Some interesting data emerging from the updated SL Exam papers - Topic tracker on InThinking, based on the May 2024 and November 2024 exams are highlighted below:

• Unit 2 (Human resource management) topics have rarely been assessed in the SL examinations.

• Fixed costs (Unit 3.3) have been assessed three times so far.

• "Recommend a plan of action" has been used in the SL P2 (N24 exam session).

• The only Unit 5 topic assessed for SL students so far is Unit 5.5 break-even analysis. There have been six questions in total for this topic in the syllabus.

• There has been comprehensive coverage of descriptive statistics for SL (mean, standard deviation, modal, median, and bar charts).

• SL candidates were assessed on the following aspects of the BMT: STEEPLE analysis, Decision trees, and Descriptive statistics.

Some of the notable highlights for HL include:

• Features of a cooperative (Unit 1.2) appeared in both the M24 and N24 exams.

• Knowledge of interest rates has appeared twice - in relation to impact on NPV calculations (Unit 3.8) and in the context of STEEPLE analysis (BMT).

• In May 2024, the straight-line depreciation method (Unit 3.4) was assessed in both Paper 1 and Paper 2 exams.

• The stock turnover ratio (Unit 3.6 HL only) was assessed in both the M24 and N24 examinations.

• Of the five structured question in Question 2 of P2 TZ2, and out of the 10 marks available, 6 marks were based on variances (Unit 3.9 Budgeting) and 4 marks for capacity utilization (Unit 5.6).

• The calculation of the stock turnover ratio (Unit 3.6) was assessed in both the M24 and N24 exams.
• The payback period (Unit 3.8) was assessed in both the M24 and N24 exams.
• The average rate of return (Unit 3.8) was assessed in both the M24 and N24 exams.
• Variance analysis (Unit 3.9) was assessed in both the M24 and N24 exams. It was heavily assessed in N24, with a total of 4 calculations, worth 6 out of the 10 marks.
• Market share (Unit 4.1) was assessed in both the M24 and N24 exams.
• In May 2024, the topic of target markets (Unit 4.2) was assessed in both Paper 1 and Paper 2 exams.
• Break-even analysis (Unit 4.5) has been thoroughly examined in both the SL and HL 2024 exams.
• HL candidates were assessed on the following aspects of the BMT: STEEPLE analysis, Descriptive statistics, and Critical path analysis.