AS 91228 annotated exemplars

This annotated exemplar is intended for teacher use only. Annotated exemplars are extracts of student evidence, with commentary, that explain key parts of a standard. These help teachers make assessment judgements at the grade boundaries.

Download all exemplars and commentary [PDF, 513 KB]

TKI Economics assessment resources (external link)

For Excellence, the student needs to analyse comprehensively a contemporary economic issue of special interest, using economic concepts and models.

This involves:

• comparing and/or contrasting the impact of different causes on the contemporary economic issue
• comparing and/or contrasting the impact of changes in the issue on various groups of New Zealand (NZ) society.
• integrating changes shown on economic models into detailed explanations.

The student has comprehensively analysed the economic issue of New Zealand’s operating balance deficit. A detailed explanation is provided for the causes for the deficit. The student has used economic concepts, and integrated changes shown on the AS/AD model and Circular Flow model into the explanation (1).

The causes for the deficit have been compared and contrasted in a ‘greater than/less than’ sense in the analysis, integrating the language of the Circular Flow model (2).

The student has explained, in detail, the impacts on various groups of NZ society of changes made to reduce the operating balance deficit. Economic concepts and secondary sources of information have been used to support the explanation (3).

The student has compared and contrasted the impact of changes in a ‘greater than/less than’ sense in the analysis (4).

For a more secure Excellence, the student could also integrate the Circular Flow model into the explanation of the impact of changes on various groups in NZ society.

For Merit, the student needs to analyse in depth a contemporary economic issue of special interest, using economic concepts and models.

This involves:

• providing a detailed explanation of causes of the contemporary economic issue using economic models
• providing a detailed explanation of the impacts of the contemporary economic issue on various groups in New Zealand society.

The student has analysed, in depth, the economic issue of New Zealand’s operating balance deficit. The student has explained the causes of the deficit in detail, using economic concepts, and integrating changes shown on the AS/AD model and Circular Flow model into the explanation (5).

The student’s conclusion has compared and contrasted the causes in a ‘greater than/less than’ sense, using secondary sources of information (6).

The student has explained, in detail, how the impacts of changes made to reduce the operating balance deficit affected various groups of NZ society. The explanation used economic concepts, and integrated changes shown on the Labour Market model (7).

To reach Excellence, the student’s work would become comprehensive with further comparison, explaining why the impacts of changes made to reduce the operating balance deficit would affect some groups more or less than other groups.

For example, people affected by changes to tax policies are impacted less than those who have lost their jobs due to mergers of government agencies. Their income reduces to the unemployment benefit if they cannot find another job quickly, resulting in reduced household consumption and increased financial hardship, and reduced PAYE and GST tax revenue for the government (opportunity cost).

For Merit, the student needs to analyse in depth a contemporary economic issue of special interest, using economic concepts and models.

This involves:

• providing a detailed explanation of causes of the contemporary economic issue using economic models
• providing a detailed explanation of the impacts of the contemporary economic issue on various groups in New Zealand society.

The student has provided an in-depth analysis of the economic issue of New Zealand’s income and wealth distribution. The economic concepts related to the contemporary economic issue have been defined, and the student has used examples (8).

Causes of income and wealth inequality are explained in detail, using quoted and paraphrased statistical information, economic concepts, and the Lorenz Curve and Equity/Efficiency Trade-off models (9).

The student has explained in detail the impacts of the government redistribution and education policies on various groups of NZ society, and the effect of these policies on income and wealth inequality (10).

For a more secure Merit, the student could use the Equity/Efficiency Trade-off model and equity concept to support the explanation.

For example, the student could note that the change shown in the model improves vertical equity, however, there is a loss in efficiency (9). As an economy becomes more equitable (fairer), people receive closer to the same disposable incomes because some are paying larger amounts in tax, and this reduces consumption spending, which affects businesses and employment.

For Achieved, the student needs to analyse a contemporary economic issue of special interest, using economic concepts and models.

This involves:

• identifying, defining or describing concepts related to the contemporary economic issue
• providing an explanation of causes of the contemporary economic issue using economic models
• providing an explanation of the impacts of the contemporary economic issue on various groups in NZ society.

This student has defined the economic concepts related to the contemporary economic issue of New Zealand’s income and wealth distribution, and used examples (11).

Causes of income and wealth inequality are explained, using quoted and paraphrased statistical information, economic concepts, a Lorenz Wealth Curve and a Consumption Possibility Curve (12).

The student has explained the impacts of government redistribution and education policies on various groups of NZ society, and the effect of these policies on income and wealth inequality (13).

To reach Merit, the student could use the statistical data and Lorenz Curve model to illustrate and explain in detail whether income inequality has increased or decreased over the past decade or two. 

For Achieved, the student needs to analyse a contemporary economic issue of special interest, using economic concepts and models.

This involves:

• identifying, defining or describing concepts related to the contemporary economic issue
• providing an explanation of causes of the contemporary economic issue using economic models
• providing an explanation of the impacts of the contemporary economic issue on various groups in NZ society.  

This student has defined the economic concepts related to the contemporary economic issue of child poverty in New Zealand, using relevant economic information (14).

The student has explained causes of NZ child poverty, using quoted and paraphrased economic information, economic concepts, and a Lorenz Curve model (15).

The student has listed the various impacts on certain groups of NZ society, and explained what effect the charities, political campaigns and new education policies may have on NZ child poverty and inequity (16).

For a more secure Achieved, the student could use the Labour Market model to illustrate an increase in the supply of low skilled labour, and the effect of having a minimum wage rate on involuntary unemployment in this labour market (17).

For Achieved, the student needs to analyse a contemporary economic issue of special interest using economic concepts and models.

This involves:

• identifying, defining or describing concepts related to the contemporary economic issue
• providing an explanation of causes of the contemporary economic issue using economic models
• providing an explanation of the impacts of the contemporary economic issue on various groups in NZ society.  

The student has defined the economic concepts related to the contemporary economic issue of child poverty in New Zealand, using relevant economic information (18).

The student has partially explained causes of NZ child poverty, using quoted and paraphrased economic information, and economic concepts (19).

The student has listed the various impacts on certain groups of NZ society, and explained what effect the charities, political campaigns and new education policies may have on NZ child poverty and inequity (20).

To reach Achieved, the student could use the Labour Market model to illustrate an increase in the supply of low skilled labour, and the effect of having a minimum wage rate on involuntary unemployment in this labour market. The student could also use the Lorenz Curve model to illustrate and explain whether income inequality has increased or decreased over the last decade or two (21).