Top Tips from the November Case Study Examiner's Report!

Reading the examiner's report can help by giving you an understanding of what the examiner will be looking out for in your own exam.
This way you can build a better structure to your revision, ensuring that the key points are covered by the time the exam comes along next week.

1. Application to the pre-seen:

Applying the theory to the pre-seen is absolutely critical to score well in the exam. The Examiner's emphasised that there are no marks for just pure knowledge - it needs to be applied in a relevant way to the case study.

2. Relevance of the theory:
The examiner stressed this importance of keeping this application relevant to the pre-seen. There is no point in reciting a paragraph of text that you have memorised and trying to shoe-horn it in to answer a question, where it is not entirely relevant. Having pre-learned paragraphs can be good, but only when they can add value to your answer. If not, then it may be interpreted by the examiner that you either have not read the question, or that you do not understand what the question is trying to ask.

3. Plan your answers:
Well structured answers that meet the requirements of the question in a clear way will impress the examiners. A good plan can be linked to good time management, which was another of the key points raised from the November exam, with many answers being very brief or incomplete.

4. Awareness of the industry and company:
Students that have an understanding of the context of the company and bring wider issues into their answers will stand out. The examiner was also disappointed that the pure knowledge of the pre-seen was not very good, given the amount of time that students have to familiarise themselves with it (7 weeks!). So make sure you know the pre-seen, because you have no excuse for not knowing it in a pre-seen exam environment.

5. Revise all areas of the syllabus:
The Examiner's commented that students need to have a good knowledge of all areas of the syllabus. In the November report they highlighted that the knowledge of some of the core theory, including value chain, balanced scorecards, leasing and share prices was not extensive enough. Remember, any area of the management syllabus can be assessed!

6. Understand the business model:
Companies analysed in the pre-seen exams are not always going to be the same. This point is repeated when it comes to the business model used. For example, the business model of a manufacturing company is going to be different to the business model of a service company or retail store. You should be able to take the business model into consideration when answering your exam questions.


For full analysis of the different exam variants within the November MCS exam, you'll find the examiner's report here: MCS November 2015 Examiner's Report

You can find more of our own detailed guidance in regards to exam technique and approaching the management case study exam, with our Case Study Course Videos and Study Text Part 1.