A given context, and a method
What is different about 91381
- The other two externals let you answer on a business you have studied. This one does not.
- 91381 gives you a hypothetical business operating in an international environment, plus resource material, and every answer must be built from what is in front of you.
- The standard's own definitions set the task:
- a complex problem is one that affects the business in multiple ways
- to address a problem means providing a potential solution, a range of possible solutions, or minimising its impact
- evidence means information sourced from the given context, including examples from it
- So what you are being examined on is a method, not a memorised business. The business knowledge you bring — quality, distribution, investment, intellectual property — is the tool; the resource is the material.
What the paper looks like
- One question, four parts, (a) to (d). The parts follow a repeating shape:
- a sub-part asking for a possible cause of something that has gone wrong
- a sub-part asking for the effect of it on a named part of the business — profit, market share, reputation, cash flow
- in two of the four parts, a final sub-part asking for a justified recommendation between two named options
- The resources are short and dense: a paragraph of background, a table of figures, a note about a supplier or a market. Everything in them is there for a reason. If a number is printed, a sub-part expects you to use it.
- The 2025 paper's resources included lease costs for two warehouse locations, road distances to ports, a food price inflation figure for one market, and a comparison of two machines by purchase price, training cost, energy use and output per hour.
Reading the resource properly
- Read the resources before the questions, once, quickly, then again with a pen.
- Mark three things:
- numbers — every figure will be used by something
- comparisons — anywhere the resource gives you two of something, that is a recommendation question
- the business's own stated goals — "the business wants to reduce its environmental impact", "the business is aiming to grow market share". These are the criteria your recommendation will be judged against
- The business's stated goal is the answer key. When two options are close, the one that serves the goal the resource told you about is the one to recommend, and saying so is what "justified" means.
The marking ladder, applied to this standard
| Grade | What is required |
|---|---|
| Achieved | Explain the causes and effects of the problem, and a range of possible solutions, stating evidence from the context |
| Merit | Fully explain causes and effects, and fully explain how the solutions would address the problem, with an awareness of impact |
| Excellence | Evaluate the possible solutions and make a fully justified recommendation, integrating detailed evidence |
- Note what Achieved already requires: a range of possible solutions, which means more than one. A candidate who explains a single solution has not met the Achieved criterion for that part.