OxfordAQA IGCSE Business: Technology and Ethical and environmental considerations (9225) – Practice Questions

These are original questions written for Marlbridge, for revision and practice on this content. They are not reproduced past-paper questions, and they do not replicate the exam’s exact structure, question count or mark tariffs – examination boards hold copyright in their own papers. Use these alongside the official past papers from your board or school.

These questions cover sections 3.2.1 Technology and 3.2.2 Ethical and environmental considerations of the OxfordAQA International GCSE Business (9225) specification, version 3.1, first teaching September 2020 and first examined May/June 2022. Every business and number here is invented. Teaching is in the study guide and the revision notes. The wider topic has its own practice set. Course links: the hub, the checklist and the free diagnostics.

Questions

1. State two ways in which the changing use of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) can influence the activity of a business. [2]

2. Define the term e-commerce. [2]

3. Identify two examples of digital communication a business might use, and name one stakeholder with whom each could be used. [4]

4. Cravenhill Fabrics sells dress fabric from one shop in a market town. Before it launched a website, monthly sales revenue was £25,000. Now the shop’s monthly sales revenue is £22,000 and online sales revenue is £13,000.

(a) Calculate the percentage increase in total monthly sales revenue. [3] (b) Calculate online sales revenue as a percentage of the new total, to one decimal place. [2]

5. Pikeford Couriers has depots in two cities 180 km apart. Its managers drive between them for a weekly meeting. Explain one benefit and one drawback of using video conferencing for these meetings. [4]

6. Most customers of Cravenhill Fabrics live within 10 km of its shop. The owner has built a website that ships fabric to any address. Analyse how e-commerce may help the business access wider markets. [6]

7. State what is meant by ethical behaviour by a business and give two examples. [3]

8. Harrow Lane Dairy buys 80,000 litres of milk a month from local farmers at £0.40 a litre. The owner is thinking of paying £0.44 a litre so that farmers can cover their costs. The dairy’s monthly profit is currently £9,500.

(a) Calculate the extra cost to the dairy each month. [2] (b) Calculate the percentage fall in monthly profit if nothing else changes, to one decimal place. [2] (c) The dairy’s products sell for an average of £0.90 per litre of milk used. Calculate the percentage price rise needed to pass the whole increase to customers, to one decimal place. [2]

9. A printing firm throws away its paper offcuts. Explain one cost and one benefit to the firm of starting to recycle them. [4]

10. Pikeford Couriers parks and loads its 15 diesel vans on a residential street. The vans leave from 6 am and return throughout the evening. Analyse two ways in which this may affect the local community and the business. [6]

11. Pikeford Couriers is thinking of replacing its 15 diesel vans with electric vans. Each electric van costs £9,000 more than a diesel van but saves £2,400 a year in fuel. Pikeford’s annual profit is £58,000 and the vans last 8 years.

(a) Calculate the payback period on the extra cost. [2] (b) Evaluate whether Pikeford should replace the vans, considering the trade-off between sustainability and profit. [7]

12. Ashmere Joinery makes furniture and earns an annual profit of £80,000 before donations. The owner gives 2.5% of this profit to a local charity each year.

(a) Calculate the donation and the profit left after it is made. [2] (b) Justify whether the owner should continue the donation. [6]

Answers

1. Any two from: customers can order online as well as in a shop; suppliers can be contacted and orders placed electronically; staff communicate faster with managers, customers or suppliers; some tasks change and staff need new skills or training. One mark for each distinct point [1] [1]. [2] Examiner insight: A short “state” question rewards two distinct activities. Two versions of the same point, such as “online ordering” and “ordering on the internet”, are usually read as one.

2. Buying and selling [1] of goods or services over the internet [1]. [2] Examiner insight: A definition needs the activity (buying and selling) and the means (the internet). “Online shopping” alone leaves out the seller’s side.

3. Email [1], used with, for example, suppliers or customers [1]. Video conferencing [1], used with, for example, staff in another site or an overseas supplier [1]. Other valid pairs are website or social media with customers or the community. [4] Examiner insight: The stakeholder must be a real group with an interest in the business. Naming a method but no stakeholder cannot earn the second mark in each pair.

4. (a) New total = 22,000 + 13,000 = £35,000 [1]. Increase = 35,000 - 25,000 = £10,000 [1]. 10,000 ÷ 25,000 × 100 = 40% [1]. [3] (b) 13,000 ÷ 35,000 × 100 [1] = 37.1% [1]. [2] Examiner insight: Show the total and the change before the percentage. A common slip in part (a) is dividing by the new total, not the starting sales revenue, which gives a different percentage.

5. Benefit: managers save the 180 km journey, so travel cost is lower [1] and the time can be spent on other work [1]. Drawback: the meeting depends on a good internet connection and equipment, so a fault could cancel or interrupt it [1] and delay decisions between the depots [1]. [4] Examiner insight: Each side needs a consequence for this business, not just a statement. “It is cheaper” gains less than saying why, using the distance given.

6. Chain one: The shop can only serve people who live near it [1]. The website can deliver to any address, including other regions or countries [1], so the number of potential customers and sales revenue could rise [1]. Chain two: A shop closes in the evening, but a website takes orders at any time [1], including from customers whose daytime is at a different hour [1], so fewer potential sales are missed [1]. [6] Examiner insight: “Analyse” answers gain credit for linking each feature of the website to a result. Naming advantages in a list, without the link to wider markets, usually stays at the lower end.

7. Behaving in a way that stakeholders regard as fair and honest [1]. Two examples, such as paying suppliers a fair price [1]; honest labelling of products [1]. Others accepted, such as giving to charity or allowing time for religious observance. [3] Examiner insight: The definition mentions stakeholders and both words, fair and honest. Examples should be actions a business takes, not general qualities such as “being nice”.

8. (a) Extra cost per litre = 0.44 - 0.40 = £0.04 [1]. 80,000 × 0.04 = £3,200 a month [1]. [2] (b) 3,200 ÷ 9,500 × 100 [1] = 33.7% [1]. [2] (c) 0.04 ÷ 0.90 × 100 [1] = 4.4% [1]. [2] Examiner insight: Keep the units with each answer (£ and %). In a multi-part question, a method that is clear in part (a) makes the later parts easier to credit.

9. Cost: the firm must buy bins and spend staff time sorting and storing the offcuts [1], which raises its costs in the short run [1]. Benefit: less waste is collected, so waste disposal bills fall [1] and the firm may sell the paper or reuse it, improving its reputation with environmentally aware customers [1]. [4] Examiner insight: A cost or benefit needs a reason that fits recycling. “It helps the environment” on its own is rarely developed enough to earn the second mark.

10. Point one: Vans leaving from 6 am cause noise [1] that may wake residents and lead to complaints to the business or the local council [1], so Pikeford may face pressure to change its hours or move [1]. Point two: Parked and moving diesel vans add to traffic congestion and air pollution on the street [1], which may harm residents’ health and delay other road users [1], so Pikeford’s reputation in the area may suffer and it may find it harder to recruit local staff [1]. [6] Examiner insight: Two ways are needed, and each should show an effect on the community and on the business. Developing one point three times does not usually reach the top of the range.

11. (a) Extra cost = 15 × 9,000 = £135,000 [1]. Annual saving = 15 × 2,400 = £36,000, so payback = 135,000 ÷ 36,000 = 3.75 years [1]. [2] (b) Environmental benefit: electric vans produce no exhaust fumes on the street, which cuts local air pollution, and may reduce the business’s contribution to global warming depending on how the electricity is made [1] [1]. Profit: the extra £135,000 is more than twice annual profit of £58,000, so the business may need a loan or to use up cash, and profit could fall in the year of purchase [1] [1]. Over 8 years the saving is 36,000 × 8 = £288,000, which exceeds the extra cost by £153,000 [1]. Judgement: Pikeford should replace the vans, because they repay the extra cost in under 4 years, well inside their life, and the community gains [1], although this depends on being able to fund the purchase and on fuel prices staying at the level assumed [1]. [7] Examiner insight: An evaluation reaches a judgement that depends on figures in the case. Concluding “it depends” without saying on what usually does not earn the final marks.

12. (a) Donation = 80,000 × 0.025 = £2,000 [1]. Profit left = 80,000 - 2,000 = £78,000 [1]. [2] (b) For continuing: the donation is a small part of profit [1], and may build goodwill with local customers and staff, who see the business as fair [1]. Against: £2,000 could be reinvested in equipment or saved, and the reputation gain is hard to measure and slow to appear [1] [1]. Judgement: the owner should continue, because the cost is only 2.5% of profit and a local joinery depends on its reputation [1], but should check whether customers notice, and could review the amount if profit falls [1]. [6] Examiner insight: “Justify” needs support for a decision, and a balanced answer also considers a reason against. A judgement tied to the scale of the cost and the type of business is stronger than a general view that charity is good.

Where marks are usually lost

• Writing “it saves money” or “it reaches more customers” without saying how, or for whom.
• Giving only advantages of e-commerce when the question invites a drawback.
• Defining e-commerce as “using a computer” rather than buying and selling over the internet.
• Working out a percentage change from the later value rather than the starting value.
• Missing the unit (£, % or years) from a final answer.
• Treating ethical behaviour as a legal duty instead of a choice about being fair and honest.
• Listing environmental issues without a cost or benefit for the business.
• Concluding an “evaluate” or “justify” answer without a judgement, or with one that could fit any business.

Frequently asked questions

Is ethical behaviour a legal duty? No. Ethical behaviour is a choice about being fair and honest that goes beyond what the law requires, so treating it as a legal duty is a common error.

How do you answer an ethics versus profit question? Name the ethical choice, show what it costs using any figure in the case, show the benefit that may follow, and then judge which matters more for this business.

Which part of OxfordAQA IGCSE Business 9225 do these questions cover? They cover sections 3.2.1 Technology and 3.2.2 Ethical and environmental considerations of OxfordAQA International GCSE Business (9225).

Next steps

• Re-read the study guide for each question you got wrong.
• Turn to the revision notes for the final weeks.
• Visit the OxfordAQA IGCSE Business hub and tick topics off on the checklist.
• Try the free 10-minute diagnostics.
• Book a free trial class.

Official syllabus

OxfordAQA International GCSE Business (9225) specification, version 3.1, for International GCSE exams May/June 2022 onwards, published by OxfordAQA. Sections 3.2.1 and 3.2.2.