GCSE
BUSINESS
8132/1
Paper 1 Influences of operations and HRM on business activity
r r r r r r r r r
Mark scheme
r
June 2021
r
Version:r1.0rFinalrMarkrScheme
*216G 132/1/MS*
, MARK SCHEME – GCSE BUSINESS – 8132/1 – JUNE
2021
MarkrschemesrarerpreparedrbyrtherLeadrAssessmentrWriterrandrconsidered,rtogetherrwithrtherrelevantrque
stions,rbyrarpanelrofrsubjectrteachers.rThisrmarkrschemerincludesranyramendmentsrmaderatrtherstandardis
ationreventsrwhichrallrassociatesrparticipaterinrandrisrtherschemerwhichrwasrusedrbyrthemrinrthisrexaminatio
n.rTherstandardisationrprocessrensuresrthatrthermarkrschemercoversrtherstudents’rresponsesrtorquestionsr
andrthatreveryrassociaterunderstandsrandrappliesritrinrthersamercorrectrway.
Asrpreparationrforrstandardisationreachrassociateranalysesrarnumberrofrstudents’rscripts.r Alternativeranswer
srnotralreadyrcoveredrbyrthermarkrschemerarerdiscussedrandrlegislatedrfor.rIf,rafterrtherstandardisationrproces
s,rassociatesrencounterrunusualranswersrwhichrhavernotrbeenrraisedrtheyrarerrequiredrtorreferrthesertortherLe
adrExaminer.
Itrmustrberstressedrthatrarmarkrschemerisrarworkingrdocument,rinrmanyrcasesrfurtherrdevelopedrandrexpa
ndedronrtherbasisrofrstudents’rreactionsrtorarparticularrpaper.rAssumptionsraboutrfuturermarkrschemesronrt
herbasisrofroneryear’srdocumentrshouldrberavoided;rwhilstrtherguidingrprinciplesrofrassessmentrremainrco
nstant,rdetailsrwillrchange,rdependingronrthercontentrofrarparticularrexaminationrpaper.
Furtherrcopiesrofrthisrmarkrschemerareravailablerfromraqa.org.uk
Copyrightrinformation
AQArretainsrthercopyrightronrallritsrpublications.rHowever,rregisteredrschools/
collegesrforrAQArarerpermittedrtorcopyrmaterialrfromrthisrbookletrforrtheirrownrinternalruse,rwithrtherfollowingrimportantrexception:rAQArcannotrgiverpermissionrtors
chools/collegesrtorphotocopyranyrmaterialrthatrisracknowledgedrtorarthirdrpartyrevenrforrinternalruserwithinrthercentre.
Copyrightr©r2021rAQArandritsrlicensors.r Allrrightsrreserved.
2
, MARK SCHEME – GCSE BUSINESS – 8132/1 – JUNE
2021
Level of response marking instructions
r r r r
Levelrofrresponsermarkrschemesrarerbrokenrdownrintorlevels,reachrofrwhichrhasrardescriptor.rTherdescriptorrfo
rrtherlevelrshowsrtheraveragerperformancerforrtherlevel.rThererarermarksrinreachrlevel.
Beforeryourapplyrthermarkrschemertorarstudent’sranswerrreadrthroughrtheranswerrandrannotateritr(asrinstr
ucted)rtorshowrtherqualitiesrthatrarerbeingrlookedrfor.rYourcanrthenrapplyrthermarkrscheme.
Step 1 Determine a level
r r r r
Startratrtherlowestrlevelrofrthermarkrschemerandruseritrasrarladderrtorseerwhetherrtheranswerrmeetsrtherdescri
ptorrforrthatrlevel.rTherdescriptorrforrtherlevelrindicatesrtherdifferentrqualitiesrthatrmightrberseenrinrtherstudent’
sranswerrforrthatrlevel.rIfritrmeetsrtherlowestrlevelrthenrgortorthernextronerandrdeciderifritrmeetsrthisrlevel,randrs
oron,runtilryourhaverarmatchrbetweenrtherlevelrdescriptorrandrtheranswer.rWithrpracticerandrfamiliarityryourwillr
findrthatrforrbetterranswersryourwillrberablertorquicklyrskiprthroughrtherlowerrlevelsrofrthermarkrscheme.
Whenrassigningrarlevelryourshouldrlookratrtheroverallrqualityrofrtheranswerrandrnotrlookrtorpickrholesrinrsmallra
ndrspecificrpartsrofrtheranswerrwherertherstudentrhasrnotrperformedrquiterasrwellrasrtherrest.rIfrtheranswerrcov
ersrdifferentraspectsrofrdifferentrlevelsrofrthermarkrschemeryourshouldruserarbestrfitrapproachrforrdefiningrtherl
evelrandrthenruserthervariabilityrofrtherresponsertorhelprdeciderthermarkrwithinrtherlevel,rierifrtherresponserisrpr
edominantlyrlevelr3rwithrarsmallramountrofrlevelr4rmaterialritrwouldrberplacedrinrlevelr3rbutrberawardedrarmarkr
nearrthertoprofrtherlevelrbecauserofrtherlevelr4rcontent.
Step 2 Determine a mark
r r r r
Onceryourhaverassignedrarlevelryourneedrtordecideronrthermark.rTherdescriptorsronrhowrtorallocatermarksrca
nrhelprwithrthis.rTherexemplarrmaterialsrusedrduringrstandardisationrwillrhelp.rThererwillrberanranswerrinrthers
tandardisingrmaterialsrwhichrwillrcorrespondrwithreachrlevelrofrthermarkrscheme.rThisranswerrwillrhaverbeenr
awardedrarmarkrbyrtherLeadrExaminer.rYourcanrcomparertherstudent’sranswerrwithrtherexamplertordetermin
erifritrisrthersamerstandard,rbetterrorrworserthanrtherexample.rYourcanrthenruserthisrtorallocaterarmarkrforrthera
nswerrbasedronrtherLeadrExaminer’srmarkronrtherexample.
Yourmayrwellrneedrtorreadrbackrthroughrtheranswerrasryourapplyrthermarkrschemertorclarifyrpointsrandrassu
reryourselfrthatrtherlevelrandrthermarkrarerappropriate.
Indicativercontentrinrthermarkrschemerisrprovidedrasrarguiderforrexaminers.rItrisrnotrintendedrtorberexha
ustiverandryourmustrcreditrotherrvalidrpoints.rStudentsrdornotrhavertorcoverrallrofrtherpointsrmentionedri
nrtherIndicativercontentrtorreachrtherhighestrlevelrofrthermarkrscheme.
Anranswerrwhichrcontainsrnothingrofrrelevancertortherquestionrmustrberawardedrnormarks.
Therownrfigurerrule
Generalrprinciple:rTherownrfigurerrulerisrdesignedrtorensurerthatrstudentsrareronlyrpenalisedroncerforrarparti
cularrerrorratrtherpointratrwhichrthatrerrorrisrmade,randrsufferrnorfurtherrpenaltyrasrconsequencerofrthererror.r
Wherertherownrfigurerrulerisrtorberappliedrinrarmarkrscheme,rthersymbolrOFrisrused.
3
BUSINESS
8132/1
Paper 1 Influences of operations and HRM on business activity
r r r r r r r r r
Mark scheme
r
June 2021
r
Version:r1.0rFinalrMarkrScheme
*216G 132/1/MS*
, MARK SCHEME – GCSE BUSINESS – 8132/1 – JUNE
2021
MarkrschemesrarerpreparedrbyrtherLeadrAssessmentrWriterrandrconsidered,rtogetherrwithrtherrelevantrque
stions,rbyrarpanelrofrsubjectrteachers.rThisrmarkrschemerincludesranyramendmentsrmaderatrtherstandardis
ationreventsrwhichrallrassociatesrparticipaterinrandrisrtherschemerwhichrwasrusedrbyrthemrinrthisrexaminatio
n.rTherstandardisationrprocessrensuresrthatrthermarkrschemercoversrtherstudents’rresponsesrtorquestionsr
andrthatreveryrassociaterunderstandsrandrappliesritrinrthersamercorrectrway.
Asrpreparationrforrstandardisationreachrassociateranalysesrarnumberrofrstudents’rscripts.r Alternativeranswer
srnotralreadyrcoveredrbyrthermarkrschemerarerdiscussedrandrlegislatedrfor.rIf,rafterrtherstandardisationrproces
s,rassociatesrencounterrunusualranswersrwhichrhavernotrbeenrraisedrtheyrarerrequiredrtorreferrthesertortherLe
adrExaminer.
Itrmustrberstressedrthatrarmarkrschemerisrarworkingrdocument,rinrmanyrcasesrfurtherrdevelopedrandrexpa
ndedronrtherbasisrofrstudents’rreactionsrtorarparticularrpaper.rAssumptionsraboutrfuturermarkrschemesronrt
herbasisrofroneryear’srdocumentrshouldrberavoided;rwhilstrtherguidingrprinciplesrofrassessmentrremainrco
nstant,rdetailsrwillrchange,rdependingronrthercontentrofrarparticularrexaminationrpaper.
Furtherrcopiesrofrthisrmarkrschemerareravailablerfromraqa.org.uk
Copyrightrinformation
AQArretainsrthercopyrightronrallritsrpublications.rHowever,rregisteredrschools/
collegesrforrAQArarerpermittedrtorcopyrmaterialrfromrthisrbookletrforrtheirrownrinternalruse,rwithrtherfollowingrimportantrexception:rAQArcannotrgiverpermissionrtors
chools/collegesrtorphotocopyranyrmaterialrthatrisracknowledgedrtorarthirdrpartyrevenrforrinternalruserwithinrthercentre.
Copyrightr©r2021rAQArandritsrlicensors.r Allrrightsrreserved.
2
, MARK SCHEME – GCSE BUSINESS – 8132/1 – JUNE
2021
Level of response marking instructions
r r r r
Levelrofrresponsermarkrschemesrarerbrokenrdownrintorlevels,reachrofrwhichrhasrardescriptor.rTherdescriptorrfo
rrtherlevelrshowsrtheraveragerperformancerforrtherlevel.rThererarermarksrinreachrlevel.
Beforeryourapplyrthermarkrschemertorarstudent’sranswerrreadrthroughrtheranswerrandrannotateritr(asrinstr
ucted)rtorshowrtherqualitiesrthatrarerbeingrlookedrfor.rYourcanrthenrapplyrthermarkrscheme.
Step 1 Determine a level
r r r r
Startratrtherlowestrlevelrofrthermarkrschemerandruseritrasrarladderrtorseerwhetherrtheranswerrmeetsrtherdescri
ptorrforrthatrlevel.rTherdescriptorrforrtherlevelrindicatesrtherdifferentrqualitiesrthatrmightrberseenrinrtherstudent’
sranswerrforrthatrlevel.rIfritrmeetsrtherlowestrlevelrthenrgortorthernextronerandrdeciderifritrmeetsrthisrlevel,randrs
oron,runtilryourhaverarmatchrbetweenrtherlevelrdescriptorrandrtheranswer.rWithrpracticerandrfamiliarityryourwillr
findrthatrforrbetterranswersryourwillrberablertorquicklyrskiprthroughrtherlowerrlevelsrofrthermarkrscheme.
Whenrassigningrarlevelryourshouldrlookratrtheroverallrqualityrofrtheranswerrandrnotrlookrtorpickrholesrinrsmallra
ndrspecificrpartsrofrtheranswerrwherertherstudentrhasrnotrperformedrquiterasrwellrasrtherrest.rIfrtheranswerrcov
ersrdifferentraspectsrofrdifferentrlevelsrofrthermarkrschemeryourshouldruserarbestrfitrapproachrforrdefiningrtherl
evelrandrthenruserthervariabilityrofrtherresponsertorhelprdeciderthermarkrwithinrtherlevel,rierifrtherresponserisrpr
edominantlyrlevelr3rwithrarsmallramountrofrlevelr4rmaterialritrwouldrberplacedrinrlevelr3rbutrberawardedrarmarkr
nearrthertoprofrtherlevelrbecauserofrtherlevelr4rcontent.
Step 2 Determine a mark
r r r r
Onceryourhaverassignedrarlevelryourneedrtordecideronrthermark.rTherdescriptorsronrhowrtorallocatermarksrca
nrhelprwithrthis.rTherexemplarrmaterialsrusedrduringrstandardisationrwillrhelp.rThererwillrberanranswerrinrthers
tandardisingrmaterialsrwhichrwillrcorrespondrwithreachrlevelrofrthermarkrscheme.rThisranswerrwillrhaverbeenr
awardedrarmarkrbyrtherLeadrExaminer.rYourcanrcomparertherstudent’sranswerrwithrtherexamplertordetermin
erifritrisrthersamerstandard,rbetterrorrworserthanrtherexample.rYourcanrthenruserthisrtorallocaterarmarkrforrthera
nswerrbasedronrtherLeadrExaminer’srmarkronrtherexample.
Yourmayrwellrneedrtorreadrbackrthroughrtheranswerrasryourapplyrthermarkrschemertorclarifyrpointsrandrassu
reryourselfrthatrtherlevelrandrthermarkrarerappropriate.
Indicativercontentrinrthermarkrschemerisrprovidedrasrarguiderforrexaminers.rItrisrnotrintendedrtorberexha
ustiverandryourmustrcreditrotherrvalidrpoints.rStudentsrdornotrhavertorcoverrallrofrtherpointsrmentionedri
nrtherIndicativercontentrtorreachrtherhighestrlevelrofrthermarkrscheme.
Anranswerrwhichrcontainsrnothingrofrrelevancertortherquestionrmustrberawardedrnormarks.
Therownrfigurerrule
Generalrprinciple:rTherownrfigurerrulerisrdesignedrtorensurerthatrstudentsrareronlyrpenalisedroncerforrarparti
cularrerrorratrtherpointratrwhichrthatrerrorrisrmade,randrsufferrnorfurtherrpenaltyrasrconsequencerofrthererror.r
Wherertherownrfigurerrulerisrtorberappliedrinrarmarkrscheme,rthersymbolrOFrisrused.
3
