Leaving Cert Business

Shay - Higher Level

It was my last test. I walked into the room with fear on my face but thankfully that changed. I opened the paper to the 10 lovely short questions, relatively easy. Then came the ABQ, which was considerable easy compared to previous years. I had to do 4 questions , 1 from part one , 2 from part two and another from either part one or two. I did my first question on "people in business". This question was the easiest out of my 4 chosen questions. My next 3 questions where about "managing". They were all varied in topics. Question 5 had Maslow's hierarchy of needs but the other questions like like 5(B) we're all different and different always relate to the previous questions. Overall, I thought we got a good paper and hopefully a good result. Please note: blog posts reflect the opinion of the author and not necessarily the opinion of the Irish Second-Level Students’ Union.

Leaving Cert Business

Emmet - Higher Level

 Oh wow, the business exam wasnt too bad at all! It started at 9:30AM & finished at 12:30pm. I was really happy with this paper overall. the short questions were generally easy with a break even chart thrown in, handy marks may i say. The ABQ was realy nice, it was about RIM LTD which was kind of a community development project which did really well, where it facilitated market stalls in a factory vacated by a GMNC. Questions included, choosing suitable finance for the local business people in financing the project and for stall holders, and another on evaluating their promotional campaign. It must also be pointed out that it was the easiest ABQ to get relevant quotes from, which was a help. the ratios question was very easy and gud for catching up on lost time on the ABQ! Q1 asked about proceedures an employer should take when dismissing employees, and evaluating role ofthe NCA. Q2 looked at how reduction on public expenditure and taxation impacted on business, which was tricky enough and Q7 looked at factors to consider when choosing channel of distribution, evaluate product design/packaging etc and reasons for an Irish toy company wishing to expand. I did find however that this years paper had very specific questions, which did make the paper challenging. but i was quite impressed to find mini case studies to help you answer the question as it helped ground your answer into real life. Hoping to come out with at least a B3 fingers crossed, we were very tied for time in exam. Nearly finished now, economics and thats it!

ISSU Commentary

The tendency of Leaving Certificate exams demanding students to simply regurgitate what they have learned seems to be a thing of the past. They now are being asked to apply their knowledge, this was especially obvious in today’s business examination according to many teachers and pupils. Some parts of the higher level exam were challenging, which was expected to a certain degree. The choice element was again a major positive, and there were no immense shocks to be found. There was a change in thee ‘ratio’ question. The short questions were ‘typical’. Question 1 (A) of the long questions were very specific and challenging which focused on a fairly precise area of the Unfair Dismissals Act 1977 – 2007. Question 5 (B) the ratios were satisfactory. However some had difficulty with the Return on Investment (ROI) calculation. Students were asked to compare the ratio with industry averages, this might have surprised some, as it was the first time for such a question to appear. The paper was overall ‘absolutely fine, consistent with past papers, with plenty of choice’. Students reaction with the higher level exam was mainly positive, while the ordinary level had a more varied response. Many higher level students found the Applied Business Question (ABQ) to be particularly challenging. Some ordinary level students found the short questions to be difficult.

 Please note: blog posts reflect the opinion of the author and not necessarily the opinion of the Irish Second-Level Students’ Union. Blogs are updated daily by 6.30 pm on scheduled examination dates.

LC Business

Owen (Higher Level)

Ah business... my favourite subject, so much to say, so much to write about, so much common sense involved but oh so LITTLE time to do the exam!The Paper proved to be a nice little paper overall, nothing out of the ordinary in the short questions, the ABQ was a nice little piece on Management and the use of IT in business quite a walk in the park for a Leaving Cert student.The long questions again had a nice variety from EU policy to franchising and branding it was overall, a nice paper!However with the pros also come the cons, much like every other aspect of the business some of the questions were a bit vague and wishy washy resulting in again what is found in every aspect of business...waffle...but again that is the art of business and proved not too difficult to master! :DAlso the timing!! My poor hand, I now know how those monks felt writing manuscripts all day... God bless them!There was a lot of time management to be done in this exam and it was easy to let yourself go especially on the ABQ. However, I finished with 5mins to spare to have a quick glance back over and tidy things up.Now to get ready for French, oh the joys, thankfully though I have no more full days!A demain, bonne chance!