GCSE (9-1) Business ‘Justify’Exemplars from the 2019 exam series

Marked student responses with examiner commentary

© artwork: Mark Bolitho | Origami photography Pearson Education Ltd/Naki Kouyioumtzis

Justify–Paper 1 - Exemplar1(1BS01)Question6(c)

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Commentary:

Thereareanumberofapproachestothe‘Justify’question,andthiscandidatehaschosentopickoneoption, and then consider the strengthsandweaknessesof thisoptionbeforearrivingat ajustifiedconclusion. Importantly,thereisno‘rightorwrong’answerwithJustifyquestions;theirpurposeistoallowcandidatestostructureanargumentthatisbasedintheparticularcontextofthequestion.Inthiscase,thecontextisadessertmanufacturer,LastCoursePatisserie.

ThecandidatechoosesOption1-toinvestinnewmachinery.Theyuseappropriateterminologythroughouttheresponse,forexample,bymakingtheinitialpointthatthiswill leadtoincreasedproductivity.Theydevelopthispointthroughlinkedstrandsofdevelopment,andalsoattempttocontextualisethepoints(contextshownbytheblueboxes).

The candidate thenoffers a secondparagraphwhichdealswith thedisadvantagesofOption1.Onceagain there is someattempt at contextualisation and some terminology is used. The finalparagraphoffersa conclusionwhichweighsup theextent towhichOption1wouldbebest forLastCoursePatisserie.

Over the full response thecandidatehasgenerated5 logical linkedstrandsandasa result theysecureLevel3forA03aor‘Analysis’.Evaluation(AO3b)isalsoprovidedandisenoughtosecureLevel 3.Application is presentbut is notquite strongenough for Level 3. The candidatemakessome reference to the ‘cake business’ but there were opportunities to further embed theresponse in the context of this particular business/market. Level 2 was awarded for AO2.Therefore,thecandidatealsoscoresLevel3forAO3aandAO3b,andLevel2forAO2.UsingthebestfitapproachthismeansthefinalmarkisLevel3-8marks.

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Justify–Paper 1 - Exemplar2(1BS01)

Commentary:

ThiscandidatechoosesthesameapproachasthecandidateinExemplar1.ThecandidatechoosesOption 1 - to invest in new machinery. They use appropriate terminology throughout theresponse,forexample,bymakingtheinitialpointthatthiswillleadtoincreasedefficiencyforthe

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business. They develop this point through linked strands of development, and also attempt tocontextualisethepoints(contextshownbytheblueboxes).

The candidate thenoffers a secondparagraphwhichdealswith thedisadvantagesofOption1.Onceagain there issomeattemptatcontextualisationandsometerminology isused. The finalparagraphoffersa conclusionwhichweighsup theextent towhichOption1wouldbebest forLast Course Patisserie. The conclusion is balanced by considering the timescale, namely thepossibleeffectsintheshortterm.

Over the full response thecandidatehasgenerated5 logical linkedstrandsandasa result theysecureLevel3forA03aor‘Analysis’.Evaluation(AO3b)isalsoprovidedandisenoughtosecureLevel3. ApplicationispresentandisstrongenoughforLevel3.Therefore,thecandidatescoresLevel3forAO2,AO3aandAO3bwhichmeansafinalmarkofLevel3-9marks.

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Justify–Paper 1 - Exemplar3(1BS01)

Commentary:

This response is to Question 7d on Paper 1 and is based on the Aphrodite case study. ThiscandidatechoosesOption1-‘obtainingabankloan’-asthebestmethodforthebusinesstofunditsexpansion. Theyprovidesomecontextualisationbyusingdata fromthecasestudy- interestratesbeingjust0.25%intheUK.Fromtheinitialpointtheyprovidesomevalidlinkedstrandsofdevelopment.

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The candidate thenoffers a secondparagraphwhichdealswith thedisadvantagesofOption1.There is an attempt at contextualisation, but this is simplistic and does not go far beyondreferenceto‘clothingshop’,althoughthereisareferencetoaproductAphroditesells.

Over the full response thecandidatehasgenerated4 logical linkedstrandsandasa result theysecure Level 2 for A03a or ‘Analysis’. Evaluation (AO3b) is also provided in the form of a finalconclusion,butthisisatasimplelevelandcannotproceedbeyondLevel2.ApplicationispresentthroughouttheresponseandwassufficientforLevel2. Therefore,thecandidatescoresLevel2forAO2,AO3aandAO3bwhichmeansafinalmarkofLevel2-6marks.

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Justify - Paper 2 - Exemplar4(1BS02)

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Commentary:

This response is to Question 7d on Paper 2 and is based on the Sainsbury’s case study. Thiscandidate choosesOption2 - ‘increasewages - as thebestmethod for thebusiness to fund itsexpansion. They provide some simple contextualisation by using data from the case study byreferringtoacompetitorofSainsbury’s,Aldi.Fromtheinitialpointtheyprovidesomevalidlinkedstrandsofdevelopment.

NotehowthecandidatethendriftsfromthequestionbyconsideringthebenefitstoSainsbury’sofincreasingwages,ratherthantheimpactonmotivation.

Anotherreasonforusingthisexemplaristoshowhowtheapproachusedinthesecondparagraph- explainingthedrawbacksoftheoptionnotchosen-isnotanexampleofEvaluation

Over the full response thecandidatehasgenerated2 logical linkedstrandsandasa result theysecureLevel2forA03aor‘Analysis’.Evaluation(AO3b)isnotpresentandcannotaccessLevel1.ApplicationispresentbutislimiedandjustgetsintoLevel1.Therefore,thecandidatescoresLevel1forAO2,Level2forAO3aand0forAO3bwhichmeansafinalmarkofLevel1-2marks.

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Justify–Paper 2 - Exemplar5(1BS02)

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Commentary:

This response is to Question 6c on Paper 2 and is based on theMind Candy case study. ThiscandidatechoosesOption2-‘sharecapital’-asthebestmethodraisingfinance.

Thecandidateofferssomesimple linkedstrandsofdevelopment inconstructing their response.Thereare-just-5strands,whicharesufficienttoreachLevel3forAnalysis(AO3a).Applicationisless strong. There is a simple reference to ‘Petlandia’, but overall application is ‘limited’ andthereforewithinLevel1.There isasimpleconclusion,but this isa little formulaicanddoesnotoffermuchnewandoriginalinsight,despitetheattemptatusingan‘itdepends’approach.

Therefore,thecandidatescoresLevel1forAO2,Level3forAO3aandLevel1AO3b,whichmeans,usingthebestfitapproach,afinalmarkofLevel2-4marks.

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Justify–Paper 2 -Exemplar6(1BS02)

Commentary:

Thefirst,andobvious,observationwiththisresponseisthatitisverylong.Excessivelyso,infact,withsomerepetitionthatmusthavecostthecandidatetimelaterinthepaper.Nonetheless,thisisagoodresponsewithvalidpointsbasedonthechosenoption,andwitheffectivebalanceandEvaluation.

Over the full response thecandidatehasgenerated5 logical linkedstrandsandasa result theysecure Level 2 for A03a or ‘Analysis’. Evaluation (AO3b) is also provided in the form of a finalconclusionaswellasinconsideringthedrawbacksofthechosenoption.Applicationispresentbutis a little formulaic, with simple references to ‘gaming company’, etc. However, this was justaboutstrongenoughforLevel3.Therefore,thecandidatescoresLevel3forAO2,AO3aandAO3bwhichmeansafinalmarkofLevel3-9marks.

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