Edexcel A Level Business (9BS0) Past Papers 2026

Marketing, people and global businesses

Business activities, decisions and strategy

Investigating business in a competitive environment

Foreign Direct Investment (FDI)

'This question proved challenging for candidates, with many not fully understanding the concept of Foreign Direct Investment (FDI). Some candidates turned the question around by writing about the UK investing in overseas markets.' Listed by examiners alongside 'entrepreneurial roles, CSR' as the weakest knowledge area on Paper 3 2023.

Paper 3

Exchange rates — appreciation/depreciation impact on imports vs exports

'Candidates misinterpreted the change from $1.15 = £1 in April 2020 to $1.38 = £1 in April 2021 as an appreciation of the dollar rather than the £.' 'Another common misconception was that an appreciation of the £ would result in increased export costs for Brompton, rather than US customers having to pay higher prices as a result of the appreciation of the £.'

Paper 1, Paper 2, Paper 3

Entrepreneurial roles vs entrepreneurial characteristics

'Generally a poorly answered question, with few candidates having a good understanding of entrepreneurial roles. Some candidates confused entrepreneurial roles with actual job roles within German Automotive. Many candidates identified entrepreneurial characteristics rather than the roles required by the question.'

Paper 3

Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) and decision-making

'There were a large number of blank responses for this question and a number where there was no application to the business context. Most candidates demonstrated some understanding of CSR, but many drifted away from the actual question of how it influences decision making.'

Paper 3

Scenario / contingency planning

'It was clear that scenario planning was not well understood by a significant number of candidates. There were a number of responses that referred erroneously to planning in general, or mistakenly to critical path analysis, decision trees, or cash flow forecasting.'

Paper 3

Organic vs inorganic growth (and their financing)

'A common misconception was that organic growth is only based upon internal finance and inorganic growth only financed externally.' Examiners flag organic/inorganic growth alongside exchange rates, consumer protection legislation and PESTLE as 'topics that some candidates found challenging' on Paper 2.

Paper 2

PESTLE — social factors and political influence

'The most obvious weakness was that many candidates misunderstood what is meant by social factors. Rather than discussing consumer tastes and trends, many candidates thought that social factors were linked to employee relations or interaction with customers.' 'Other candidates grouped political and legal together to answer the question.'

Paper 1, Paper 2

Liquidity ratios and accounting interpretation

'Where candidates only calculated the ratios and did not attempt to use these answers to these calculations as part of an assessment of liquidity, then marks could not be higher than the lowest L3 marks because there would not be an attempt at assessment as outlined in the level descriptors.'

Paper 3