Justifying a recommendation

What Excellence requires

• The standard's Excellence criterion is a fully justified recommendation on how the critical problem should be solved, integrating detailed evidence from the given context.
• The paper asks it as: "Justify, with TWO reasons, which solution would be more successful" — usually naming two criteria to judge against.
• So Excellence is not a longer explanation. It is a decision, defended.

The five parts of a justified recommendation

1. State the decision, first. One sentence: "The business should implement solution B."
   • Do not build up to it. The marker should know your position before the reasoning starts.
2. Reason one, developed. Not a sentence — a paragraph that explains why this reason favours your choice, using evidence from the resources.
3. Reason two, developed. Genuinely different from reason one, and addressing the second criterion the question named.
4. The alternative, at its strongest. State the best case for the solution you rejected, and then say why it does not prevail here.
5. The condition. What would have to be true for your decision to change? This is the sentence that proves you have judged rather than guessed.

Where the two reasons come from

• The question usually names them: "referring to brand reputation and maintaining standards", "referring to competitiveness and profits".
• Use the words the question gives you. If it names brand reputation, one of your reasons must be about brand reputation. Candidates lose marks every year for writing two excellent reasons about something else.
• If the question does not name criteria, choose from: cost, cash flow, speed of effect, risk, competitive position, staff, customers, reputation, sustainability.

What makes a reason "developed"

A developed reason has four moves in it:

• The claim — "Solution B protects the business's brand reputation better."
• The mechanism — why that follows, step by step.
• The evidence — a specific detail from the resources that makes it true for this business.
• The comparison — what solution A does on the same criterion, and why it does it less well.

An answer that gives the claim and the evidence but never compares is a good Merit answer, not an Excellence one. The comparison is the justification.

Common ways candidates lose Excellence

• Explaining both solutions well and never choosing between them.
• Choosing, but giving one reason twice in different words.
• Ignoring one of the two criteria named in the question.
• Asserting a judgement with no evidence from the resources.
• Rejecting the alternative by describing it weakly — a straw man is not a comparison.
• Running out of time. Part (d)(iii) is worth the same as (b)(iii), and it is the answer most often left half-written.

A template you can use under pressure

[Solution B] is the more appropriate response for this business.

Reason one — [first named criterion]. [Claim.] [Mechanism, two or three sentences.] [Evidence from the resource.] [What solution A does on this criterion, and why it is weaker.]

Reason two — [second named criterion]. [Claim.] [Mechanism.] [Evidence.] [Comparison.]

The alternative. [The strongest case for solution A, stated fairly.] [Why it does not win here.] [What would have to be true for it to win — and if that is the case, the business should do A instead.]