AQA A-Level Business · 25-mark guide
AQA Business 25-mark essay: why answers stall at Level 3, and how to reach the top
AQA A-Level Business (7132) 25-mark questions are the two essays on Paper 1, one in Section C and one in Section D. Each is marked on five levels, and the marks are weighted AO1 5, AO2 4, AO3 6 and AO4 10, so evaluation is 10 of the 25. Answers usually stall at Level 3 because the judgement lacks balance.
Checked against AQA’s 7132 specification and the June 2022–2024 Paper 1 mark schemes — October 2026
How the 25 marks are weighted
| Assessment objective | Marks |
|---|---|
| AO1 Knowledge and understanding | 5 |
| AO2 Application to the context | 4 |
| AO3 Analysis | 6 |
| AO4 Evaluation | 10 |
The examiner does not add up four separate scores. They read the whole essay and place it on one five-level ladder, with the AO weighting telling you where the marks sit. Evaluation is the biggest share, so the judgement decides the level more than anything else.
Paper 1 is 2 hours for 100 marks, about 1.2 minutes a mark, so roughly 30 minutes per essay. That is our arithmetic, not an AQA rule. The other long questions in 7132 (16, 20 and 24 marks on Papers 2 and 3) use different weightings.
The five levels, in plain words
Our plain-English summary of AQA’s level structure, not AQA’s wording.
Why so many answers stall at Level 3
Read the ladder from 11–15 to 16–20 and only two things change: the judgement has to be balanced, and it has to answer the question as a whole. Two habits cause most Level 3 answers:
- Answering half the question. “To what extent” questions usually have more than one demand. AQA’s mark schemes list them for each question, and an essay that analyses only the first one cannot be “focused on the question as a whole”.
- A judgement that only follows one side. Two paragraphs for, one sentence against, then “therefore yes” is a judgement built on analysis, but not a balanced one. That is the Level 3 description almost word for word.
Acronyms for structuring paragraphs don’t fix either problem. What fixes them is deciding, before you write, what the answer depends on.
Worked example: the same conclusion at Level 3 and Level 5
Our practice question: To what extent is decentralisation the best way for Harlow & Finch to return to sales growth? [25]
In conclusion, decentralisation is the best way for Harlow & Finch to grow sales because factory managers know their local customers better and can react faster, and staff will be more motivated. Although it might be hard to coordinate, the benefits outweigh this, so the business should decentralise.
Why Level 3: the judgement follows from the analysis, but it is one-sided (the risk is waved away in half a sentence) and it never deals with “the best way”, so half the question is unanswered.
Decentralisation is likely to help most if flat sales come from products that no longer suit local markets, because factory managers can change ranges and prices faster than head office. But it is not clearly the best way. If the real cause is a weak brand or prices that are too high across the board, four factories setting their own prices could weaken the brand further and split a 220-person firm’s limited marketing budget. So the answer depends on why sales are flat: Harlow & Finch should first find out, and decentralise only if the problem is local fit, perhaps by trialling it in one factory before rolling it out.
The one change: the conclusion weighs decentralisation against the alternatives the question implies (“the best way”), names what the answer depends on, and uses the case details to say what the firm should do.
Levels shown are our own illustrative reading of the ladder above. Harlow & Finch, the question and both answers are invented by Markaroo for practice; they are not from an AQA paper.
Where 25-mark marks are lost
- Missing a demand of the question. Underline every part of the question before planning. Words like “the best way” or “always” are demands, not decoration.
- Generic business theory. Application is marked throughout. Use the context in every paragraph, not just the introduction.
- Evaluation only at the end. Evaluation carries 10 of the 25 marks. Weigh each argument where you make it, then conclude.
- “It depends” with nothing after it. Say what it depends on and what the business should do in each case.
- Writing three essays’ worth of points. A balanced range of issues, developed, beats a long list of undeveloped ones.
25-mark questions
How many 25-mark questions are there in AQA A-Level Business?
Two, both on Paper 1: one essay in Section C and one in Section D. Papers 2 and 3 have no 25-mark questions.
How are AQA Business 25-mark questions marked?
On one five-level ladder, from 1–5 up to 21–25. The marks are weighted AO1 5, AO2 4, AO3 6 and AO4 10, so evaluation is the largest share.
How do you get Level 5 on an AQA Business 25-marker?
Precise knowledge, well-developed analysis of a balanced range of issues applied to the context throughout, and judgements built on that analysis that answer the whole question. A one-sided conclusion, or one that ignores part of the question, usually caps the answer at Level 3.
How long should I spend on an AQA Business 25-mark essay?
Paper 1 is 2 hours for 100 marks, about 1.2 minutes a mark, so roughly 30 minutes per essay, including a short plan.
Is this guide for the new AQA Business spec (7138)?
No. It is for 7132, whose final exams are in summer 2027. The new spec, 7138, is first examined at A-level in 2028 and has a different paper structure.