CCEA A Level Business Studies lives and dies on two or three huge essays a paper, up to 25 marks each: how to use the exact case numbers, avoid one-sided arguments, and stop losing NPV and gearing marks to sloppy working.
Students may use a calculator in the examination for both A2 1 and A2 2. The general JCQ and CCEA rule applies on top of that permission: the calculator must have no lid or case with printed instructions or formulae, must not offer symbolic algebra manipulation or a connection to another device, and must not have any retrievable information stored in it, including saved formulae, notes or programs. Clear the memory before the exam and use exam mode if your calculator has one.
AO1: AO1: demonstrate knowledge of terms, concepts, theories, methods and models to show an understanding of how individuals and organisations are affected by and respond to business issues. (23%)
AO2: AO2: apply knowledge and understanding to various business contexts to show how individuals and organisations are affected by and respond to issues. (25%)
AO3: AO3: analyse issues in a business, showing an understanding of the impact of external and internal influences on individuals and organisations. (25%)
AO4: AO4: evaluate quantitative and qualitative information to make informed judgements and propose evidence-based solutions to business issues. (27%)
用途: Get each year's discounted cash flow accurately before summing them, rather than losing track of a running total in your head.
使用時機: For investment appraisal questions that give a table of cash flows and discount factors and ask for net present value.
步驟
Calculate each year's discounted cash flow on its own before summing: cash flow for the year, multiply, discount factor for that year, equals. Write down each year's result, then add the full list at the end rather than trying to accumulate a running total in your head.
考試提示: This is a live, step by step keystroke sequence performed on the exact figures given in the exam. CCEA and JCQ rules do not allow any formula, discount table or program to be stored in the calculator beforehand. Clear the memory before the exam and use exam mode if available.
Gearing and liquidity ratios on the fly
用途: Get a gearing or liquidity ratio directly from the case study's balance sheet figures.
使用時機: For questions asking you to calculate and interpret a gearing ratio or the current ratio from the case study.
步驟
Build each ratio as a single divide, immediately followed by multiplying by 100 where a percentage is wanted: for gearing, non-current liabilities divided by capital employed, times 100. For the current ratio, current assets divided by current liabilities, left as a ratio rather than a percentage.
考試提示: Perform each ratio calculation live from the figures printed in the case study for that series. No ratio formula, template or program may already be stored in the calculator when the exam begins.
常見錯誤
1high涉及分數: 4Business Strategy and Planning
Describing a strategic model, such as a decision tree, the Balanced Scorecard or the Boston Matrix, without critiquing its practical limitations, its reliance on estimated data, or its cost to implement.
如何避免: After explaining what the model shows, add a sentence on what it assumes or ignores, such as the fact that a decision tree is only as reliable as its probability estimates, and tie that limitation to the case.
2high涉及分數: 3Business Objectives
Restating figures from a table or graph in the case study verbatim, without calculating the size of a change or discussing what it means for the business's decision.
如何避免: Never quote a number on its own. State what changed, by how much or what percentage, and what that change implies for the strategic decision being evaluated.
3medium涉及分數: 3Economies and Diseconomies of Scale
Confusing internal economies of scale, such as technical, managerial and purchasing economies, with external economies of scale that come from the whole industry growing in one location.
如何避免: Learn the split as a fixed pairing: internal economies come from the firm's own growth and include technical, managerial and purchasing economies; external economies come from the industry around it.
4high涉及分數: 6Resistance to Change
Presenting a one-sided argument in a 20 or 25-mark evaluation essay, which restricts the answer to Level 2 or low Level 3 regardless of how much is written.
如何避免: Give roughly equal space to both sides of the argument, each developed with case evidence, before a separated final paragraph that states a decision and the deciding factor.
5high涉及分數: 4Decision Tree Analysis
Failing to integrate the exact numerical data given in the case into an essay's argument, such as not quoting the specific expected net outcomes or the stated probability of failure in a decision tree evaluation.
如何避免: Note down the two or three key numbers from the case before writing, and use each of them by name at least once inside the body of the essay.
6medium涉及分數: 3Company Accounts and Ratio Analysis
Treating a high current ratio or high gearing as automatically good or automatically bad, without recognising that both carry trade-offs, such as excess liquidity meaning idle cash, or debt-funded expansion raising financial risk.
如何避免: State the ratio, then explain both what it enables the business to do and what risk it carries, such as idle cash on one side or debt-funded growth on the other, rather than labelling the number simply good or bad.
7medium涉及分數: 2Investment Appraisal
Losing marks on a net present value calculation by not showing each year's discounted figure separately, or making an arithmetic error in the final total that a marker cannot trace.
如何避免: Write each year's present value on its own line in the table before adding them, so method marks are available even if the final total contains an error.
8high涉及分數: 5Trading Globally
Weak quality of written communication in the large essays, with unclear paragraph transitions and thin use of specification-specific business terminology.
如何避免: Plan each essay in labelled paragraphs before writing, one side, the other side, then judgement, and use the exact terms the specification uses for each concept rather than looser everyday language.