AQA Business A2 Unit 4 exam 21st Jan

Your teacher is exagerrating, at my sixth form I am doing coursework for unit 5, we have made a brief start and decided what we are doing, but barely anything actually done yet!!
Force them!!

Hmmm so how long would the c/work actually take? About a week? lol

I am joking kind of, but seeing as the exam is an hour and a half surely the coursework should be short too? Only fair.

Hi, just thought I'd add my thoughts...

To echo what a few other people have said, I can't believe how much there is in this exam!! If they insist on having so many topics they should increase the amount of questions and offer fewer marks for each. Otherwise they should reduce the amount of subjects in the syllabus and the same amount of questions.

But I digress.

I think I can do CPA, formulas, etc etc but the one thing I'm struggling to get to grips with is Marketing - how to approach the questions, for a start, and what kind of structure I can put in place behind my answer. The whole concept frustrates me because it's so abstract and intangible - it's not like finance where you've got a series of figures in front of you that can't be argued with.

Some of the questions just make me want to throw the folder at the wall!

Glad I'm not the only one!! Except I'm the opposite - love marketing, I can apply myself to it, but really hate all the finance. It's not exactly mind numbing stuff - your memory is what gets you through it - but I didn't choose Maths or Accounting. This is Businesses, why so much finance and less theory? Hmmmm. Ah well. We're all in it together!

And remember this time tomorrow it will all be over

what grade does everyone aim to get?

That's reassuring, even if we do appear to be the opposite

What concerns me is that when I'm going through the questions, if I understand them I can come up with some ideas but they're NEVER the ones that are highlighted as possible answers in the mark scheme. I know the lists in there aren't intended to be exhaustive but it really does make me concerned that the ideas I'm coming up with aren't the ones listed.

To highlight a question I would never have a clue on, R&D:

b) If PIQ decides to adopt strategy 2, to what extent should it rely on an increase in research and development spending to enable it to charge high prices for its skiwear?

-POSSIBLE ANSWERS INCLUDE-
• R&D can develop new materials to improve performance, eg help you ski faster, this would add value and therefore allow price increases.
• R&D can develop new materials that allow different textures/colours/styles, giving higher fashion potential – again adding value.
• But many other things affect pricing potential, notably design, quality of manufacture, place (where your products are distributed) and brand image.
• So it is improbable that successful R&D on its own could enable PIQ to charge higher prices for its skiwear, it would need to be one part of a whole strategy.

Good God.