IB Business Management SLTopic 7 — Exam Skills and AssessmentPaper 2Exam skill~10 min read
What Paper 2 Asks For
Paper 2 is the unseen paper with the numbers in it. No pre-release, no warning, and a calculator on the desk. That sounds harder than Paper 1, but it is actually more predictable — because a calculation is either right or it is not, and the marks for showing your working are there whether or not you like the topic.
What you need to know
Paper 2 lasts 1 hour 30 minutes, is worth 40 marks, and counts for 35% of your SL grade.
It is based on unseen stimulus material with a quantitative focus — expect tables, accounts and figures.
Section A is 20 marks and you answer all the structured questions.
Section B is 20 marks and you choose one of two sets, each ending in a 10-mark discuss question.
You need a calculator. A simple four-function one is enough.
Everything comes from the SL syllabus, units 1 to 5. HL extension topics are not on the SL paper.
Show your working and your units. Method marks are awarded even when the final number is wrong.
The shape of the paper
Section B here is worth twice what Section B is worth on Paper 1, and it still ends in a ten-mark discuss.
The quantitative side
This is the part that worries people, and it should not. The maths is arithmetic. What examiners actually reward is method: setting the calculation out, showing the steps, and putting a unit or currency sign on the answer.
The rule that saves marksWrong number, correct working
most of the marks are still yours
Right number, no working
fewer marks than you expect
Typical calculations include profit margins, percentage change, break-even output, contribution and figures pulled from final accounts. You are given the formulas you need, so the skill is choosing the right one and reading the data carefully.
Reading a break-even chart
Break-even comes up often enough that you should be able to draw one and read one. Here is a firm selling at $50 a unit, with variable costs of $30 a unit and fixed costs of $12,000.
Notice the total cost line does not start at zero. That single detail is the most common drawing error in the exam.
WORKED EXAMPLE
A firm sells at $50 per unit. Variable costs are $30 per unit and fixed costs are $12,000. Calculate the break-even level of output. [2]
Step 1: find the contribution per unit$50 − $30 = $20 per unit [1]Step 2: divide fixed costs by contribution$12,000 ÷ $20 = 600Break-even output = 600 units [1]Write the unit. “600” alone can lose you the second mark; “600 units” cannot.
WORKED EXAMPLE
Net profit fell from $42m in 2024 to $38m in 2025. Calculate the percentage change. [2]
Step 1: find the change$38m − $42m = −$4m [1]Step 2: divide by the original and turn into a percentage−$4m ÷ $42m = −0.0952−0.0952 × 100 = −9.52%A fall of 9.52% [1]Divide by the old figure, keep the minus sign, and round as the question asks.
The command words you only meet here
Two of Paper 2’s command words catch people out because they sit between the short ones and the long ones.
Command word
Marks
What it actually wants
State
2
Give the answer, no explanation. If the question says state two sources of finance, name two and stop.
Calculate
2
A number, arrived at by shown working, with the correct unit or currency attached.
Comment on
2
Say what the figure or trend means for the business. Not a definition, not a full explanation — an observation with a consequence.
Explain
2 or 4
Point plus application. For 4 marks, two points each applied to the stimulus.
Discuss
10
Both sides, developed and applied, finishing with a justified judgement.
“Comment on” is the one to practise. A good answer is two sentences: here is what the number shows, and here is why that matters for this business.
Timing
Forty marks in ninety minutes is roughly two minutes per mark, which is tighter than Paper 1. Ten minutes reading and picking apart the data, thirty-five minutes on Section A, forty on Section B, five to check.
Do the calculations first. Within a set of questions, calculations are the fastest marks on the paper and they often feed the later explain and discuss answers. Get the numbers down, then write around them.
If you are HL
Paper 1 is the same paper for everyone, but Paper 2 is not. HL students get 1 hour 45 minutes, 50 marks, and questions that can include HL extension topics. It is worth 30% of the HL grade rather than 35%. Everything on this page about method, working and command words still applies.
Exam tip
Always show working. Method marks are the cheapest marks on either paper.
Label every number. Units, currency, percentage signs, and “per unit” where it applies.
Underline the data you need as you read the stimulus. Tables often contain figures you will not use.
Check whether figures are in millions. Losing a factor of a thousand is a classic and avoidable error.
Read both Section B options before choosing. Look at the 10-mark question in each — that is where the choice really matters.
Take the calculator. A basic four-function one is all you need, but you do need one.
Do not round early. Round at the end, to whatever the question asks for.
Common mix-up
Starting the total cost line at zero. It starts at the fixed cost level, because fixed costs exist even when output is nil.
Dividing by the new figure in percentage change. Always divide the change by the original value.
Treating “state” like “explain”. State wants the answer only. Extra sentences earn nothing.
Writing a naked number. No unit, no currency, and often no second mark.
Skipping a calculation you find hard. Set up the method anyway; you will pick up the working mark.
Revising HL content for the SL paper. SL Paper 2 stays within the SL syllabus.
Ignoring the stimulus in the discuss question. It is still an applied answer, not a general essay.
Up next: The Skills Examiners Reward — the four assessment objectives, and what each command word is really asking you to do.
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