perfect paper plc case study answers

Richard Clutterbuck

Education Consultant

“Come on, I’ve given you the mark scheme, you should be able to write a perfect answer…”

At the moment, as I prepare Year 11 for their mock exams in Business Studies and Religious Studies, my use of mark schemes is a regular part of my teaching, helping me create model answers and fleshing out my explanations. Being able to access the GCSE mark schemes is very helpful, but if they are to be useful to the pupils, their application needs to be explicitly taught in the same way we would with any new resource, or piece of knowledge.

This blog is about how I have used word diagrams to enhance my use of mark schemes which in turn are helping the pupils to learn how to answer GCSE exam questions, in this case for GCSE Business Studies. I have used this approach in Religious Studies too and believe that it would work across a range of subjects.

Below is a case study from Edexcel’s Business Studies assessment material. It features the company ‘Loco’ who design and manufacture stand-up paddle boards (SUP). This case study is typical of what the pupils will encounter in the GCSE exams. It starts with an overview of the business, describes what the company does, and the final paragraphs tend to hint at what needs to happen next to improve/expand the business. Pupils are required to apply their knowledge of business to the case study, and answer a range of questions about the business.

Here is a Justify question based upon the case study.

Justify questions carry 9 marks, they start with a statement as to what the business wants/needs to do. They have two options and then the command word in the question which asks pupils to justify their answer.

Answering these questions is fairly formulaic: start with option 1, outline the benefits and how they would impact on the business, contrast with the downsides of option 1 and impact on the business, follow this with option 2 and again outline benefits and how they would impact, follow with the downsides and show how they would impact. Then finish with a justification based on what you have outlined previously.

It may seem fairly straightforward but there is quite a lot of knowledge and skills to manage:

• Identify and use the correct knowledge from business
• Use relevant information from the case study
• Link the information from the case study with the relevant business knowledge
• Think about the structure and remember what’s required for each option.
• Use tier 2 and 3 language and ensure the writing is fluent within and between paragraphs.
• Craft an opening and finish with a meaningful conclusion justifying your choice.

Now it seems quite a lot to take in.

But I want my pupils to be able to do all of this because they can , and I expect them to be able to do this. And through the process of teaching them how to do this, managing their cognitive load is vital. So using the mark schemes does take a lot of pressure off the pupils, allowing them to concentrate on form and structure while they are learning how to answer these questions, as well as learning the curriculum.

Here is the mark scheme for the Justify question above.

As you can see, above is the ‘indicative content’ and below are the level descriptors.

Now, I want all the pupils writing to level 3 so I need to make sure that I am modelling and explaining what those descriptors mean and what this looks like in the form of an answer. Giving the pupils the indicative content means that I can concentrate on the form and structure needed in the written response and ensure that the pupils practise this.

However , it will come as no surprise to you that simply shoving the indicative content under their noses, modelling some level 3 written answers with them, and then directing the pupils to write their own versions doesn’t have the desired effect. When I have done this, I have ended up spending most of my time having to explain the indicative content instead of working on the form and structure.

On reflection it’s pretty obvious why giving the pupils a mark scheme is not a sliver bullet. Understanding the mark scheme (why the material was chosen) is easy for expert thinkers but far harder for the pupils who are still coming to terms with the content: they don’t have the knowledge-specific schema so they can’t identify what should and shouldn’t be in the answer. And as mark schemes tend to be linear, the indicative content does not show how the concepts relate to one another.

This is where my use of word diagrams has come to the rescue. Taking the indicative content in the first instance, I need to be able to show pupils how the content is not only relevant to the Justify questions but show the connections and relationships between the knowledge. For the Justify question, the word diagram needs to be able to show how one piece of knowledge leads on to another piece of knowledge but is also able to show comparison and contrast between the two options, and the cause and effect of each option on the business.

Below is the word diagram I created based on the indicative content

How it works

• Loco is at the centre, option 1 on the left and option 2 on the right
• Solid lines show positive impact
• Dotted line show negative impact
• The layout of the diagram shows cause and effect on ‘Loco’ at the centre
• The use of words in boxes and phrases on lines show relationships between the indicative knowledge
• The diagram also shows which option has the most significant impact on Loco.

Here’s how I created and used it

• I created my own at home prior to working with the pupils so I knew where I wanted to end up but in the classroom we created it together
• Having shown the pupils the case study and ‘Justify’ question I shared the indicative content of the mark scheme with them (not the level descriptors)
• I positioned the question and the mark scheme on the left hand side of the whiteboard leaving space on the right for creating the word diagram.
• Using A5 pieces of paper and masking tape I questioned the pupils using think pair share and cold calling to help identify the key nouns/concepts from the mark scheme. I wrote these on to the A5 sheets of paper.
• I then positioned option 1 and option 2 and Loco on the white board as they appear in the finished word diagram, this way the pupils understood that both options relate to the business in the centre.
• We then spent some time agreeing where to position the other A5 sheets of paper then adding lines between them showing how they relate to one another principally through cause and effect.
• At each stage of the diagram’s creation I was able to call on pupils to use it to answer parts of the question. I would point to a place on the diagram and pupils would read out what we had created I would then get them to repeat it with connectives, sentence starters, tier 2 and 3 vocabulary.
• Once the diagram was finished on the board, I modelled its full use in answering the question. Then ‘picked on’ pupils to approach the board and do the same as I had done. I made them to trace their finger along the diagram while elaborating on what was written. And each pupil had to say it better than the previous pupil.
• At the end of the lesson I took a photo of the diagram and used the photo to turn it into the PPT above.
• The next lesson I gave each of the pupils a copy of the diagram and independently they wrote their own answer to the ‘Justify’ question.

Reflections

Turning the mark scheme into a word diagram allows pupils to see how each piece of knowledge relates to the next. And how the diagram is laid out shows pupils what the structure of a Justify question looks like when applied to the content of the question.

Creating it with the pupils allowed me to covertly introduce the level 3 descriptors through my explanations, modelling and questioning.

The quality of writing from the pupils as a group has improved significantly from previous efforts with the aid of the diagram. Using the diagram has not limited the quality of answer from those pupils who already operate at level 3, rather it gave them a platform to dig deeper into their knowledge and make connections beyond the indicative content.

I need to improve my orchestration of the pupils while the diagram was being created; some of my questioning was a little superficial, and in some instances I just needed to tell the pupils instead of seeing if they could guess what was in my head. Nevertheless, the exercise has proved worthwhile and the pupils seem more confident with what’s required for a Justify answer. We need to go again with new questions to make the method habitual so they can do it independently,  but all-in-all, the use of word diagrams to help pupils make sense of mark schemes works.

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• Pingback: Mark schemes revisited or “Not another mark scheme… I still don’t know how to answer the question.” – Richard Clutterbuck

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Case Study "Before One PLC" for IBDP Business May 2024 Exam

The much-awaited IBDP Business case study for the upcoming May 2024 Examination has now been unveiled. You can download the M24 Business Case Study here .

Are you ready to enjoy this “Musical Festival” with business management case study?

The IBDP Business Management Paper 1 exam is scheduled for Friday, 26 th April 2024. For detailed information on the examination schedule, click here .

What is the Paper 1 Assessment?

Paper 1 in IB Business Management  encourages a comprehensive approach to the subject. It evaluates all five units of the syllabus and includes an Extended Response Question (Essay) section for Higher Level (HL) students. This assessment task challenges students to enhance their analytical and critical thinking abilities.

What is this M24 Case Study all about?

The IB Organization has released a pre-released case study featuring "Before One PLC," a company that organizes music festivals since 200.

This case study is centered around the idea that global music festivals are on the rise, featuring diverse locations and genres, from commercial events on farmland to community-led gatherings in public parks. One PLC (BON), a European company organizing festivals since 2001, transitioned to a public limited company in 2016 for expansion.

With 60 permanent employees and reliance on temporary workers, BON hosts five festivals yearly, paying farmers an average of $100,000 per event. Cleanup costs average $250,000. The festival season runs from May to August, with each event spanning Friday to Sunday, requiring two weeks for setup and one for dismantling. BON faces challenges in environmental sustainability.

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Grasp the Case Study : Invest time in carefully reading and analyzing the case study. Make notes, highlight key details, and create a concise summary.

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Practice Mini Case Study for AQA A-Level Business Paper 2 - ITV plc

2nd March 2020

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Here is a practice case study with some 9 analysis and 16 mark "open" questions for student preparing for AQA A-Level Business Paper 2.

The case study is on ITV plc.

There is no formal mark scheme for these questions. However, we'll produce some example answers to several of the questions over the next few weeks and post links to them here once ready.

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