Paper 1: Case Study

Pre-seen case study 

• Paper 1 is the same for SL and HL students. 

• Three months prior to the examination the IB will release a statement with two elements. The first element will be a small number of topics that provide context to the case study. These topics will not be topics that are in the guide but ones that students are asked to research for approximately five hours. Topics in the pre-released statement will build on topics contained in the syllabus. 

• The aim is to assess students’ knowledge around important contemporary business topics that could not have been anticipated when the guide was written.

• The second element will be the first 200 words, approximately, of the case study itself. The release of this portion of the case study will provide additional context and will reduce the number of words to be read during the examination period. The aim of the paper is to assess students’ knowledge of the business management syllabus. 

• The examination is based upon one case study, of approximately 800 to 1,000 words, that students do not see before the examination. Most questions will be qualitative, although some minor calculations could be part of the assessment