CAIE A-Level Business answers, written to the spec
6 topics · specification 9609 · explanations and examiner marking in CAIE’s own language
Studying CAIE A-Level Business? Pick your board once and every answer, mark and flashcard elid gives you follows that specification. Free to start, no card needed. Open elid →
This is the full CAIE A-Level Business specification, code 9609, as elid holds it — 6 topics, each with the terminology CAIE marks against. Every explanation and every mark elid gives you is written against this list, not a generic A-level one, because the same question answered in AQA, Edexcel or OCR language loses marks it should have earned.
The CAIE A-Level Business specification, topic by topic
Business and its environment
Assessed in Paper 1, 2, 3, 4
Specification terms elid matches
Sole trader
Partnership
Private limited company
Public limited company
Franchise
Joint venture
Public sector
Social enterprise
Business objectives
Corporate social responsibility (CSR)
PEST analysis
External environment
Economic cycle
Legal environment
Named studies and theories
Stakeholder theory
CSR concepts
Human resource management
Assessed in Paper 1, 2, 3, 4
Specification terms elid matches
Human resource objectives
Workforce planning
Recruitment
Selection
Training
Appraisal
Dismissal
Redundancy
Taylor scientific management
Maslow hierarchy of needs
Herzberg two-factor theory
Mayo human relations
McGregor Theory X and Theory Y
Financial motivators
Named studies and theories
Taylor (1911)
Maslow (1943)
Herzberg (1959)
Mayo (1933)
McGregor (1960)
Marketing
Assessed in Paper 1, 2, 3, 4
Specification terms elid matches
Market size
Market share
Market growth
Market research
Primary research
Secondary research
Qualitative research
Quantitative research
Sampling
Marketing mix (4 Ps)
Product
Price
Promotion
Place
Named studies and theories
Boston Consulting Group
Product Life Cycle Model
Operations and project management
Assessed in Paper 1, 2, 3, 4
Specification terms elid matches
Job production
Batch production
Flow production
Mass customisation
Location decisions
Scale of operation
Economies of scale
Diseconomies of scale
Capacity utilisation
Lean production
Just-in-time (JIT)
Kaizen
Quality control
Quality assurance
Named studies and theories
Lean manufacturing principles
CPA methodology
Finance and accounting
Assessed in Paper 1, 2, 3, 4
Specification terms elid matches
Sources of finance
Short-term finance
Medium-term finance
Long-term finance
Cash flow forecasts
Working capital
Break-even analysis
Income statement
Balance sheet
Liquidity ratios
Profitability ratios
Investment appraisal
Payback Period
Accounting rate of return (ARR)
Named studies and theories
Investment appraisal techniques
Ratio analysis models
Strategic management
Assessed in Paper 3, 4
Specification terms elid matches
Strategic analysis
SWOT analysis
PEST analysis
Porter's Five Forces
Core competences
Ansoff matrix
Porter's Generic Strategies
Strategic choice
Strategic implementation
Lewin's Force Field Analysis
Change management
Contingency planning
Named studies and theories
Ansoff (1957)
Porter (1985)
Prahalad & Hamel (1990)
Lewin (1951)
How the papers are weighted
elid uses these weightings when it decides which topics deserve your revision time first.
Paper
Share of the qualification
Paper 1
20%
Paper 2
30%
Paper 3
30%
Paper 4
20%
Marked the way CAIE marks it
Paste an answer you have written and elid marks it point by point against the CAIE scheme: which marking points you hit, which you missed, and the sentence that would have earned each missing one. It is the difference between being told an answer is “good” and being told exactly where the marks went.
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