APMG BBC Foundation study plan

Define the Five Case Model and state in one sentence what question each of the five cases answers.

Explain why the strategic case is treated as the foundation of the whole business case and what 'the case for change' means in practice.

Distinguish between strategic fit and spending objectives, then draft three SMART spending objectives for a scenario you invent.

List the components of a strategic case (business rationale, drivers for change, scope boundaries, dependencies, constraints, benefits and risks summary) and identify which are mandatory.

Identify the stakeholder groups for your scenario and note, for each, their interest and influence on the case.

Explain the purpose of the economic case and why it focuses on public value rather than on the cheapest option.

Describe the options framework from long list through intermediate list to short list, and explain the role of critical success factors in screening options out.

Distinguish the do-nothing / do-minimum / do-something option families and justify why a baseline option is always retained.

Complete the strategic case by writing the business justification and success criteria sections for your scenario.

Explain the principle of discounting and why costs and benefits arising in later years carry less weight.

Classify costs and benefits as cash or non-cash, and as monetised or non-monetised, using examples relevant to a public sector case.

Explain optimism bias and describe how adjusted cost and benefit estimates change the ranking of options.

Compare cost-benefit analysis, cost-effectiveness analysis and multi-criteria analysis, and state when each is the appropriate appraisal method.

Explain sensitivity analysis and switching values, and identify which single assumption is most likely to overturn your preferred option.

Explain the difference between an option's net present value and its affordability, and why the highest-value option is not automatically chosen.

State the purpose of the commercial case and explain how it converts the preferred option into a deliverable deal.

Describe the main procurement routes available and the criteria used to select between them, including the role of proportionality.

Explain risk allocation and risk transfer between buyer and supplier, and show how allocation affects pricing and contract incentives.

Outline the contract management and supplier performance arrangements needed once the contract is signed.

Explain how the commercial case records the deal: contract type, duration, key terms, payment mechanism and exit arrangements.

Explain the affordability question and distinguish affordability from value for money.

Separate capital from revenue costs and separate funding sources from affordability, giving two examples of each.

Describe the accounting treatment question and why the treatment affects the affordability position.

Build a whole-life cost profile across the appraisal period including contingency, and state the assumptions behind each line.

Identify how a funding shortfall would be closed and how the financial case should record unresolved funding risk.

State the purpose of the management case and explain the deliverability question it answers.

Describe the programme and project management arrangements, including roles, reporting lines and the governance board structure.

Explain the assurance regime: what independent assurance is, what it reviews and at which points in the project life cycle it is triggered.

Set out how benefits will be realised, including benefit owners, baselines and how realisation is tracked after handover.

Describe the post-implementation review and how lessons learned feed back into future business cases.

Complete a timed mock examination under exam conditions without notes and record the score.

Categorise every incorrect answer by domain and by failure type (not known, misread, over-thought).

Write out from memory the relationship between the five cases and mark where each case supplies input to another.

Repair the ten weakest concepts by writing a two-sentence explanation of each from memory and self-checking it.

Re-attempt every previously missed question and confirm each answer is now justified by a stated principle rather than by recall.

Complete a second full timed mock and achieve a score of at least 75 per cent.

Reproduce the structure of a five-case business case document from a blank page and check it against your own completeness list.

Re-explain the three highest-scoring-risk concepts from week seven aloud without notes.

Answer a set of mixed applied questions that each require choosing a case, and justify each choice in one line.

Confirm logistics for exam day and finalise a one-page summary sheet of the model.