Junior Certificate Business Studies Exam Breakdown
Total Marks = 400 Marks
The Higher Level Business Studies Paper is divided into two papers, both of which will be examined on the same day.
- Paper 1- 240 Marks (2 and a half hours)
- Paper 2- 160 Marks (2 hours)
Paper 1
Section A-Twenty short questions worth 4 marks each. (80 Marks in total) Students must answer ALL questions in this section.
Section B-Six long questions, students must answer their best 4 questions worth 40 marks each. (160 Marks in total). The topics students may be examined on in this section are:
- Household Budgets- (3 types we have studied, always Question 1 on this paper)
- Income
- Expenditure
- The Consumer
- Insurance
- Money
- Banking
- Bank Reconciliation Statements
- Personal Saving and Credit Purchasing
- Economics 1/2/3
- Chain of Production and Channels of Distribution
- Employees and Employers including Wage Slips
- Industrial Relations
- Ratios
- Club Accounts
- Farm Accounts
- ICT in Business
Paper 1 Timings- Remember this is a 2 ½ hour exam and you are advised to break down the exam as follows
- 10 minutes- Read the paper in full and pick your best 4 long questions
- 30 minutes- Short Questions Section A
- 25 minutes- Best long question
- 25 minutes- Next best long question
- 25 minutes- Next best long question
- 25 minutes- Next best long question
- 10 minutes- Read over the paper carefully and correct any errors or omissions if needed
Students are advised to work on their timings when practicing questions. Remember all long questions are equal marks and you could lose marks by spending too long on certain questions.
Paper 2
Six long questions, students must answer their best 4 questions worth 40 marks each. (160 Marks in total). The topics students may be examined on in this section are:
- Books of First Entry, Ledgers and Credit and Cash Transactions (Always Question 1)
- Analysed Cash Books
- Business Documents and Stock Control
- Purchases and Sales Books
- General Journals
- Double Entry Bookkeeping
- Control Accounts
- Continuous Balances
- Final Accounts and Balance Sheets
- Service Accounts
- ICT in Business
- Business Ownership
- Formation of Private Limited Companies
- Services for a Business including Banking, Planning, Insurance, Cash Flows
- Marketing
- Communication
- Delivery Systems
Paper 2 Timings- Remember this is a 2 hour exam and you are advised to break down the exam as follows
- 10 minutes- Read the paper in full and pick your best 4 long questions
- 25 minutes- Best long question
- 25 minutes- Next best long question
- 25 minutes- Next best long question
- 25 minutes- Next best long question
- 10 minutes- Read over the paper carefully and correct any errors or omissions if needed
Students are advised to work on their timings when practicing questions. Remember all long questions are equal marks and you could lose marks by spending too long on certain questions.
Useful Tips
- Students are advised to ensure that they practice questions and make notes as much as possible in preparation for the exam. This is a subject that encourages you to learn and retain information through testing your knowledge both verbally and in writing- use your own notes as well as the Business Website and past exam questions we have done in class to help you
- Remember you are allowed to use a calculator
- Work to the time and keep an eye on it- make sure to wear a watch
- Please ensure that you labelappropriately as there will be marks going for this and keep your work as neat as possible. For example, in accounts there are marks awarded for headings, or in letters there are marks for layout and structure
- Ensure you have all materials with you on the day, different colour pens for ruling if needed, and that you also have at least one spare pen also in case your first pen runs out
- Don’t forget to label as a ‘surplus’ or ‘deficit’ for appropriate accounts