Examination Skills & Cheat Sheet

In the exam, you can achieve marks through each of the following:

Knowledge - Defining business terms that are used in the question.

- If the question is about marketing plans of a sole trader, then definite ‘marketing
(K) plan’ and ‘sole trader’ to get these marks.

Application - Talking specifically about the business in the question.

- If the question is about a hair salon, don’t say product or service, instead say
shampoo & condition or haircut.
(AP) - Try to refer to the information about the business in your answers.

Analysis - Using the concepts of business to explain things.

- Examining the impact on a business of information provided.
(AN) - Using information and explaining its impact on a business.

Evaluation - Making judgements (which are supported) or recommendations (which are

justified) by the things you’ve written.
- For top marks, the evaluation must be directly applied to this business (so you
(EV) must consider the key features of the business in question).

Syllabus Grid (Approximately)

Before the exam, check out the syllabus grid to know what kind of skills the exam is focusing on.

Knowledge Application Analysis Evaluation Total

P1 40 16 16 8 80

P2 24 16 24 16 80

Marking Breakdown (GCSE)

P1 Knowledge Application Analysis Evaluation

Define [2] 2 0 0 0

Identify Four.. [4] 4 0 0 0

Outline [4] 2 2 0 0

Explain [6] 2 2 2 0

Justify [6] 2 0 2 2

P2 Knowledge Application Analysis Evaluation

Explain Two.. [8] 2 2 4 0

Explain Four.. [8] 4 0 4 0

Justify [12] 3 2 3 4
Short Answer Questions

Define [2] - 2K

Q. Define ‘fixed costs’’ [2]

- Costs that do not vary with the number of items sold or produced (K)
- In the short term (K)

Tip: Have 2 clear different points to get both marks.

You can give an example to show your understanding.

Calculate [2] - 2K

Q. Calculate the total weekly costs of the new airport service. [2]

- Correct formula (K)

- Correct answer (K)

Tip: Make sure you write the formula so you get some marks, even if your numbers are wrong.

Identify / Outline TWO [4] - 2K / 2AP

Q. Identify two ways that the size of Omar’s business can be measured [4]

- Number of employees (K) - Omar only employs three drivers, so with so few drivers he cannot really
be described as a large business (AP).
- Market share (K) - With only three drivers, it is unlikely to be the largest taxi business in the city so it
won’t have a lot of passengers (AP).

Tip: State two ways and apply them to the case study.

Identify FOUR… [4] - 4K

Q. Identify four factors of production. [4]

- Land (K)
- Labour (K)
- Capital (K)
- Enterprise (K)

Tip: Sometimes, you’ll be asked to “Identify four…”, this will be 4K marks (no explanation needed).

Explain [6] - 2K / 2AP / 2AN

Q. Explain two ways that Call4Cabs could promote their new service. [6]

- Leaflets (K) - Omar could have leaflets in his taxis which he could hand out to existing customers
(AP). This means he is targeting his promotion at people who already trust his business (AN).
- Radio (K) - He could advertise on the local radio station because his business is only located in one
city (AP). This means more locals will hear about C4C and use it in future (AN).

Tip: Define each and then explain them, relating to the business.
You should have two short paragraphs.
 Justify [6] - 2K / 2AN / 2EV

Q. How should Omar advertise his taxi company? Justify your answer [6].

- Leaflets (K) - He can put advertising leaflets in his taxis and allow his customers to take them for free
(AN).
- Radio (K) - He could advertise on the local radio station to get more well-known in the city (AN).
- He should use leaflets because it is the cheaper of the options (EV). Also, people who use taxi
services will see the leaflets and those are the people more likely to use the service again (EV).

Tip: 1 short paragraph FOR (related)

1 short paragraph AGAINST (related)
1 short paragraph concluding (make a decision, try to say something NEW).

Essay Questions
In all essays, use lots of connectives “Therefore / This means that / This leads to / Because / Consequently..

Explain Four… [8] - 4K / 4AP

Q. Explain four methods the restaurant owner could use to communicate with his staff. [8]

- Text message (K). He can text his waiters, and they can see the message instantly and re-read it if
they forget (AN).

- Letter (K). This can be used for more formal things, such as offering someone a job or making
someone redundant (AN).

Tip: Write 4 sentences with 4 different types (Above is an example of 2 of the sentences).
You don’t need to evaluate, so no conclusion.

Explain Two… [8] - 2K / 2AP / 4AN

Q. Explain one advantage and one disadvantage of Brilliant Bikes using batch production. [8]

PERE PARAGRAPH
- P Batch production is a flexible way of working (K)
- E So they can quickly change production to make more or less bikes, easily (AN)
- R This means the business can respond to a sudden change in demand for their bikes (AP)
- E So they should be able to make more revenue / profits (AN)

Tip: Write 2 paragraphs about 2 separate things (Above is an example of 1 paragraph).

Use PERE (one is done above for you).
You don’t need to evaluate, so no conclusion.
Justify [12] - 3K / 2AP / 3AN / 4EV

Q. Brilliant Bikes are considering whether to use primary or secondary market research to find out if
people like their new bike design. Which should they use? Justify your answer. [12]

INTRODUCTION
- Market research is the process of collecting, recording and analysing data about customers,
competitors and the market for a product. (K)

PERE PARAGRAPH (1)

- P Primary market research is up-to-date (K)
- E So the business will know exactly how people feel about the bikes, today (AN)
- R So they know if the bike design are attractive to customers and choose to produce more/less (AP)
- E This will stop them from wasting money making a product that people don’t want to buy (AN)

PERE PARAGRAPH (2)

- P Secondary market research is cheaper (K)
- E Because the information can be taken from the internet, so the business won’t need to pay (AN)
- R So they can find out whether consumers like to buy racing bikes or mountain bikes (AP)
- E This means that they can try to produce more of those style bikes and make more sales (AN)

CONCLUSION
- Brilliant Bikes should use primary market research (EV)
- Because there won’t be any market research already available online about the design of bike that
‘Brilliant Bikes’ just made (EV)
- Although secondary market research is cheaper and easier to collect (EV), the information won’t be
relevant for finding out what bike design people like (EV)

Tip: Look at two sides of the argument and make a recommendation based on them.
- Introduction sentence defining 1 or 2 of the words in the question.
- 1 body paragraph (PERE) giving detailed arguments for one side.
- 1 body paragraph (PERE) giving detailed arguments for the other side.
- 1 conclusion paragraph with your final decision and reasons for this. Say something new!