IB Business Management HLTopic 7 — Exam Skills and AssessmentPapers 2 & 3Exam skill~8 min read
Scoring Full Marks on 6-Mark Questions
Six marks means three points, each worth a maximum of two. The command is usually analyse, and analysis has a very specific meaning: not just naming an effect, but following it through to what it does to this business.
The points are usually a mix of advantages, disadvantages and implications — read the question to see how many of each.
Each point can earn a maximum of two marks, so a fourth point adds nothing.
Every point must be supported by evidence from the case study.
The second mark comes from developing the point — showing the effect on the business, not just naming it.
No judgement is needed. Analysis stops before evaluation.
What “analyse” actually means
Analysis is a chain. You name something, say why it happens, and then say what it does to the business in front of you. A sentence that stops after the first link is a statement, not analysis, and it earns one mark instead of two.
The word “which means” is the hinge of the chain. If it never appears, the point is probably undeveloped.
The sentence shape that earns both marks
This happens … because … and for this business that means …
Reading the question carefully
Six-mark questions usually tell you the mix. “Analyse two advantages and one disadvantage” is an instruction with a number in it. Give three advantages and you have thrown away two marks, no matter how good the third one is.
Plan in the margin. Write three words — adv, adv, dis — before you start. It takes ten seconds and stops you drifting into a fourth point or a one-sided answer.
WORKED EXAMPLE
Analyse two advantages and one disadvantage for Kettle Row of opening its first store in a neighbouring country. [6]
Kettle Row is a chain of 14 coffee shops with a strong brand at home, where the market is close to saturated. Its head office already runs the supply chain for all 14 shops. The neighbouring country has lower rents, a different language, and two large coffee chains with 60% of the market between them.
Advantage 1
Entering a new market lets Kettle Row grow when its home market cannot.
The home market is close to saturated, so the 14 existing shops are competing for the same customers — a new country gives it fresh demand and protects revenue.Advantage 2
Spreading fixed costs over more outlets lowers the cost per shop.
Head office already runs the supply chain, so extra stores share that cost, and lower rents abroad mean each new shop breaks even at a lower level of sales.Disadvantage
Entering a market dominated by established rivals is expensive and slow.
Two chains already hold 60% of the market, so Kettle Row would need heavy promotion in a different language just to be noticed, raising costs before any revenue arrives.2 + 2 + 2 = 6 marksEach point names an idea, then follows it through with a fact from the case. No conclusion is needed — that would be evaluation.
Students often ask why their six-mark answers score four. Nine times out of ten it is three correct points with only two of them developed. The knowledge is there; the “which means” is missing.
Where the second mark goes missing
Compare these two versions of the same point. Both are correct. Only one is worth two marks.
Version
What it says
Marks
Undeveloped
Lower rents abroad would reduce Kettle Row’s costs.
1
Developed
Lower rents abroad reduce fixed costs per shop, so each new store breaks even at a lower level of sales than the 14 at home.
2
💡 Exam tip
Three paragraphs, one point each. Never merge two points into one block of writing.
Count the mix in the question before writing, and stick to it exactly.
Use a linking phrase in every paragraph: which means, so, as a result, therefore.
Put a case study fact in every paragraph. Three points need three separate pieces of evidence.
Do not evaluate. Six marks does not ask you to decide, so skip the “overall” sentence.
Watch the clock: at roughly two minutes a mark, this is a twelve-minute answer, not a mini essay.
⚠ Common mix-up
Writing four or five points. Only three can be credited, and thin points cost you the depth on the good ones.
Giving three advantages when the question asked for a disadvantage as well.
Listing effects without reasons. “Costs would fall” is a claim; the reason is what earns the mark.
Using the same evidence three times. Each point needs its own support.
Adding a conclusion. It is not credited at this level and it eats time you need elsewhere.
Confusing analyse with describe. Describing what the business does is not analysing what a decision would do to it.
Up next: Scoring Full Marks on 10-Mark Questions — where balance, theory and a real conclusion start to matter.
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