AQA AS BUSS2 - Aproaching Evaluation

Here is a brief guide for students taking AQA AS Business (BUSS”) who would appreciate some extra help on evaluation.

In BUSS2 there are 17 marks out of the 80 total available for “evaluation” (inc QoL)

The skill of evaluation is demonstrated when you show the examiner that you can express a judgement on a situation or issue, after weighing up the balance of the evidence presented to you.  This is a difficult skill to develop – but well worth practising as you prepare to take BUSS2 (it will be even more important when you go on to take A2 Business Studies)

In BUSS2, questions requiring evaluation will have a higher mark allocation – typically 10-15 marks. 

The trigger word at the start of a question will also signal when evaluation is required.  These include:
• “Justify”
• “To what extent?”
• “In your opinion…”
• “Discuss”
• “Evaluate”

Evaluation is all about showing judgement and reaching a reasoned conclusion. You need to show the examiner that you are weighing up the evidence and options before opting for a conclusion. 

In business studies exam questions there are rarely right or wrong answers – all business problems can be approached in a variety of ways.  Your challenge is to show that you can address the issues (e.g. advantages and disadvantages) and strike a balanced conclusion.

If you find yourself answering using the words “because” or “it depends on” then you are probably well on the way to earning good evaluation marks.

In BUSS2 there are several potential areas where the examiner may look to test evaluation skills.  It might be on one particular area (e.g. operations: capacity utilisation) or combining two areas (e.g. marketing and finance).

Nearly all business decisions have implications for other functional areas.  For example, a business decision to invest in training has implications for operations and finance.
The quality of your evaluation in answers can often be improved by referring to these implications. You should bear these in mind when you develop your “it depends” on sentence or paragraph. 

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