Candidates were required to explain issues that could limit the independence of the internal audit department in a company and then recommend a way of overcoming that issue. Candidates were provided with information in a scenario with specific reference in the question requirement to that information. To obtain credit, answers therefore had to relate to information presented in the scenario.

The requirement verbs for this section were explain and recommend. Candidates were therefore expected to find the issues limiting independence and explain each issue for 1 mark. For each issue a recommendation on how to overcome the issue provided the second mark.

To obtain the full two marks per point, answers would normally take the format “issue 1 could limit independence in Matalas, because..... . This issue can be overcome by....” However, as the question requirement did not specify the number of points to make, then any number of valid points could be included in the answer. Most candidates included four fairly well explained points in their answer. A minority of candidates provided limited or no explanation of the points made, limiting the marks awarded.

Common errors and reasons why those errors did not obtain marks included:

Overall, the candidates answered this question well.