Tips for igcse exam (paper 1)

the exam has 5 small cases, which means aprox 21 min/ case study (+ 15 min for safety margin)
inside each text: a- 1 min; b- 2 min; c- 4 min; d- 6 min; e- 8 min
Always imagine youre the owner/ manager/ worker/ supplier/ client of that business !

for quest c+d, think before writing what adv/ disadv/ methods you know better (bcs you have to explain them)

for quest e, any answer is (almost) always accepted IF it is justified

for quest e, pay attention to key words, like:
-

"always" (eg: latest tech always reduces bs costs). the common (not always!) answer is this case is NO:
o

explain 2-3 adv of tech,

explain 2-3 disadv of tech (however)

short conclusion (in concl, overall, my opinion is that)

"best" (eg: buying a franchise is the best way to start a bs).

o

first line: there are more methods/ ways to . . . . (do what the question is about)

explain 2 adv of that method,

explain 2 disadv of that method (however)

suggest 2 other methods

short conclusion (in concl, overall, my opinion is that)

"analyse the financial situation of the bs"

o

check is the question is about:

profitability (SR, gross profit, net profit) or

liquidity (CA, CL) or

both of them (usually, some values goes up, the others go down)

classify with + and the changes in numbers from the table

if possible, calculate the difference between values as a % (eg: from 40 to 50 means +20%)

write in words what you discovered about the numbers

eg1: the table/ text shows that SR increased from 200 to 300, which means + 50%. in the same time,
gross profit increased from 80 to 100, which means + 20%

eg2: the table/ text shows that CA increased by 25%- bcs the bs has double stocks, while CL
increased by 20%- bcs the bs has a smaller overdraft

calculate RATIOS

profitability ratios: gross profit%, net profit%, ROCE

liquidity ratios: CR, QR (remember: they are NOT %)

eg1: as a result, gross profit% decreased from 40% to only 33.3%, which means that the bs uses less
efficient its resources (important for investors)

eg2: as a result, CR increased from 1.5 to 1.7. which means the bs can cover better its short termdebts (important for banks and suppliers)

short conclusion (eg: Michel should be happy about the liquidity of the bs, but he should pay more attention
to VC, to improve profitability)

"choose between 2 things (2 locations/ 2 strategies/ 2 sources of finance/ 2 products/ etc)"

o

always, think about the profit (adv) + cost (disadv) of each option

classify with + and the adv+ disadv of each option in the text/ table

first line: there are more factors to consider when taking such a decision

for option 1: explain 2 adv + 2 disadv (choose the most relevant)

for option 2: explain 2 adv + 2 disadv (choose the most relevant)

short conclusion (in concl, overall, my opinion is that)

And again, always imagine youre the owner/ manager/ worker/ supplier/ client of that business!