Exam Skills

Work Smart

Command word Assessment Objective Marks

Identify AO1a/b 1 per

statement

Explain Ao1a/b & AO2 2 marks per

part

Analyse A01,AO2 & AO3A 3 marks per

part

Evaluate/Discuss AO1x2, AO2x2, AO3ax2

AO3B x3 (conclusion )

7/9 marks

Recommend AO3b

On balance …. It depends….. However……..

3 marks

Tongue twister

One smart fellow; he felt smart.

Two smart fellows; they felt smart.

Three smart fellows; they all felt smart.

And they all felt smart together.

A01

• AO1a – knowledge

• A01b- understanding

• Evaluate the marketing mix…..

• The marketing mix is is the 4 p’s (AO1a) it is

made up of product, price, place and

promotion (AO1b)

A02

• Put answers into context

• Apply answers to what you have be told in the

text

• Easiest way is to use quotation marks

• Link your business sense to the text you have

been given i.e. who are their competition

How to apply (AO2)

• Application is required in most of the questions in Section B. This is why the text at the start of questions has been provided.

• Questions that require application will always contain the name of the business or the stakeholder to which the knowledge or understanding must be applied

• Explain why setting objectives is important to a company like boots uk?

Example answers

Or

There maybe lots of people in the meeting so it could

make it challenging to get the information across. This

may lead to staff not knowing about important messages

“about promotional events during the weeks leading up to the busy Christmas period”

Explain a disadvantage of Boots UK using meetings to communicate with staff?

(2)

AO3a Analyse

• Analysis is about impact, effect, reaction and consequence.

• It will always be a skill that is asked in context – in other words, the answer must be applied to the data given.

• The focus of the analysis should be obvious from the question.

• The answer will often need to be ‘built up’ to through the lower assessment objective skills.

AO3a

• Examiner will not award mark for ‘this means more profit for the café

• After applying then there should be a chain of

impacts

• Must be relevant and logical

Example

• Analyse the use of meetings at this time of year for Boots UK

There maybe lots of people in the meeting so it could make it challenging to get the information across. Therefore leading to staff not knowing about important messages “about promotional events during the weeks leading up to the busy Christmas period” This may lead to poor reputation and therefore poor profit

Or

There maybe lots of people in the meeting so it could make it challenging to get the information across. Therefore leading to staff not knowing about important messages “about promotional events during the weeks leading up to the busy Christmas period” This may lead to poor customer service in the stores. Which may lead to increased queues during the period. Which could cause lots of customer complaints and reduced sales.

Recommend/ conclusions

• Judgment/recommendation – this can be a

judgment either way

• Justification of that judgment – this is not

more analysis, but some attempt to weigh up

the analytical factors already analyzed in the

previous question

• Use of the text/data in the justification

Evaluate (A01-A03b)

Paragraph 1 A01 (knowledge)

A02 (developed in context)

A03a ( analysis chain)

3 Marks

Paragraph 2 A01(knowledge)

A02 (developed in context)

A03a ( analysis chain)

3 Marks

Conclusion A03b-On balance….. A03b-justifiy……However

A03b-Overall…..in context

3 marks

Evaluate whether apple should use primary or secondary methods of research for

the features of the new Airpod earphones (9)

AO3B Conclusions and recommendation

• Same approach for both

• Starts with ‘on balance’ • Examiner likes the phrase ‘however’ • Overall or context

Structure

Judgement On balance I think apple should primary

research because it gives first hand data

Justify judgment against the alternative

This means that the data will give then more

competitive data against the Google version

however it will cost more than secondary

In context Overall I think that the primary research will

help apple meet their objective “ improve customer satisfaction”

Evaluate whether apple should use primary or secondary methods

of research for the features of the new Airpod earphones