Better Business Cases Foundation

Better Business Cases (BBC) is the APMG-International certification in building a robust business case using HM Treasury’s Five Case Model — the UK public sector’s standard approach to justifying spending and investment. Foundation is the entry level, proving you understand the model; Practitioner is the applied level above it.

The Five Case Model

A business case is built as five linked “cases”, each answering a different question:

• Strategic case — is there a compelling case for change, and does it fit the organisation’s objectives?
• Economic case — does the preferred option deliver best public value (long-list to short-list, optimism bias, sensitivity analysis)?
• Commercial case — is the deal attractive and achievable (procurement, risk allocation, payment)?
• Financial case — is it affordable and funded?
• Management case — can it actually be delivered (governance, the SRO, benefits realisation)?

The Foundation exam

The Foundation exam is 50 multiple-choice questions in 40 minutes, closed-book, with a 50% pass mark (25 out of 50). It tests recall and understanding of the Five Case Model and its terminology, so breadth across all five cases matters more than depth in any one.

Who it is for

It suits anyone who writes, reviews or approves business cases in central government, the NHS, local authorities or their suppliers — project and programme managers, finance and commercial staff, and consultants working with the public sector, where the Five Case Model is often mandated.

How to revise

Learn what each of the five cases is for and the key terms inside it (CSFs, net present social value, optimism bias, the SRO), then sit timed mocks until the terminology is automatic. PassNova’s Better Business Cases questions explain every answer — a free 15-question taster, with the full bank on Premium.