Choosing Where to Place Economics in the EB Examination Structure
Marta is an s7 student who needs a final EB grade of at least 8.0/10 in Economics for her Dutch university offer. Her compulsory written exams are L1 English, L2 French, and Mathematics. She must choose two further written subjects and two further oral subjects from: Economics, History, Geography, Biology. She must also choose a compulsory oral from L1 English or L2 French (choosing History/Geography through French would use one of the four subjects, leaving too few for the other requirements). She cannot take the same subject as both written and oral. Her A marks are: Economics 8.5, History 7.5, Geography 7.0, Biology 6.5. Her Pre-Baccalaureate scores are: Economics 7.0 (weak on data-response), History 8.0 (strong essays), Geography 7.5, Biology 6.0. Teachers note she is articulate in class but rushes written data-response questions. The Economics written exam is data-heavy and time-pressured; the Economics oral is a 20-minute document-based presentation. History written requires three essays in four hours. She has limited revision time and wants to protect her overall average.
1. Recommend which two further written subjects and which two further oral subjects Marta should choose, and state whether Economics should be written or oral. Justify using her marks, exam formats, and university requirement.
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Compulsory oral: Choose L1 English. As a native speaker, this is the lowest-risk high-score option. L2 French is fluent but the oral exam may test literary analysis; L1 is safer.
Economics: Take it as an oral subject. Her A marks (8.5) show strong continuous performance, and her teacher notes she is articulate. Her Pre-Bac written was 7.0, and she rushes data-response questions-exactly what the written exam tests. The oral exam (20-minute document-based presentation) plays to her verbal strengths. To reach a final 8.0, if the preliminary mark is roughly 7.75 (average of 8.5 and 7.0), she would need about 8.25 in the exam component (assuming 50/50 weighting). An oral performance is more controllable through preparation.
Remaining subjects: Keep Biology as an oral subject because her written Pre-Bac is weakest (6.0) and the written Biology exam is content-heavy. Take History and Geography as written: History Pre-Bac 8.0 (strong essays) and Geography 7.5 are solid. Her second oral becomes Biology, which is a risk, but it is better than risking a written Biology exam. She can mitigate by focusing on a few oral topics.
Final recommendation: Written: History, Geography. Oral: Economics, Biology. Compulsory oral: L1 English.
2. Suppose the university lowers its requirement to a pass (5.0/10). How would your recommendation change, if at all? Explain the trade-offs.
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If only a pass is needed, the pressure to optimize Economics is lower. The recommendation may stay broadly the same because the allocation still maximizes her overall average: Economics oral, History and Geography written, Biology oral. However, the justification shifts from risk management in Economics to overall grade optimization. With a low pass threshold, she could consider taking Economics as a written subject to reduce her oral preparation load (she already has two further oral subjects plus the compulsory oral). That would free her from preparing a 20-minute Economics presentation and allow more time for Biology oral or other subjects. But it exposes her to the data-response weakness. The trade-off is: written Economics may lower her Economics grade but could raise her overall average if it frees time for stronger subjects. Given her current marks, the original allocation still seems best for overall average, but she could switch if she is confident in her data-response skills after practice.