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Levwell PLC: The December SBL PreSeen And What To Do With It

Georgina Roberts

How To Use Your PreSeen Study Time Wisely

The pre-seen for Levwell PLC gives you a rich context: a well-positioned leisure-hotel business with strong brand and service base, but facing clear structural and external challenges (cost inflation, seasonality, tech lag, staffing). 
Your job in the December 2025 exam will be to apply the full SBL syllabus in this context — not only identifying issues but also making some coherent strategic decisions, supported by a little theory and with practical implications for this business.

Suggested Ideas

Here's a suggestion on how to structure your study this week.

  • Read it thoroughly: Sound obvious, but take your time to identify the core facts.

  • Create a 1 page summary when finished and include:  business model, strengths, weaknesses, key data (where given), key stakeholders and strategic issues.

  • Create some context-specific diagramssuch as:
    SWOT - with bullet points tied to Levwell 
    PESTEL - for Essland hospitality industry
    PORTER's 5 FORCES - for Levwell
    ANSOFF's MATRIX - for Levwell's options
    MENDELOW's MATRIX - to assess power and interest for stakeholders

These visual aids will help you to remember to apply theory to the case study in the exam - the key to success for SBL is in the word 'apply' to Levwell's specific case.

Core Issues

Focus on the core strategic issues such as:

  1. High turnover of staff

  2. Technology and IT issues

  3. Seasonality and Cost Inflation

Use mock SBL questions and apply the Levwell context.

Use aCOWtancy's mock SBL questions, applying your knowledge of the Levwell context into your responses. 
You could structure each practice as follows:

  1. 10 minutes planning time - Check the requirement verb, for example: evaluate/describe. Then select any relevant data/scenario facts along with any relevant frameworks to meet the requirement.

  2. 20 minutes writing time - be strict on this. 
    Don't go over 25 minutes! You can't write absolutely everything, but you CAN make sure you include the most relevant, applicable information.

  3. 5 minutes review time - proof read, check the requirement wording again. Have you actually answered the question, or gone off on a tangent?

Final Thoughts

Remember that SBL is a practical exam. It requires integrated thinking from you.
Every response should consider: strategy, finance, governance, ethics and sustainability

By taking a structured approach like this, you move beyond passive reading into strategic application — exactly what the SBL exam is designed to test.

Head to the SBL Classroom for our PreSeen Notes, Videos and Analysis!

Best of luck for the exam, from the aCOWtancy team :)