Exam Technique for Unit 1

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Exam Technique for Unit 1

• Getting it right!

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New exams, new techniques

• 66 of marks available for knowledge and
  application
• Must be able to define all terms
• Must be able to apply all terms to case study
• 24 of marks for analysis
• 10 of marks for evaluation

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Exam skills - knowledge33 of marks

• Read the question and define all the terms in the
  question
• Without knowing all the concepts in the syllabus
  you wont be able to understand the question!

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Exam skills - application33 of marks

• Application is about referring the definitions,
  business understanding and analysis to the
  business in the case study
• Is it a small or large business?
• What stage is it in the life cycle?
• What is the products income and price
  elasticity?
• What type of customers are they targeting?

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Tips on getting application marks

• Consider issues that are unique to the company
• e.g. how competitive is the market, who are the
  customers / suppliers, what size is the company -
  how well does it cope with growth, what is the
  cash flow / profit situation etc
• Put your answer in the context of THE company
• Just using the company name is not good enough!
• You can use quotes from the case study - but
  sparingly.

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Exam skills - analysis23 of the marks

• Command words are Analyse, Explain why and
  Examine
• Analysis uses business theory to develop a line
  of argument
• It is looking for CONSEQUENCES, CAUSES and
  EFFECTS of a particular content point

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Good ANALYSIS language to use

• because,
• therefore,
• as a result,
• so,
• this leads to,

• THINK
• Why is the point I have made important or
  significant for the company?
• Make a point and then think so what?

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Exam skills - evaluation10 of the marks

• Command words are Evaluate, Discuss and to what
  extent
• Need to show judgement, an understanding of the
  underlying issues and ability to draw a
  conclusion.
• Weigh up two sides of an argument and consider
  any other factors that may affect the outcome of
  what you have said.

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Good EVALUATION phrases to use

• Success depends on because
• On balance
• only be effective if

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Approaching the paper timings!

• Remember that there are TWO case studies to
  answer!
• Glance through BOTH case studies. decide which
  one to answer 1st!

• Then read all the questions of the 1st case study
  you are going to answer.
• Note the mark allocations and put down estimated
  times - remember 20 minutes are needed for the
  two 9 mark questions (one in each case study)

You MUST spend no more than 30 mins on the
1st case study!
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Approaching the paper

• Underline/highlight the business studies terms in
  each question and then the question words
• Brainstorm the longer mark questions (only for a
  few moments though) - jot down the sort of ideas
  you might be using in each question.
• This means that you might think of something else
  as you are writing another answer and you can add
  it in.
• LEAVE a significant gap between each answer. If
  you have time at the end. You could go back and
  ADD more to your answer.

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Approaching each question

• Even for the longer answer questions two well
  developed points are normally sufficient so dont
  panic if you cant remember lots of reasons
• Define/explain any business studies term
• Think quality, not quantity develop points with
  language like because, therefore, so

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Approaching each question

• NO to lists, lots of ANDS and ALSOS and also
  attempted jokes - examiners are grumpy! - cheer
  them up with good business studies answers
• KEEP LOOKING BACK TO THE QUESTION WHEN ANSWERING
  (every paragraph at least) - enhances chance of
  analysis marks
• CHUNKY PARAGRAPHS FOR EACH POINT - then leave a
  gap - gives the examiner a big clue you are onto
  the next point.