What you need to know

Senior Business Studies exams test two things at once: whether you know the syllabus content and whether you can apply it to a situation. Most papers combine multiple-choice questions, short-answer questions based on a short stimulus (a scenario, table or statement) and one or more extended responses that expect you to draw on a real or hypothetical business. The command term at the start of a question tells you the depth required. Misreading it is the most common way strong students lose marks: describing when asked to evaluate caps your answer at the lower bands no matter how much you know. Exam formats differ between states and courses, so check the structure and timing of your own paper early in the year.

Short-answer questions

• Read the stimulus twice and underline the facts you can use: numbers, the stage of the life cycle, the type of business.
• Use the mark allocation as a guide: roughly one developed point per mark, and never leave a 4-mark question with a single sentence.
• Answer in the terms of the question. If the stimulus names a business, refer to it by name in your answer.
• Where calculations are involved (ratios, break-even, turnover), show the formula, the substitution and the result with units, then interpret it.

Planning the extended response

1. Spend three to five minutes decoding the question: circle the command term, the syllabus concepts and any limits ('one business', 'two strategies').
2. Write a one-line thesis that answers the question directly. For an 'assess' question, that is your judgement.
3. Plan three to five body paragraphs, each on one concept or strategy, each with a piece of case study evidence attached.
4. Order the paragraphs so the strongest point comes first and the argument builds towards your conclusion.
5. Leave two or three minutes to write a conclusion that restates the judgement and, if appropriate, a recommendation.

A reliable paragraph structure is Point, Explain, Evidence, Link. Point: state the idea and connect it to your thesis. Explain: show the business theory behind it (how and why it works). Evidence: a specific fact from your case study, ideally quantified. Link: return to the question, making the judgement explicit. Below is a model paragraph built on a fictional case study, Southern Reef Apparel Pty Ltd, a made-up Australian swimwear business. In your own exam you would use a real business you have studied, or the hypothetical business supplied in the question.

Check yourself

1. What is the difference between 'distinguish' and 'compare'?
2. Which command terms require you to make a judgement?
3. Where in an 'evaluate' response should the judgement first appear?
4. What do the four letters in the Point, Explain, Evidence, Link structure stand for, and which part carries the case study?
5. A 6-mark short-answer question says 'Explain how two financial strategies could improve liquidity.' How many strategies, and what must each include?
6. Why should case study evidence be quantified where possible?

Answers: 1. 'Distinguish' asks only for differences; 'compare' asks for similarities and differences. 2. Assess, evaluate, discuss (weighing up), justify, recommend/propose and 'to what extent'. 3. In the first sentence, then sustained through every paragraph. 4. Point, Explain, Evidence, Link; the Evidence step carries the case study. 5. Exactly two strategies; each must show how and why it improves liquidity (cause and effect), not just name it. 6. Specific figures show the marker you can link theory to measurable outcomes and make the judgement convincing.