Skill Align QCE Business External Assessment Practice Examination — 2026 Edition, Pack 0
An original hybrid service renewal and workforce transition examination aligned to Unit 4 Topic 2 of the QCAA Business General senior syllabus 2025 v1.3 and the July 2026 external-assessment changes.
- Paper
- Question and Response Book
- Planning time
- 15 minutes
- Working time
- 120 minutes
- Assessment
- 39 marks
Write using black or blue pen. Planning paper will not be marked. No notes or reference materials may be brought into the examination.
Stimulus book — Coral Coast Fitness — page 1 of 3
Stimulus 1 — Business profile Coral Coast Fitness (CCF) operates 12 fitness centres across coastal Queensland. The family-owned business expanded rapidly between 2014 and 2021, but its membership model has changed little since then. The owners classify CCF as post-maturity because centre visits and membership growth have both declined for three consecutive years.
Stimulus 2 — Performance data Measure 2023 2024 2025 Members 46,200 44,800 42,100 Net profit $2.8 m $2.2 m $1.4 m Digital class share 9% 18% 31% Annual customer complaints 620 890 1,420 Staff turnover 12% 17% 24%
Stimulus 3 — Customer research A survey of 1,600 current and former members found that 62% wanted one membership covering centre access, live-streamed classes and recorded programs. Forty-eight per cent said the current booking website was difficult to use. A national low-cost competitor launched an app-based membership in every CCF location.
Stimulus 4 — Current management and culture Head office sets class schedules and sales targets without consulting centre teams. Managers describe the style as persuasive: decisions are explained after they are made. An employee pulse survey found that 71% of coaches wanted earlier involvement in technology and timetable decisions.
Stimulus book — Coral Coast Fitness — page 2 of 3
Stimulus 5 — Proposed transformation The owners propose a $1.8 million hybrid-membership transformation. It would introduce one mobile platform for bookings, payments, live classes and personalised programs; convert two lightly used studios into recording spaces; and close two consistently unprofitable centres when their leases end.
Stimulus 6 — Workforce implications CCF employs 240 people. The proposal would remove 18 reception positions, create 12 digital-production and member-support roles, and require 86 coaches to complete paid training. Sixty-eight per cent of coaches said they would train, while 21% feared that recorded classes would reduce future hours.
Stimulus 7 — Financial and operational evidence The platform supplier forecasts annual licence and support costs of $420,000. Closing the two centres would save $760,000 a year. Management forecasts 3,800 returning members in year one if the launch is reliable. An independent consultant warns that migration errors could disrupt billing for up to six weeks.
Stimulus 8 — Implementation alternatives Option A is a four-month simultaneous launch at all remaining centres. Option B is an eight-month staged launch beginning with three centres, with employee design workshops, a customer pilot and monthly performance checkpoints. The owners' goals are to restore profitability, improve member satisfaction and retain skilled coaches.
Initial change-management activity: CCF has completed two employee design workshops and a 60-member booking prototype. Workshop feedback changed the migration plan to retain centre support during rollout; 52 prototype users completed a booking, while eight billing or member-profile errors were identified for correction.
Stimulus book — Coral Coast Fitness — page 3 of 3
Stimulus 9 — Membership-channel trend (share of class bookings) Channel 2023 2024 2025 In-centre only 91% 82% 69% Live-streamed classes 4% 10% 18% Recorded programs 5% 8% 13%
Stimulus 10 — Functional strategy register Financial: release the $1.8 million budget in pilot and rollout stages, with a stop-loss if billing errors exceed 1.5%. Human resources: offer paid digital training, redeploy suitable reception staff and negotiate supported transitions for remaining redundancies. Marketing: launch a segmented hybrid-membership campaign with a returning-member trial and a choice of centre-only, digital-only or combined bundles. Operations: pilot the booking and content platform at three centres before migrating the remaining network.
Stimulus 11 — Proposed project structure Owners Transformation steering group — finance lead, operations lead, marketing lead, coach representative Platform and billing team Content and studio team Workforce transition team Member pilot panel
Stimulus 12 — Member-panel extract "I would return for a combined membership if the app and billing worked from day one." — former member "A digital-only price would suit shift workers, but recorded classes should not replace every local coach." — current member "Give centre teams the pilot data before changing all timetables." — coach representative
Section 1 — Short response
17 marks. Answer all three questions. Questions 1 and 2 assess Unit 4 Topic 2 concepts. Question 3 requires analysis of the supplied stimulus.
Question 1
2 marksQuestion 2
6 marksQuestion 3
9 marksSection 2 — Extended response
22 marks. Answer Question 4 as a business report or business report extract using the supplied stimulus. No separate communication marks are awarded.
Question 4
22 marksResponse - Question 4
22 marksWrite a business report or business report extract. Continue on the ruled pages provided.
Response - Question 4 (continued)
22 marksContinue your response in the space below.
Response - Question 4 (continued)
22 marksContinue your response in the space below.
Response - Question 4 (continued)
22 marksContinue your response in the space below.
Worked Solutions And Marking Guide
General marking principles
- Indicative responses demonstrate one defensible approach. Accept other accurate and relevant answers that satisfy the cognitive verb and available marks.
- A selected stimulus fact is not analysis by itself. Credit analysis when the response explains a relationship, consequence or implication for the business situation.
- For the report, apply each criterion independently. Do not transfer unused marks between describing, analyse and interpret, and evaluating.
- Evaluation requires use of business criteria to make judgments, followed by a justified decision and a recommendation drawn from that decision.
- No separate communication criterion is used in this 2026-aligned external assessment practice examination.
Section 1 — Short response Question 1
A participative manager shares decision-making authority with affected employees, for example by allowing them to help design a changed workflow. Using employee knowledge can improve the decision and build ownership, increasing acceptance during implementation.
Mark allocation
- Apply the explicit one-mark evidence points independently. Award no more than the stated maximum.
Detailed marking criteria
Integrated response (2 marks)
Assess the complete task: "Explain one way a participative management style can support a business during transformation." Use the question-specific mark allocation below and award each stated one-mark point independently. Do not award the same idea twice.
Question-specific mark allocation:
- 1 mark: Explains that a participative style shares decision-making authority with employees.
- 1 mark: Explains how employee input or ownership could improve implementation or reduce resistance during transformation.
Acceptable alternatives: Accept accurate equivalent wording and other relevant examples that satisfy the same conceptual demand.
Do not credit by itself: Names or defines a concept without explaining how or why it operates during business transformation.
Section 1 — Short response Question 2
A regional fitness operator is changing from centre-only memberships to a hybrid membership with live-streamed classes. Unfreeze: explain falling centre attendance and members' demand for flexible access, and involve coaches in questioning the centre-only model so they understand why change is needed. Change: pilot the hybrid booking platform, train coaches to deliver live classes and support members switching to the new booking process.
Refreeze: make hybrid booking and class delivery the normal procedures, assign ongoing digital-support roles and review booking reliability and member retention so the new practices are sustained.
Mark allocation
- Apply the explicit one-mark evidence points independently. Award no more than the stated maximum.
Detailed marking criteria
Integrated response (6 marks)
Assess the complete task: "Identify and explain each stage of Lewin's three-step change-management model, using a relevant business-transformation example." Use the question-specific mark allocation below and award each stated one-mark point independently. Do not award the same idea twice.
Question-specific mark allocation:
- 1 mark: Identifies unfreeze.
- 1 mark: Explains how unfreezing prepares people to leave existing practices, applied to the chosen business transformation.
- 1 mark: Identifies change.
- 1 mark: Explains the implementation stage using a relevant system, process, training or role-transition example.
- 1 mark: Identifies refreeze.
- 1 mark: Explains how refreezing embeds the new practices in the same business-transformation example.
Acceptable alternatives: Accept accurate equivalent wording and other relevant examples that satisfy the same conceptual demand.
Do not credit by itself: Names or defines a concept without explaining how or why it operates during business transformation.
Section 1 — Short response Question 3
Force for 1 - Competition. Evidence: A national app-based competitor operates in every CCF location. Analysis: Without a comparable hybrid offer, CCF risks continued membership loss. Force for 2 - Changing customer demand. Evidence: Digital class use rose from 9% to 31%, and 62% of surveyed members want one hybrid membership. Analysis: A hybrid offer responds to the demonstrated shift in how members want to access fitness services. Force against 1 - Employee resistance. Evidence: Twenty-one per cent of coaches fear reduced hours and 18 reception roles would disappear. Analysis: Fear about hours and roles may reduce cooperation and increase turnover during implementation. Force against 2 - Implementation cost. Evidence: The project costs $1.8 million and billing migration could be disrupted for six weeks. Analysis: The financial commitment and migration interruption could weaken cash flow and customer trust before benefits are achieved. Relationship - Digital class use rose from 9% to 31% while in-centre-only bookings fell from 91% to 69%. Interpretation: The inverse relationship shows that changing customer demand is strengthening the case for hybrid access rather than a centre-only model. Trend - Membership and profit fell while complaints and staff turnover rose across 2023-2025. Interpretation: The deteriorating trend increases urgency, but employee resistance and billing risk mean an uncontrolled simultaneous launch could deepen the decline. Conclusion - CCF should continue transformation through a staged pilot, paid training and billing gates so the supporting demand forces can outweigh workforce and implementation restraints.
Mark allocation
- Apply the explicit one-mark evidence points independently. Analysis requires an explained effect, relationship or implication; do not infer it from an unexplained quotation.
Detailed marking criteria
Integrated response (9 marks)
Question-specific mark allocation: award one mark per point. Force selection must include an explained effect.
Question-specific mark allocation:
- 1 mark: Competition (supporting force): Without a comparable hybrid offer, CCF risks continued membership loss.
- 1 mark: Changing customer demand (supporting force): A hybrid offer responds to the demonstrated shift in how members want to access fitness services.
- 1 mark: Employee resistance (restraining force): Fear about hours and roles may reduce cooperation and increase turnover during implementation.
- 1 mark: Implementation cost (restraining force): The financial commitment and migration interruption could weaken cash flow and customer trust before benefits are achieved.
- 1 mark: Relationship: Digital class use rose from 9% to 31% while in-centre-only bookings fell from 91% to 69%.
- 1 mark: Relationship interpretation: The inverse relationship shows that changing customer demand is strengthening the case for hybrid access rather than a centre-only model.
- 1 mark: Trend: Membership and profit fell while complaints and staff turnover rose across 2023-2025.
- 1 mark: Trend interpretation: The deteriorating trend increases urgency, but employee resistance and billing risk mean an uncontrolled simultaneous launch could deepen the decline.
- 1 mark: Conclusion about transformation implications for CCF: CCF should continue transformation through a staged pilot, paid training and billing gates so the supporting demand forces can outweigh workforce and implementation restraints.
Acceptable alternatives: Accept equivalent analysis and other supported stimulus selections.
Do not credit by itself: Unexplained facts or unsupported implications.
Section 2 — Extended response Question 4
Business report to the owners of Coral Coast Fitness
Executive summary Proceed with Option B rather than a simultaneous launch. Establish baseline membership, complaints, turnover and billing-error measures; pilot three centres; retrain affected employees for the 12 new roles where suitable; negotiate fair transitions for redundant staff; and authorise full rollout only after the pilot meets reliability and satisfaction thresholds.
Business situation Membership fell from 46,200 to 42,100, profit halved to $1.4 million, complaints more than doubled and staff turnover reached 24%, while digital use grew to 31%. These facts show a declining post-maturity model alongside demand for a different service channel.
SWOT analysis Strengths (internal): an established base of 42,100 members and an established workforce of 86 coaches available for paid digital training. Weaknesses (internal): a difficult booking system, 1,420 complaints and 24% staff turnover; billing-migration risk and employee resistance arising from feared hour reductions and role losses. Opportunities (external): survey evidence that 62% of members want one hybrid membership. Threats (external): a national low-cost competitor offering app-based membership in every CCF location.
Analysis and interpretation of relationships, trends and business-function implications Relationship: The relationship between the difficult booking experience and rising complaints suggests that service-system weakness is contributing to customer loss, so a reliable integrated platform could improve both marketing retention and operations. Trend: Digital class participation rose from 9% to 31% as total membership declined, indicating a sustained shift in preferred delivery rather than a temporary fall in centre attendance. CCF should renew around a hybrid offer, but the financial, human-resource and operations functions must be coordinated: training and role transition protect capability, while staged migration protects billing and customer trust.
Evaluation Selected marketing management strategy: the segmented hybrid-membership campaign with a returning-member trial and three bundle choices. On effectiveness, the returning-member trial and differentiated bundles directly test whether the marketing strategy can restore 3,800 members and reduce complaints, although unreliable billing could undermine the result. On stakeholder satisfaction, bundle choice responds to members with different access needs and the pilot allows coach feedback, but the campaign must not promise service reliability before migration testing is complete.
Decision and recommendation Proceed with Option B rather than a simultaneous launch. Establish baseline membership, complaints, turnover and billing-error measures; pilot three centres; retrain affected employees for the 12 new roles where suitable; negotiate fair transitions for redundant staff; and authorise full rollout only after the pilot meets reliability and satisfaction thresholds.
Mark allocation
- Apply the three criteria independently. A response may demonstrate different levels of quality across criteria.
- The indicative report is not exhaustive. Accept other valid SWOT classifications, relationships, trends, judgments, decisions and recommendations supported by the stimulus.
- No separate communication criterion is used in this 2026-aligned external assessment practice examination.
Detailed marking criteria
Integrated response (2 marks)
2 marks: comprehensive description of the business situation using significant case facts. 1 mark: relevant but partial description. 0 marks: no relevant description.
Acceptable alternatives: Accept other accurate combinations of significant case facts that establish the current business situation.
Do not credit by itself: Lists isolated stimulus facts without describing the current situation or post-maturity context.
Integrated response (12 marks)
12 marks: discerning selection and accurate SWOT analysis with thorough interpretation of a significant relationship and trend and well-supported conclusions about implications for the key business functions. 10-11 marks: considered selection and effective analysis and interpretation with relevant implications. 7-9 marks: generally accurate SWOT analysis and appropriate interpretation of a relationship or trend with a supported implication. 4-6 marks: obvious selection with partial analysis or interpretation. 1-3 marks: isolated relevant analysis or implication. 0 marks: no relevant analysis or interpretation.
Acceptable alternatives: Accept another defensible SWOT classification or other significant relationships and trends where the response accurately supports its analysis and interpretation from the stimulus.
Do not credit by itself: Treats every positive fact as a strength even when it is an external opportunity, copies the stimulus without analysis, or names a relationship or trend without interpreting its effect on the key business functions.
Integrated response (8 marks)
8 marks: identifies the relevant strategy, uses two business criteria proficiently to make perceptive judgments, makes a thoroughly justified decision and proposes an appropriate recommendation drawn from it. 7 marks: credible two-criterion judgments, justified decision and appropriate recommendation. 6 marks: uses two criteria with a generally justified decision and recommendation. 4-5 marks: uses at least one criterion to make judgments and states a decision or recommendation. 2-3 marks: identifies a criterion or strategy and makes limited statements. 1 mark: isolated relevant statement. 0 marks: no relevant evaluation.
Acceptable alternatives: Accept another identifiable marketing management strategy from the stimulus, any two of the four syllabus business criteria and any defensible decision or recommendation supported by the case evidence.
Do not credit by itself: Uses cost, profit or popularity as an unnamed criterion without connecting it to a syllabus business criterion, or gives a recommendation unrelated to the decision.
Diagnostic Checklist
| Topic | Questions | Marks | Marks Lost | Action |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Explaining transformation concepts | Q1, Q2 | 8 | ___ | Review renewal, change-management theories, management styles, drivers, resistance strategies, performance management and professional support. Practise explaining how or why each affects transformation. |
| Analysing business evidence | Q3 | 9 | ___ | Practise selecting and analysing force-field evidence, then identify and interpret a relationship and trend and conclude about the implications of transformation. Practise connecting force-field evidence so the relationship, trend and conclusion are derived rather than asserted. |
| Business report: analyse, interpret and evaluate | Q4 | 22 | ___ | Practise building one connected report in which selected evidence supports analysis, conclusions and evaluation rather than appearing as separate lists. |