Cambridge National Enterprise and Marketing: feedback from R068 Baslow Bags moderation

Matt Dilley, Business and Economics Subject Advisor

The revised version of Cambridge National Enterprise and Marketing (J837) was live for first teaching in 2022. Many parts of the course remained the same, however there were some revisions which teachers needed to be aware of. This included areas such as the terminal rule, live assignment briefs and the weighting/content of units.

A small number of portfolios have been submitted for moderation during the first window. This article will look at what we have seen and support you with some tips for the future.

Is PO1 assessed in the NEA?

PO1 is about recalling knowledge. There is no need for any background information to be included in student evidence as there are no marks for PO1 in the assignment; the knowledge in the assignment needs to be applied in order to gain marks. The work of all the candidates we looked at included material which was recalling knowledge and gained no marks for the candidate.

Tip 1

Remember that recalling knowledge is only assessed during the examination. Save time and effort by ensuring students only provide evidence in an applied way. For example, in task 1 of R068 it is not necessary to discuss what each sampling method is. Students should only discuss the ones pertinent to their work.

What happens if three market research tools aren’t used?

Task 1 of the assignment brief (R068) asks for three market research tools, with students collecting qualitative and quantitative research. The aim is to get a wide range of responses to provide a sound basis for students’ bag designs. Should zero marks be awarded if three methods haven’t been used?

Tip 2

Section 6.4.1 of the specification defines a “best fit” approach to applying the marking criteria. The marking criteria for MB1 doesn’t mention three methods must be used, however MB2 and MB3 do require it. In cases where students have not used three market research tools they can still be awarded marks for task 1. Depending on the other evidence submitted for the task they can still be awarded MB2 or MB3 under the “best fit” criteria.

Students must complete accurate calculations for task 5

Teachers are allowed to feed back to their students for them to improve their work. Calculations that are not accurate will prevent a MB3 mark being awarded. In some cases, incorrect work had been marked as correct, and if the students had improved it, even slightly, it would have resulted in better outcomes. This was especially true of the calculations, some portfolios had inaccurate calculations which had been marked as correct and awarded MB3.

Tip 3

Make sure you check the accuracy of students’ financial calculations. This is vital when awarding work at MB3 which is explicitly required to have accurate calculations.

Must all students produce a bag design that is completely different to their peers?

A lot of candidates have used their peers for research and ended up with a black backpack with a water bottle, which is fine, as this seems to be the most popular. It may mean that there will be lots of similar designs, but not something that should create suspected malpractice.

Tip 4

Remember that all work is individual, students need to design a bag based on their individual research. If it is similar to their peers this is OK as long as each design is linked to the outcomes of market research.

Conclusion

There are some differences to this revised specification when compared to the previous one. Make sure your students aren’t doing too much work by including evidence that is targeted at PO1. Additionally, when assessing work make sure you understand the marking criteria and only give credit to evidence which meets it. By understanding the best fit method, you will be able to accurately assess your students work.

As always, our experienced subject advisors are on hand to support you every step of the way. See below in how to get in touch.

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About the author

Matt joined OCR in April 2020 as part of the Business and Economics advisory team. He has a degree in Accountancy with a focus on Financial Accounting. His work experience includes commercial banking and 12 years as a teacher of Business Studies and Economics where he was a faculty lead. Outside of work Matt is a keen cyclist and supports the mighty Aston Villa.