomes keep rising. However, if disinflation comes with rising unemployment and falling household incomes, living standards may worsen. The inflation rate alone is therefore not enough to establish the effect."
The answer tests the claim rather than listing the benefits of lower inflation.
Comment
Give an informed interpretation of the evidence. If two variables move together, say so — but don't claim that this alone proves one causes the other. A third factor could affect both.
Justify
Give reasons for your choice or claim.
Example
Justify using training to tackle structural unemployment.
"Training can close the gap between workers' existing skills and what employers need. It is therefore appropriate where vacancies exist but unemployed workers lack the qualifications to fill them."
A recommendation without an economic reason is unfinished.
8. Command words across Papers 1–4
| Paper | Format | What it means for you |
|---|---|---|
| Paper 1 (AS) | Multiple choice: 30 marks, 1 hour | Choose the option that fits the precise conditions in the question |
| Paper 2 (AS) | Data response and essays: 60 marks, 2 hours | A compulsory data response (about six parts), then one mainly-microeconomics and one mainly-macroeconomics essay, each in two parts |
| Paper 3 (A Level) | Multiple choice: 30 marks, 1 hour 15 minutes | Test the assumptions behind each option |
| Paper 4 (A Level) | Data response and essays: 60 marks, 2 hours | A compulsory data response (four parts), then one mainly-micro and one mainly-macro essay, not divided into parts |
These formats are from the Cambridge 2026–2028 syllabus. Evaluation (AO3) makes up about 30% of the marks on Papers 2 and 4, compared with about 13% on the multiple-choice papers — so it is a large share of every written paper.
Paper 2: how the essay marks split
Cambridge's Paper 2 mark schemes divide each 20-mark essay like this:
| Essay part | Knowledge and understanding | Analysis | Evaluation |
|---|---|---|---|
| Part (a): 8 marks | 3 | 3 | 2 |
| Part (b): 12 marks | 8 (knowledge and analysis together) | — | 4 |
The 8-mark parts often combine an explanation with a "consider" task. Answering only the explanation leaves the evaluation marks behind. The 12-mark parts are marked by levels; for the top evaluation level, the mark scheme looks for a justified conclusion that addresses the specific question, backed by developed, well-supported evaluative comments.
Paper 4: evaluation is a big share of each essay
Paper 4 essays are marked out of 20: 14 marks for knowledge, understanding and analysis together, and 6 marks for evaluation. Higher levels reward focused, developed reasoning and accurate use of relevant tools — and a justified judgement on the actual question.
Tip
use these splits to understand the structure, then check the mark scheme for the exact question you practise. Short data-response parts have their own allocations, and they can include evaluation too. You can find papers and mark schemes on Starley's Cambridge AS & A Level Economics past papers page.
9. How to show application
Application means making the economics fit the circumstances and information in the question. In 9708 it is part of AO1 Knowledge and understanding, which includes applying knowledge to economic information — not a separate fourth objective.
Example
An extract says food makes up 40% of low-income households' spending, and food prices rise by 15%.
- Weak: "Food prices rose by 15%. Inflation harms consumers."
- Stronger: "Because food is 40% of low-income households' spending, higher food prices put substantial pressure on their budgets. If their nominal incomes don't rise enough, they may need to cut other purchases, lowering their material living standards."
The stronger answer explains why the detail matters — and it avoids claiming an exact fall in real income, which the information can't support.
In data response, use relevant evidence from the source. In essays, use examples where they strengthen your reasoning. Don't invent statistics or country examples.
10. How to plan a Cambridge Economics essay
Before you write, answer five questions:
- What must I decide? For example, whether a policy reduces unemployment — not whether it has benefits in general.
- What is the scope? One policy or two? Consumers or producers? Short run or long run?
- Which theory explains the mechanism? Choose the relevant concepts and diagram.
- What could change the result? An important assumption, constraint or alternative.
- What is my provisional judgement? Which condition is likely to be decisive?
Pay particular attention to words like always, all, most effective, only, likely and to what extent. They change what your judgement has to establish.
Example
"Does monetary policy reduce unemployment?" is a different question from "Does monetary policy reduce all types of unemployment?" The second requires you to separate demand-deficient unemployment from problems such as skills mismatches.
A flexible structure for an evaluative answer
| Part | What it does |
|---|---|
| Opening | Defines the key concept and identifies what is being judged |
| Developed argument | Explains the mechanism and connects it to the question's objective |
| Qualification or alternative | Explains a relevant limitation, opposing argument or competing policy |
| Judgement | Decides, using the reasoning you have developed |
For longer answers, add arguments when they contribute something new. There is no requirement for exactly three body paragraphs or any particular acronym.
Write a conclusion that makes a decision
Rule
"Overall, [answer to the question], mainly because [decisive reason]. This is most likely when [condition]. If [alternative condition], [different outcome] is more convincing because [reason]."
The wording is optional; the economic reasoning is essential. A conclusion that only says "there are advantages and disadvantages" leaves the question unanswered. Our guide to Cambridge A Level Business Paper 4 essays uses the same judgement skills in a related subject.
11. Mistakes that weaken knowledgeable answers
| Mistake | How to fix it |
|---|---|
| Answering the topic in general | Use the exact outcome and scope in your topic sentences |
| Listing effects | Explain the mechanism behind each important effect |
| Ignoring a second command | Plan for every task joined by "and" |
| Copying figures from the extract | Explain what the evidence means for your argument |
| Adding a diagram you don't explain | Refer to its curves, the change in equilibrium and what it means |
| Using "however" as evaluation | Explain why the qualification changes your judgement |
| Assuming 8-mark questions are analysis only | Check the full wording — Paper 2's 8-mark essay parts include 2 evaluation marks |
| Writing a generic conclusion | Decide using the most significant reasoning in your answer |
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between explain and analyse?
Both need connected reasoning. An explanation makes the mechanism clear; analysis develops the relationships in more detail. Use the full question and the marks to judge how far to develop it.
Are discuss, assess and evaluate the same?
Their demands often overlap in Economics essays, but don't treat them as interchangeable labels. Focus on the precise issue in the question and, where a judgement is required, reach a supported decision.
Does an 8-mark Paper 2 essay part need evaluation?
Yes — Cambridge's mark schemes give 2 of the 8 marks for evaluation. If the question asks you to explain and then consider, complete both tasks.
Can I earn evaluation marks before the conclusion?
Yes. Evaluation can appear throughout your argument, as you weigh assumptions, limitations and how significant each point is. An explicit final decision still helps make your overall answer clear.
Do I need a diagram for every answer?
Use one when the question asks for it, or when it helps explain the economics. Label it accurately and explain it in your writing. A diagram can't replace the judgement in an evaluation question.
Do I need real-world statistics in every essay?
No. Relevant examples help, but only if they support accurate reasoning. Use the supplied evidence in data response, and never invent facts in essays.
How can I practise command words effectively?
Pick one topic and practise different tasks on it:
- Define the concept.
- Explain a mechanism.
- Analyse an effect.
- Evaluate a policy.
Then check the mark schemes to see what each answer required. This builds the flexibility to respond to whatever question is in front of you. To see how raw marks turn into grades, look at Starley's Cambridge AS Economics and A Level Economics grade boundaries.