Business studies is a modern, real-world subject. It is the most popular business subject and is widely regarded as the easiest of the three but there is a lot more to it than you might think. The exam is three hours long and is broken into three sections:
How to get a H1 in Leaving Cert Business
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Michael got a H1 in Leaving Cert Business Studies and in this guide, he shares what he learned.
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Jump to:
Introduction
Short questions
The applied business question (ABQ)
Long questions
Just like the real-world business environment, the Leaving Cert Business exam is always changing. Candidates are now more frequently expected to apply what they have learned to a particular scenario, rather than simply regurgitate the facts learned directly from the textbook. Hopefully, this guide will be of some help to you for the exam come June.
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Preparing for business
Business is one of the bigger courses in the Leaving Certificate and the textbook is quite large. However, the theory isn’t overly complicated so with an effective and efficient study technique, you are well on your way to a good grade.
It is your job as a student to condense the information from the textbook into sizeable chunks and here are a few simple methods that I used when studying business that I found particularly useful:
Notes
When studying, it is important that you write out your own notes from the textbook. This is called 'active learning' and is far more efficient than just reading the book alone. Studies show that you remember 10% of what you read but 60% of what you write. When I had written out my notes, I closed the textbook and tried to write out the notes again afresh. This will show you what you know and don’t know.
Use colour
Highlight key words and write sections with different colour pens. The brain is more sensitive to different colours and this makes you more likely to remember the most important information.
Exam papers
Try and answer questions from exam papers or Studyclix as often as possible. This should only be done after a chapter has been studied as it will give you a taste of a real exam situation. Make sure to check the marking scheme afterwards as it will show you where marks are awarded and what the examiner is expecting from you. Similarly, if your teacher assigns you a question for homework, study the material first and then answer the question without your notes. I found that this is the most effective way of learning all the material.
Prioritise
As the applied business question (ABQ) will be asked on specific units (e.g. 4, 5 and 6), these units should be at the core of your studies because the material from them will appear in the short and long questions too.
Resources
Make good use of online resources such as Studyclix and examinations.ie. The Chief Examiner’s Report which was released this year on the examinations.ie website will show you exactly what the examiners are looking for. Likewise, keep an eye out on the discussion forum on Studyclix and feel free to answer any questions people may have there as explaining concepts to people who don’t understand them is always an effective form of study.
Current affairs
Listen to the news regularly as much of the news is relevant to the business course. Take for example the Volkswagen emissions scandal which was mentioned in last year’s paper. By knowing these topics, you will be more capable of thinking critically about them in an exam situation and coming up with advantages/disadvantages, etc. in an answer.
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The exam
Let's have a look at tackling the different sections of the exam:
Short questions
This section accounts for 20% of your overall mark. There are 10 questions and you must answer 8 of them. These questions come from all the units on the course and I advise answering all 10 questions if possible as some short questions can be answered quite quickly and you are more likely to get higher marks in this section as a result.
This is by far the easiest and the quickest section of the exam with each correct answer worth 2.5% of the overall exam. The questions are usually made up of 2 points (5+5 or 4+6). Here's some more information and tips for this section:
Timing
You should spend no more than 25-30 minutes on this section. This leaves 3-4 minutes on average to answer each question.
Acronyms
Make of list of all the acronyms such as DIRT, PAYE, IDA, etc. as you make your way through the course. More often than not, there is a short question on these.
Definitions
Examiners are looking for clear and concise information in the short questions. Do not write longer than the lines provided as it means you are not being concise enough. By learning off definitions, you will get straight to the point. Try and offer an example when suitable as it shows the examiner that you understand what you are talking about.
Ratios
Ratios regularly appear in this section so it is worth learning them. Once you know them, they are very easy marks to pick up.
Practice, practice, practice
You should aim to complete a set of 10 short questions every week between now and the exam. A lot of the questions tend to reappear so if you have practiced them enough, you should have no problem here.
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The ABQ
This question is worth 20% and is compulsory. It involves applying business theories to a text concerning a particular business. Remember that the answer is there on the page and you must structure yours. Most of the marks lost here are due to an incorrect answering style. Here's some more information and tips for this section:
Using highlighters
I brought 3 different coloured highlighters into the exam for the ABQ. I assigned each highlighter a particular question in the ABQ and then proceeded to highlight all the content in the passage relevant to that question with that particular highlighter. This saved me a lot of time as I didn’t have to go looking for the information once I had found it.
Timing
You should not spend more than 40 minutes on this question. After 10:40 a.m. on the day of the exam, you should have completed both the ABQ and the short questions. In comparison to the long questions, there are fewer marks going for this question so you must move on if you have exceeded the time frame. Divide these 40 minutes up in accordance with the marks awarded for each individual question.
Marking scheme
The SEC tend to mark the ABQ in an un-traditional way. Usually in the long questions, you get 5 marks for every point made but this is not always the case, especially in the ABQ (see example below).
Marking scheme example from Q.1 of the 2016 ABQ:
Q. “Ryan Cullen has developed effective management skills”. Would you agree with this statement?
A. Yes = 3 marks
Q. "Outline reasons for your answer, with reference to the text of the ABQ".
A. Name = 3 marks
Explain = 3 marks
Link = 3 marks
3 x 3 marks = 27 marks
Total marks = 30
Marks were awarded for answering 'yes' to the question asked. Candidates were then expected to realise that there were only 3 management skills that could be dealt with effectively in this question which meant that it wasn’t going to conform to the traditional marking system.
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Long questions
This section is worth 60% of your overall mark and you must answer 4 questions (one from Part 1, two from Part 2 and one other question). Each question is based on a particular unit(s):
Part 1 | Part 2 |
|
|
The answers do not need to be too long. Use bullet points and be concise (waffling gets no marks).
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Useful information
Here's some more information and tips for this section:
Timing and marking
Generally, every 5 marks means that you should make one relevant point. You should spend about 2 minutes making one point which means that you should spend 24 minutes on each long question (each is worth 60 marks).
Read every part of the question
Before choosing a particular question, read every part of it (there is no point in doing a question just because you know the answer for the first part). I recommend reading each question carefully twice to understand what is being asked and then briefly planning out your main points to avoid having to think on the spot when writing the answer. This will save you valuable time.
Mini ABQ questions
In recent years, there have been short business-related stories attached to the long questions. You are expected to reference these stories in your answers to obtain top marks.
Reverse questions
Sometimes a question may be asked in a different way to how you may have learned it. For example, if you learned about the advantages of teamwork, the question may ask about the disadvantages of having employees work alone. Here, you would be expected to apply what you know to the question.
I recommend sticking with the questions that are either right or wrong such as break-even graphs, ratios, tax calculations, etc. These questions have a smaller chance of being subjective and are more likely to get you higher marks.
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Structuring your answers
All of your answers should follow the following format:
- 1
State: a clear heading, e.g. "Manpower Planning".
- 2
Explain: explain what is meant by the heading, e.g. “Manpower planning is the process of estimating or projecting the number of personnel required for a project with different skillsets over a predefined period of time”.
- 3
Link to the text: this involves taking a direct quote from the text that demonstrates the particular business theory.
- 4
Outcome verb: you must answer the question that has been asked. For example, if the verb used was 'evaluate', you must give your own opinion of the business concept with reference to the text.
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Outcome verbs
The following are some examples of outcome verbs and what they mean.
Evaluate | Give your opinion at the end of the answer. |
Outline | Briefly explain the clear heading. |
Analyse | Give advantages and disadvantages. |
Compare/differentiate | Examine 2 or more ideas to show the similarities and differences. |
Illustrate | Explain with an example. |
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Final tips
Final tips
Night before the exam
If you are doing the French or history exam the day before the business exam, make sure that you get a good night’s sleep and eat some nutritious food. There is really no benefit in cramming the night before. The course in business is rather long so you must study consistently throughout the year to get a good grade.
Don't panic
Don’t panic if you can’t answer a question. Take a deep breath, tell yourself that you know the answer and that you can do it. If you start to get worked up in the exam, you might ruin your mindset for other questions. Don’t let one question throw you off.
Be tidy
Try and keep your work neat and tidy and start every question on a new page. Just like when you’re studying, use different colours and highlighters and this will all make your work easier to read and the examiner is more likely to give you marks if they can see what you are doing.
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Best of the luck in the exam! You'll be great.
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Michael R got an H1 in his higher Leaving Cert Accounting paper. He’s now doing Dental Science in Trinity College Dublin.