he CBSE Class 12 Board exams are beginning March 5 and the Business Studies paper is scheduled to be held on March 9.

BST is a theoretical subject and most students take this as a breather exam. However, with the changes in CBSE pattern, you cannot score a full 100 per cent anymore just by mugging up your NCERT book. CBSE now tends to give case studies and indirect questions which test the conceptual knowledge of students.

The syllabus of Business Studies deals mainly with General Management, Financial Management and Marketing Management.

India Today Education spoke to DPS Ruby Park (Kolkata) BST teacher Sumana Roy, Board Examiner of Business Studies for 10 years, with 11 years of teaching experience, about the areas where students must be careful in the CBSE Board Exam to secure maximum marks.

“Recently a degree in Management has emerged as a necessity for widening the career options for students. As a result Business Studies has gained a lot more importance as a subject,” says Roy.

HERE ARE THE COMMON ERRORS SHE POINTED OUT THAT STUDENTS MAKE IN THEIR CLASS 12 CBSE BUSINESS STUDIES PAPER:

1.Most of the questions are based on passages which are related to familiar events. Students must read the passages thoroughly in order to write correct answers to the questions. They often miss out a certain line in excitement, which offers the hint to the answer.

2.Students should give a diagram whenever possible even if not asked for. Don’t draw diagrams in pen! Moreover, labelling diagrams is also very important.

3.Don’t write your answers in long paragraphs in your CBSE BST paper. Other than 1-mark answers, every answer should be written in points. Each point should have a ‘Heading’ and an ‘Explanation’. Writing only the ‘Explanation’ or only the ‘Heading’ is a common mistake that stops students from getting full marks.

4.’Importance’ and ‘Features’ are NOT the same thing. Students often get confused between the two terms in questions given in the CBSE Class 12 Business Studies paper. For example: Feature of Planning is “Planning focuses on achieving objectives”, whereas Importance of Planning is “Planning provides direction”.

5.Students should not reframe the Definition of a term or topic. It should be written as it is stated in the NCERT book.

6.In the Class 12 CBSE BST paper, real life examples (mathematical examples in case of Financial Management) should be given wherever possible to secure maximum marks.

7.While differentiating between two concepts, students often don’t mention the basis of the difference. This should be mentioned for getting full marks.

8.If the answer to a 1-mark question is “YES” or “NO” then one reason should be given along with it to justify the answer. Don’t answer just in a single word.

9.Last but not the least, students must maintain the word limit in order to complete the paper on time. Students make the common error of thinking long answers mean more marks in CBSE Class 12 Boards. The length of the answers should be according to the marks allotted.