2015 Notes from the Marking Centre – Retail Services
Introduction
This document has been produced for the teachers and candidates of the Stage 6 Retail Services course. It contains comments on candidate responses to the 2015 Higher School Certificate examination, highlighting their strengths in particular parts of the examination and indicating where candidates need to improve.
This document should be read along with:
- the Retail Services Curriculum Framework Stage 6 Syllabus
- the 2015 Higher School Certificate Retail Services examination
- the marking guidelines
- Advice for students sitting for HSC VET examinations
- Advice for HSC students about examinations
- other support documents developed by the Board of Studies, Teaching and Educational Standards NSW to assist in the teaching and learning of Retail Services in Stage 6.
Section II
Candidates showed strength in these areas:
- identifying the importance for a retailer of maintaining an accurate roster (Q16a)
- explaining a range of potential consequences for a retailer if it does not provide adequate staffing during busy trading hours (Q16c)
- identifying features of telephone etiquette (Q17b)
- identifying what should be checked when stock is received (Q18a)
- outlining the purpose of store evacuation procedures, safety data sheets (SDS) and the use of personal protective equipment (PPE) (Q19)
- understanding up-selling techniques (Q20).
Candidates need to improve in these areas:
- explaining the difference between part-time and casual employment (Q16b)
- providing an explanation of features rather than a simple description or identification (Q17b, Q18b)
- describing top-down selling (Q20)
- supporting answers with relevant retail examples when required
- using retail industry terminology correctly.
Section III
Question 21
Candidates showed strength in these areas:
- identifying technologies used in retail services industries.
Candidates need to improve in these areas:
- identifying emerging technologies in retail services industries
- discussing positive and/or negative effects of emerging technologies on work practices and service delivery
- using retail industry terminology correctly
- supporting answers with relevant workplace examples.
Section IV
Candidates showed strength in these areas:
- identifying principles of display (Q22a)
- outlining strategies that can be used to select stock, monitor stock and perform housekeeping in order to maintain merchandise displays (Q22b, Q23b)
- explaining procedures for maintaining confidentiality in a community pharmacy (Q24b).
Candidates need to improve in these areas:
- supporting answers with relevant workplace examples specific to the retail industry area of study
- understanding how stock should be selected to maintain merchandise displays in a food retail environment (Q23b)
- describing how non-scheduled products are grouped in a community pharmacy (Q24a)
- identifying procedures that can be used to maintain accuracy in the delivery of customer service in a community pharmacy (Q24b).
NSW Government