[politics_student]

Hi everyone, just a quick question and I would really appreciate it if anyone could help me out.

I am currently studying International Business for A2 level in Business Studies combined with Economics (Edexcel), I do find it interesting; however something that concerns me for the summer exam is my timing.

Last month we did a mock and a couple of days ago I completed a past paper, and my timing is very poor. I missed a couple of questions in time conditions and I rushed a few questions that I did answer. My feeling is that I tend to over-think and analyse questions, so this wastes time. For a few questions they just require a quick answer; however I take time to develop an argument and a developed analysis. I read an examiner report and it commented on how this can be a potential downfall for such students.

An obvious answer is to practice frequently and perhaps do the most important questions near to the beginning. If anyone is studying this module, I'd be grateful if you could share some tips.

Thank you for reading this, and thanks in advance for any replies.

[AlexBrown1994]

I'm doing just business studies and did unit 3 in jan, but I got a C! We looked at the marks we got and I was actually only 6 marks off and A and because of time I didn't answer and 8 mark questions so it was very annoying! I have been doing individual questions and timing myself at the same time, so just put like a timer on your phone or whatever according to a minute a mark and see how you do. The problem is that you don't have time to think about questions, you literally have to look at it once and begin to write while thinking about points at the same time. Or what is helpful is very quickly put ideas at the top of the page after reading the question and then answer.

Hope this helps!

[politics_student]

(Original post by AlexBrown1994)
I'm doing just business studies and did unit 3 in jan, but I got a C! We looked at the marks we got and I was actually only 6 marks off and A and because of time I didn't answer and 8 mark questions so it was very annoying! I have been doing individual questions and timing myself at the same time, so just put like a timer on your phone or whatever according to a minute a mark and see how you do. The problem is that you don't have time to think about questions, you literally have to look at it once and begin to write while thinking about points at the same time. Or what is helpful is very quickly put ideas at the top of the page after reading the question and then answer.

Hope this helps!

Thanks. (Sorry for the late reply, I thought this thread "died"!)

My timing has been better as I've managed to get As in the exam. The biggest issue for me is referring to the case-study. I seem to be OK with the application on the 6/8 mark questions, but for the evaluation questions they want more. I've read quite a few examiners' reports, and they said the best way to "contextualise" is to see if you can replace the company / country and if it still makes sense, it's not very well contextualised.

It's an interesting course just the fact that there is very little time to think. If I do plan, the time goes quickly and I am left rushing at the end. Also it would be easier if there was an insert for the case-studies as I would be able to refer to it more effectively.

Anyway, thanks for the tips, and good luck if you're doing it this Thursday.

[AlexBrown1994]

How did you think it went? I thought it was ridiculous there wasn't anything about china and india considering there's a whole section on the syllabus for them haha. I thought the timing was alright but the questions weren't the best!