Cambridge IGCSE Business Studies (May/June) Official Thread

Reply 20

Athena99

Do they send out the paper as soon as the students hand it in?

Reply 21

Athena99

Original post by TheBirder

If you wrote over the barcode you definitely should tell your exams officer. That might be quite a big problem...

Wait the barcode is on every page or just the first one? I don't think I wrote over all of the barcodes

Reply 22

TheBirder

14

Original post by Athena99

Wait the barcode is on every page or just the first one? I don't think I wrote over all of the barcodes

The barcode is on every page. They are scanned into the system and tracked by a computer with the use of the barcodes and there is a different barcode for each page of each exam.

Reply 23

Athena99

Original post by TheBirder

The barcode is on every page. They are scanned into the system and tracked by a computer with the use of the barcodes and there is a different barcode for each page of each exam.

They're in the top corner right? I only wrote in the bottom

Reply 24

TheBirder

14

Original post by Athena99

They're in the top corner right? I only wrote in the bottom

Yes in the top corner. However the stuff outside the markers showing the margins may not be scanned at all or not scanned properly. I still suggest you speak to your exams officer about your concerns.

Reply 25

ndk123

14

i wrote beneath the lines, is that a problem? and right till the end of the page for some questions, is it okay?
i didn't write in any bar code or anything.

by the way how did you find the paper? i found some parts quite challenging.

Reply 26

tomtimpson

1

Yeah, I wrote beneath the lines and to the bottom of pages for almost all questions as I didn't use any continuation paper. I don't think it's a problem.

Most of it was OK but the question mentioning Taylor's theory I though was difficult, and worded badly, so I'm not exactly sure what it was asking.

Reply 27

TheBirder

14

Original post by tomtimpson

Yeah, I wrote beneath the lines and to the bottom of pages for almost all questions as I didn't use any continuation paper. I don't think it's a problem.Most of it was OK but the question mentioning Taylor's theory I though was difficult, and worded badly, so I'm not exactly sure what it was asking.

I read somewhere (I think on an examiner report maybe?) that the examiners will mark everything that they see even if it's not on the line so as long it was not in the margins I think they'll mark it.

I didn't really have a problem with the Taylor question. I was worded a bit weirdly but what they were asking is why Taylor's motivation might not apply to that business (the farming one I think).
I just wrote that it's difficult to measure how much output each worker makes since they all work together to produce the fruit and aren't responsible for one each since with Taylor's theory you have to pay based on productivity.
And for the other point I wrote that they might not be motivated financially and other things such as being outside on the farm might be more important for them.

I kind of found the last question quite hard since there was some stuff about the economy which is the hardest part in my opinion. I'm not sure about my answer to that two mark question about what shows the economy is growing. I just put the currency could be getting stronger and there is more spending by the people and government.

Reply 28

tomtimpson

1

Original post by TheBirder

I read somewhere (I think on an examiner report maybe?) that the examiners will mark everything that they see even if it's not on the line so as long it was not in the margins I think they'll mark it.

I didn't really have a problem with the Taylor question. I was worded a bit weirdly but what they were asking is why Taylor's motivation might not apply to that business (the farming one I think).
I just wrote that it's difficult to measure how much output each worker makes since they all work together to produce the fruit and aren't responsible for one each since with Taylor's theory you have to pay based on productivity.
And for the other point I wrote that they might not be motivated financially and other things such as being outside on the farm might be more important for them.

I kind of found the last question quite hard since there was some stuff about the economy which is the hardest part in my opinion. I'm not sure about my answer to that two mark question about what shows the economy is growing. I just put the currency could be getting stronger and there is more spending by the people and government.

I take your point about the Taylor question, other ways of motivating other than money seems sensible.
Conversely, I didn't have a problem with the q.4 2 marker, I put GDP increasing and Falling unemployment.

Reply 29

TheBirder

14

Something rather funny happened during my business exam that I thought I might mention.
We had some visitors from Cambridge from my school. The exams officer was rather flustered, and he actually did the official procedures and read out the thing that he's supposed to read at the start and end properly, which he never did before. :tongue:

Reply 30

get_in_the_robot

13

Original post by TheBirder

Something rather funny happened during my business exam that I thought I might mention.
We had some visitors from Cambridge from my school. The exams officer was rather flustered, and he actually did the official procedures and read out the thing that he's supposed to read at the start and end properly, which he never did before. :tongue:

mine does it every single time. what a drag tbh!

Reply 31

get_in_the_robot

13

Original post by TheBirder

It's a bit more tricky for paper 2 since there are 8 and 12 mark questions too, but I can post my advice on those closer to the date.

Any advice? :tongue:

I;m bricking it tbh.

Reply 32

TheBirder

14

Original post by get_in_the_robot

Any advice? :tongue:

I;m bricking it tbh.

Sure, this is a mixture of my own experience and a document that my teacher gave out on how to approach the questions.

In terms of time, it's pretty much the same as with paper 1 with 1 mark per minute and 20 marks per question with 10 minutes to spare. However you will need that 10 minutes to analyse the case study. My teacher advised the class to actually make notes in the case study booklet and analyse it before even beginning to look through the questions.

On this paper there will be four 8 mark questions and four 12 mark questions adding to a total of 80 marks.

Using the case study is extremely important and there are a lot of application marks on this paper, also every point must be relevant to the case study. For example if you are asked to suggest marketing strategies you cannot suggest nation wide TV ads for a small sole trader business as that would not be appropriate.

The insert: This will have information about a specific business and there will usually be some sort of changes happening to it or choices that it will have to make. There will also be three appendices and one of these will usually (always?) be some sort of financial information eg. a balance sheet, cash-flow forecast, break-even chart, or profit-and-loss account one of the appendices is also often an advert for the business but other things that you could have could be an email from someone, a memo, a new law, a customer review, etc. My teacher also says that it will look good to the examiner if you link the information in the different appendices together in your answers.

8 mark questions: These will probably be divided into two parts and each part will be 4 marks. It is likely that the marks will be 1 knowledge 1 analysis and 2 explanation but I would probably give 2 bits of analysis each with some sort of application as well as the knowledge. There is a lot of information from the case study so you need to use a lot to get full marks, as said above the knowledge marks have to be for something that is applicable to the case study.
My teacher suggests that for each 4 mark section we should do three sentences, one that is the knowledge, then two sentences giving some sort of explanation and analysis of the knowledge with at least one point of application with each point of explanation. That should ensure full marks for the 8 markers.

12 mark questions: they are a bit more complicated, but they will probably be sub-divided into three or four sections each being worth either three or four marks. It will most likely be choosing between a few options that the business could do. For each of the options you need to explain at least one advantage and a disadvantage (unless of course the question is structured differently specifically asking for something else) and depending on whether it's four or three marks, give an appropriate amount of explanation with it. to be sure of full marks you need to give one development and one application per mark. eg. if that part is worth three 1 knowledge and then two development+application or if it is worth four then three development+application. Of course as much application to the case study as possible should be included.
At the end, there will be either three or four marks for a recommendation of which you think is best. This should be justified with application to the case study, and a good technique which my teacher has suggested is to give your suggestion and then say 'however this depends on...' and then talk about something that may or may not happen in the future which is linked to the case study. eg. competition, customers, amount of money, changing economy, what the employees want, etc.
Also, for all questions but particularly the long 12 markers, keep reading back over the question to make sure you haven't strayed off topic at all.
And one more point, these 12 mark questions are marked according to a level mark being either a level 1, 2, or 3 answer. Have a look at a mark scheme for more information.

Hopefully that explanation is somewhat useful. It has certainly helped organise my own thoughts and summarise what my teacher wrote as advice. She also said that the stuff that wasn't on paper one is more likely to come up here.

Reply 33

ndk123

14

WOW! The paper 2 advice really helped me! Thanks!!!

If you don't mind, what topics came out in paper one? (i completely forgot them :/) and what are your predictions for paper 2 then?

Thanks in advance :smile:

Reply 34

TheBirder

14

Original post by ndk123

WOW! The paper 2 advice really helped me! Thanks!!!

If you don't mind, what topics came out in paper one? (i completely forgot them :/) and what are your predictions for paper 2 then?

Thanks in advance :smile:

I don't really remember exactly what was on the paper either :tongue:

There was a question about the economics section, there was the question about the farm which had some motivation stuff and that question about the minimum wage and if it will benefit employees or not. There was that question about the drinks factory and I think there was something about lean production (wasn't one of the questions about Just-in-time?). And a fourth question that I've totally forgotten :tongue:

.

However, my teacher looked through the papers for the last few years and the paper 1 this year and made a prediction on the exam (I think she's my only teacher that actually wrote a prediction, most are too scared to guess :tongue:

).

This is the stuff that was new on the syllabus in 2015 and has never been examined so is likely to come up:
- Globalisation (Multinationals, threats and benefits to business especially)
- Social enterprises

This is stuff that hasn't been on much or at all in the last three years:
- Specialisation
- Stakeholders
- Leadership Styles
- Market Segmentation
- Quality assurance vs control
- Factors in deciding the business location
- Overcome a cash flow problem
- Exchange rates
- My teacher thinks that we will either be given a balance sheet or a cash flow forecast as those haven't been on detail in a while

And she wrote a lot more stuff that is not super-likely but could come up:
- Added value
- growth (incl. problems)
- business objectives
- Other motivation methods (other than Taylor which was on paper 1)
- communication
- changing customer spending patterns
- product life cycle
- productivity
- businesses entering foreign markets
- factors that influence the choice of finance
- balance sheets
- how changing taxes affect business
- pressure groups
- externalities

Reply 35

get_in_the_robot

13

Original post by TheBirder

Sure, this is a mixture of my own experience and a document that my teacher gave out on how to approach the questions.

omg thank you sm!! You've been such a great help Thank you for the predictions, too. You might just have saved my grade haha.

Reply 36

thebusinessman01

7

PAPER 2
80 marks - worth 50% of grade
1 hr 30 (90 mins)

4 questions
a) 8 marks: Analysis and application
b) 12 marks: Discuss and recommend

In your answers for the 12 mark questions you should include a definition (not always true for definitions), one advantage and one disadvantage for each option. You need to elaborate on your advantages and disadvantages by saying why it is good or bad for the business and what it may lead to. You also need to apply your answers to the case study by giving figures, names, specific processes the business does such as batch production, what the business wants to do e.g. Since simon wants to be a sole trader he should.... etc. You must always think how your answer is relevant to the case study and how you can make it relevant to the case study

For formula questions, you must include your working out and the formulas e.g. profit margin = profit ÷ revenue x 100. This applies to both papers!

Reply 37

studier112

Original post by TheBirder

I don't really remember exactly what was on the paper either :tongue:

There was a question about the economics section, there was the question about the farm which had some motivation stuff and that question about the minimum wage and if it will benefit employees or not. There was that question about the drinks factory and I think there was something about lean production (wasn't one of the questions about Just-in-time?). And a fourth question that I've totally forgotten :tongue:

.

Hey, just wanted to say thanks for the predictions, they really helped me organise my last-minute revision! Also, I sat the exam on the 16th too - wasn't there a question where we had to calculate the cost of sales or something for a b) question? And yeah, there was a whole 6-mark question on JIT. My teacher told us that finance comes up every year, so it may probably come up in paper 2 as well, much to my entire class's consternation. We all hate finance, no exception. :/

Reply 38

thebusinessman01

7

Guys, how were your papers?
I forgot my calculator at home so I had to calculate the percentages myself. The percentages of gross profit and net profit margins were actually 75% and 25%. I got 70.5 and 20.5%. It looked wrong to me so I also stated the formulas for the calculations. Will my marks still be deducted?

Reply 39

TheBirder

14

Original post by thebusinessman01

Guys, how were your papers?
I forgot my calculator at home so I had to calculate the percentages myself. The percentages of gross profit and net profit margins were actually 75% and 25%. I got 70.5 and 20.5%. It looked wrong to me so I also stated the formulas for the calculations. Will my marks still be deducted?

What net and gross profit margins?
Which zone did you do, I guess not paper 21?

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