Economics — IGCSE

Answer: A justified recommendation, e.g. spend most of it on primary research aimed at the three specific unknowns — a short survey of local employees and two focus groups — because the owner needs to know about this district, and published data will not answer it.

1. Identify what is unknown and specific to this business (class timings, price sensitivity)
2. Primary research answers it directly; secondary data (national reports) is cheaper but generic
3. A specific method with a reason earns marks: survey of local employees, focus group of existing gym users, trial membership offer
4. Balance: keep part of the budget for a low-cost secondary check (local competitor pricing)
5. A decision is required — spend on primary, with a reason

"Recommend and justify" needs a decision. A balanced essay that never says what to do scores in the middle band, however good the English is.

Answer: Self-mark against the levels below: a decision is required, and the best answers make the decision conditional on something specific (for example, a signed contract with a tour operator for the shoulder months).

1. Case for — twelve rooms at high season prices increases revenue; building in the low season avoids lost bookings
2. Case against — a loan must be serviced through the low season, when the guesthouse is only half full, and the owner has no other income
3. The specific risk — demand in the shoulder months is assumed, not evidenced
4. Decision — proceed only if off-season demand is confirmed in advance (contract with an operator, or a smaller first phase), otherwise the loan is the danger rather than the building

Write the decision in the first line of your final paragraph, then justify it. Markers look for the judgement, and a judgement buried at the end of a long sentence can be missed.