• Duration: 2 hours and 30 minutes (150 minutes).

• Total Marks: 400 marks. (This represents 80% of your overall grade; your Research Study accounts for the remaining 20% / 100 marks).

• Structure: The paper is strictly divided into two sections: Section A (Short Response) and Section B (Extended Response).

🔍 Section A: Short Response Questions

• Marks Allocated: 100 marks (25% of the written paper).

• Requirements: You are presented with 10 short questions. You must answer 8 out of the 10.

• Internal Choice: Pay close attention to Questions 2, 3, and 4. These specific questions contain an internal choice (e.g., you answer either Part A or Part B within that question).

🖋️ Section B: Extended Response Questions

• Marks Allocated: 300 marks (75% of the written paper).

• Requirements: You are presented with 6 long questions. You must answer 4 out of the 6.

• Weighting: Each question is worth exactly 75 marks.

An analysis of the last 6 exam papers, including the deferred sittings, identifies consistent patterns in topic distribution.

If you look at the 2020 column for Section B, questions were almost exclusively single-topic (e.g., Q4 was just "The Firm"). Fast forward to 2023, 2024, and 2025, and almost every single Section B question blends 2 to 4 topics together.

Over the last 3-4 years, Government Intervention and Fiscal Policy have become absolute heavyweights, particularly in Section B. They rarely appear alone; they are usually paired with Market Failure, The Environment (Sustainability), or Market Structures.

There is a highly reliable anchor topic in Section A. Look at Question 9: in 2022, 2022 (Deferred), 2023, and 2024, it featured "The Firm". Even in 2025 and 2020, Q9 featured the closely related "Market Structures". Furthermore, "National Income" consistently anchors the final questions of Section A (Q10 in 2024, 2023; Q8 in 2022).

Review the exact history of every question from the last six years of standard sittings. Use this matrix to identify "Anchors"—questions that remain consistent year after year.

The written exam is 2 hours and 30 minutes (150 minutes) long and is worth a total of 400 marks. Effective time management is the difference between a good grade and a great grade.

• Section A - Short Questions (30 minutes): This section is worth 100 marks (25%). Aim to spend roughly 3 to 3.5 minutes per question. Attempt all required questions, plus one or two extra if you have time, as the examiner will award you marks for your best answers.

• Section B - Long Questions (120 minutes): This section is worth 300 marks (75%). You must answer 4 questions, making them worth 75 marks each. Before you begin answering questions in Section B carefully read through them all and select your strongest questions to answer. You should allocate a strict 28-30 minutes per question. When your 30 minutes are up, leave some space and move directly to the next question.

Download official SEC exam papers and our annotated solutions. These are official papers that provide excellent, unseen practice material.

2025

• [Download 2025 Paper 1]

2024

• [Download 2024 Paper 1]

2023

• [Download 2023 Paper 1]

Follow this structured approach to cover the syllabus efficiently.

The Goal: Master the foundational models of economics and lock in the highly predictable Section A "anchor" topics.

• Topics to Cover: * The Market Economy (Demand, Supply, Equilibrium)

  • The Consumer & Elasticity (Theory)

  • The Firm (Costs of Production)

  • Market Structures (Perfect Competition, Monopoly, Oligopoly, etc.)

• Strategic Focus: These topics are almost guaranteed to appear late in Section A.

• Exam Technique to Practice: * Graphing Discipline: Start building good habits now. Ensure every graph has perfectly labelled horizontal ($Quantity$) and vertical ($Price$) axes. Clearly mark original and new curves (e.g., $D_1$ to $D_2$).

• Movement vs. Shift: Drill the difference between a change in selling price (movement along the curve) and a change in an external factor like income (full shift of the curve).

The Goal: Transition to the broader economy and secure the quantitative math points.

• Topics to Cover:

  • National Income

  • Employment & The Labour Market

  • The Financial Sector & Monetary Policy

• Strategic Focus: "National Income" is a frequent Section A anchor and a vital component of Section B.

• Exam Technique to Practice: The Formula Cheat Sheet: Master the adjustments required to move from GDP to GNP, GNI, and finally to Modified Gross National Income (GNI). Memorise the Multiplier formula ($\frac{1}{MPS + MPT + MPM}$) and practice calculating the Herfindahl-Hirschman Index (HHI).

The Goal: Prepare for the modern Section B format by blending macro topics together.

• Topics to Cover:

  • Market Failure

  • Government Intervention

  • Fiscal Policy & Budget Framework

  • Sustainability / Environmental Economics

• Strategic Focus: As our data shows, these topics are the absolute core of Section B. They rarely appear alone; you will be asked how they interact.

• Exam Technique to Practice: * Contextual Application: When discussing Fiscal Policy or Government Intervention, you must practice linking your textbook theory to the current Irish economy (e.g., current housing policies, carbon taxes, or inflation measures).

  • The SEE Method: Start structuring your long-form paragraphs using State, Explain, Example. Never just drop a fact and move on.

The Goal: Complete the syllabus, sit the Mock exams, and brutally assess your time management.

• Topics to Cover:

  • International Trade and Competitiveness

  • Globalisation

  • Economic Growth and Development

• Strategic Focus: Use the Mocks to test the 400-mark pacing.

• Exam Technique to Practice: * Mastering the Clock: Did you stick to 4 minutes per Section A question? Did you rigidly move on after 26 minutes for your Section B long questions? If you ran out of time, this is the phase where you practice writing faster and being more concise.

The Goal: Shift entirely from reading textbooks to writing out past paper solutions under timed conditions.

• Action Items:

  • Stop studying topics in isolation. Pick a random Section B question from 2023, 2024, or 2025 and practice answering a multi-topic prompt.

  • Re-draw every major graph from memory.

  • Review the examiner marking schemes to see exactly what qualifies as a "Significant Relevant Point" (SRP) worth full marks.

1. Neglecting the "SEE" Structure: Students frequently lose marks in short questions and long-form definitions by simply stating a fact. Always use the State, Explain, Example method to guarantee full marks.

2. Sloppy Graph Labeling: Economics is a visual subject. Examiners deduct easy, avoidable marks when students forget to label the horizontal axis (Quantity), the vertical axis (Price), or fail to properly denote original and new curves (e.g., D1 to D2).

3. Confusing a 'Movement' with a 'Shift': This is a classic technical trap. Students often incorrectly draw a full shift of the supply or demand curve when a question specifically asks about a change in the selling price, which only causes a movement along the existing curve.

4. Ignoring the Contextual Prompt: Section B questions frequently ask you to apply theory to the current Irish economy or a specific real-world scenario. Students who reel off generic textbook answers without linking back to the specific prompt (e.g., current inflation rates or the housing market) lose critical application marks.