IB Business Management SLTopic 7 — Exam Skills & AssessmentPaper 1 & 2Exam skill~11 min read
Scoring Full Marks on 4-Mark Questions
A 4-mark question is not “a 2-mark question but longer”. It is two separate 2-mark answers stacked on top of each other. Once you see it that way the whole thing gets easier, because you already know how to score 2 marks — you just have to do it twice, with two different ideas.
📚 What you need to know
4-mark questions are marked as 2 + 2. Two points, each worth two marks.
Each point splits again: 1 mark for the business knowledge and 1 mark for applying it to the case study.
Explain at this length usually wants one advantage and one disadvantage.
Describe usually wants two factors, reasons or limitations — both pointing the same way.
Construct asks you to draw or complete a chart, and the marks are for labels and accuracy, not for neat colouring.
Two well-applied points beat four rushed ones. There is no fifth mark for extra effort.
What “2 + 2” actually looks like
Think of the mark scheme as a small grid with four boxes in it. Two boxes for knowing your business theory, two boxes for tying that theory to the firm in the case study. You need to tick all four.
Knowledge mark
Application mark
Point 1
A correct business point, clearly stated
Evidence or detail from the case study
Point 2
A different correct business point
Different evidence from the case study
That word “different” in the bottom row matters. If you use the same piece of case-study evidence twice, the examiner has nothing new to tick. Pick two separate details from the text.
Amber is the business theory anyone could write. Blue is the part that could only be about Sunbeam.
Explain questions (4 marks)
At four marks, “explain” nearly always means one advantage and one disadvantage. Read the stem carefully: if it says “one advantage and one disadvantage”, giving two advantages caps you at 2 marks no matter how good they are.
🧩 The four-mark Explain method
Paragraph 1: “One advantage is…” — name the benefit.
Then “…because at [firm]…” — pull in a detail from the case study.
Paragraph 2: “One disadvantage is…” — name the drawback.
Then “…because at [firm]…” — use a different detail.
WORKED EXAMPLE
Explain — one advantage and one disadvantage
Case study: Sunbeam Cafés runs six seaside coffee shops. Trade is very quiet from November to March and extremely busy at weekends in summer. The owner is thinking about putting new staff on zero-hours contracts. Staff turnover is already high and several long-serving baristas have said they want steadier hours.
Explain one advantage and one disadvantage to Sunbeam Cafés of using zero-hours contracts. [4]
Advantage
One advantage is lower wage costs, because Sunbeam only pays staff on the busy summer weekends and not through the quiet November to March period. ✓✓
Disadvantage
One disadvantage is that it could push staff turnover even higher, because Sunbeam’s long-serving baristas have already asked for steadier hours and may leave for a job that offers them. ✓✓
two ticks each: the point, then the bit of the case study that proves you read it.
Describe questions (4 marks)
Describe works the same way, but the two points usually point in the same direction. “Describe two limitations…” means both of your points should be limitations. Do not helpfully add a strength; there are no marks for it.
The other trap is stopping too early. “One limitation is the small sample size” is a point without a consequence. Say why that is a problem, and say it about this firm.
A sentence pattern that reliably picks up both marks: “One limitation is [X], which means [firm] might [consequence].” The “which means” forces you into the application mark.
WORKED EXAMPLE
Describe — two limitations
Case study: Fernwood Pet Foods is launching a grain-free dog food. To test the idea it emailed an online questionnaire to the 900 customers on its mailing list. It plans to use the replies to decide the recipe, the price and the packaging.
Describe two limitations of using an online questionnaire as primary research for Fernwood Pet Foods. [4]
Limitation 1
The questionnaire only went to Fernwood’s existing mailing list, which means it hears from people who already buy from it and learns nothing about the new customers the grain-free range is meant to attract. ✓✓
Limitation 2
Fixed online questions cannot be followed up, so Fernwood may find out that customers dislike the packaging without ever finding out why, making the design decision harder. ✓✓
both limitations, both tied to a real decision this firm has to make.
Construct questions (drawing a chart)
Construct questions hand you some numbers and ask for a diagram, most often a break-even chart. The good news is that these marks are almost mechanical: the examiner has a checklist and you can learn it.
1AXESOutput or units across, costs and revenue up
2LINESDraw and label FC, TC and TR accurately
3KEY POINTSMark break-even and the margin of safety
Before you draw anything, do the arithmetic. Contribution per unit is selling price minus variable cost per unit, and the break-even output is fixed costs divided by that contribution. Work those out in the margin, then plot them.
The two lines of working you always need
contribution per unit = price − variable cost per unit
break-even output = fixed costs ÷ contribution per unit
The margin of safety is the gap between where the business breaks even (2 000 lamps) and what it plans to sell (3 000 lamps).
WORKED EXAMPLE
Construct — a break-even chart
Case study: Lumo Lamps sells desk lamps for $40 each. Each lamp costs $25 in materials and direct labour. Fixed costs are $30 000 a year. The firm plans to make and sell 3 000 lamps.
Construct a break-even chart for Lumo Lamps and identify the break-even point and the margin of safety. [4]
Step 1 — contribution per lamp$40 − $25 = $15Step 2 — break-even output$30 000 ÷ $15 = 2 000 lampsStep 3 — break-even revenue and margin of safety2 000 × $40 = $80 000, and 3 000 − 2 000 = 1 000 lampsBE = 2 000 lamps ($80 000), MoS = 1 000 lampsplot those numbers, then label everything you have just worked out.
Draw straight lines with a ruler. It sounds trivial, but a wobbly total cost line that does not start at the fixed cost value is an accuracy mark gone, and it is the easiest mark on the page to keep.
💡 Exam tip
Write two clear paragraphs, one per point. White space on the page helps the examiner find your four ticks.
Start each paragraph with a signpost: “One advantage is…”, “Another limitation is…”. It makes your two points impossible to miss.
Use two different pieces of case-study evidence. Recycling the same quote does not earn the second application mark.
Check the stem’s wording: “one advantage and one disadvantage” is not the same instruction as “two advantages”.
On a chart, label as you draw, not at the end. Students who leave labelling to last run out of time and lose the easiest marks.
Around 5 minutes is right for a 4-marker. Two tight paragraphs, then move on.
⚠ Common mix-up
Writing one long point instead of two. A brilliant single point is capped at 2 marks out of 4.
Giving two advantages when a disadvantage was asked for. Half the answer earns nothing.
Describing the case study back to the examiner. Copying out a line from the text is not application until you use it to support a point.
Adding a conclusion. There are no evaluation marks at 4 marks. It is time spent for nothing.
Drawing a break-even chart with no numbers on the axes. The examiner cannot check accuracy, so the accuracy marks go.
Confusing the margin of safety with profit. The margin of safety is measured in units of output, not in dollars.
Up next: Scoring Full Marks on 6-Mark Questions — where you move from two points to three, and the examiner starts looking for a chain of reasoning.
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