The applied business question [ABQ]

[80 Marks]

The applied business question is a detailed piece of text given to the students relating to three specific units of the course. This year the ABQ is based on Units 5, 6 and 7. The text is often relating to a business, a product or a service scenario. It is accompanied by three questions which can relate to any component of these three units. As a result, I must stress that students should study all elements of these units to be prepared for any question which may arise.

A common problem that students have with this question is finding information in the text to use as a link in their answer. A method I find effective when answering this question is a three-pen approach. I advise students to read each question carefully, underlining the outcome verb and what the question is essentially asking you to answer. [The 2015 Chief Examiner’s Report highlighted that many students failed to understand the outcome verb being asked in the question, this resulted in a loss of marks. Remember this section accounts for 20% of the paper, and marks cannot afford to be lost here.]

Students should then begin reading the ABQ and underlining whatever point of information they feel corresponds to each question in the colour assigned – this is an approach I find works well. It breaks up the text into manageable parts for the student, as they are able to distinctly see where the different colours are.

Timing in this section is crucial. I assign a maximum of 35 minutes to this question and students should endeavour to watch their timing when practising this question.

Below is a solution to the 2013 ABQ ‘Galaxy Games Ltd.’ based on Units 5, 6 and 7.