Part (c) asked for a discussion of the conditions which would make market skimming a more suitable pricing strategy and a recommendation as to whether skimming should be used.

The best approach in this type of question is to state what each condition is and then, for each one, say whether the company meets the condition. Finally, at the end, make a recommendation that follows on from the discussion. This is a fool-proof approach.

A weaker approach is to simply list all of the conditions of market skimming, fail to apply them and fail to conclude. The quality of answers varied here, many
did fail to apply or conclude unfortunately.

The Skills papers are different from the Knowledge papers because candidates are required to apply information rather than simply learn and repeat knowledge.

It won’t be possible to pass these papers unless the skill of applying knowledge is mastered, so most requirements will ask for application, as in this question. Candidates are still struggling to do this and consequently scoring poorly on these discursive elements of the paper.