ISC 2025 Business Studies Improvement Examination Question Paper for Class 12

About this paper

This is the ISC Class 12 Business Studies paper from CISCE's 2025 Improvement Examination, paper code 859 (printed as 1225-859-IE). It carries 80 marks and runs for three hours, with fifteen minutes extra for reading. All 13 questions are compulsory. Section A has sixteen one-mark items. Section B has eight questions of four marks each, and Section C four questions of eight marks each, with an internal choice in two questions of Section B and one of Section C. Candidates prepare a pay slip for January 2024 for an HR manager at Apex Solutions, draft an appointment letter for a school librarian, and answer a case on Meow Kitty Public Ltd., RBI and SEBI. This copy has the questions only.

Exam

ISC Class 12

Subject

Business Studies

Year

2025

Paper code

859

Maximum marks

80

Time allowed

3 hours + 15 min reading

Questions

13

Pages

7

Answers included

No, questions only

Paper pattern

• Section A

  16 marks

  Question 1: sixteen very short answers of one mark each, including analogies, multiple choice and true or false

• Section B

  32 marks

  Questions 2–9, four marks each, on motivation, the managerial grid, appraisal, communication and a pay slip; internal choice in two questions

• Section C

  32 marks

  Questions 10–13, eight marks each, including an appointment letter and a regulators case; internal choice in one question

Topics covered

• Retainership
• Recruitment
• Business letters
• Job enlargement
• Selection and induction
• Morale
• Piece-rate system
• Blake and Mouton managerial grid
• Performance appraisal
• Barriers to communication
• Sources of finance
• Regulators and intermediaries

Questions from this paper

1. Ms Leela is hired to develop software whenever it is required, with no fixed working hours or days. Which emerging trend in human resource management is this?
2. Under which method of staff recruitment is a notice of vacancies put up on the organisation's notice board?
3. On the Blake and Mouton Managerial Grid, explain Country Club leadership and Impoverished leadership.
4. Distinguish between gratuity and provident fund on the basis of contribution.
5. Draw a specimen pay slip for January 2024 for Ms Fatima Khan, HR Manager at Apex Solutions Pvt. Ltd., with basic pay ₹60,000 and dearness allowance ₹30,000.
6. Meow Kitty Public Ltd. defaults on a ₹10 crore loan from a foreign bank, and SEBI later stops trading in its shares. Identify the two regulators and the two intermediaries in the passage.