Sponsored
Sponsored content is premium paid-for content produced by the Irish Times Content Studio on behalf of commercial clients. The Irish Times newsroom or other editorial departments are not involved in the production of sponsored content.

How to get your A1: Business

Obviously, like any other subject, the key to doing well in business for the Leaving Cert is to study the subject well.

After that in my opinion, practise will be the most important part of your study. Getting familiar with the types of questions asked, the marking schemes and the wording of questions will increase your chances of reaching a high grade.

I never expected an A1 in business, but I got one through the following study tips.

Laying out your answers in a clear way for the examiner is essential. I did this by starting each point with a heading, I then explained my point in two short sentences followed by a well-known example. A way to practise this is when you’re studying a chapter, lay out your notes with this structure in order to get familiar with it.

Another key tip for achieving an A1 is getting your timing under control. I found this the toughest part of the business exam. Make sure you get used to writing under timed conditions. Knowing the different ways that questions are asked is also important for a high grade. There are subtle differences between questions that begin with “explain”, “illustrate”, “evaluate” and “define”. Once I learned these differences, I avoided losing easy marks.

READ MORE

Make sure you look at previous short, long and ABQ questions, answering as many as you can. Being familiar with the types of questions was a huge benefit on the day of the exam – there were no surprises.

To summarise, the main advice I would give is to get familiar with answer structures, practise previous exam questions and revise the key topics as much as possible.

Finally, make sure you know the marking schemes.

Jen McMahon
Psychology
DCU