Business Studies Department
The aim of the business studies department is to produce a business curriculum that is broad and balanced for GCSE and A level, Students are given opportunities to use past and present experiences to develop knowledge and understanding, to take responsibility for their learning and develop problem solving and decision making skills and to increase their economic and industrial understanding. Opportunities exist for students of all abilities to access a syllabus suited to their strengths both at GCSE and A-Level by specialising in certain business subjects
The department is situated on the North Side in rooms 61-64, with 1 suite of 24 PCs and 3 suites of 10 PCs.
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GCSE BUSINESS STUDIES |
The overall aim of this course is to develop the student’s awareness and understanding of the industrial and commercial community to which they belong both locally and nationally. Students are entered for the Edexcel Business Studies examination course.
GCSE Business Studies is delivered over a period of two years.
Students will be following the Edexcel GCSE in Business Single Award.
Assessment
The GCSE will be made up of 3 units.
Year 10 – Unit 1 Introduction to small business.
Year 10 – Unit 2: Controlled Assessment Task (based on Unit 1)
Year 11 – 1 Unit chosen from Unit 3 Building a Business and Unit 4 Introduction to Economic Understanding.
The course is divided into separate units; all students study Unit 1 in Year 10 which comprises of 5 topic areas. All students complete an exam and a controlled assessment at the end of Year 10, which accounts for 50% of their GCSE. In Year 11, students in conjunction with teachers decide on which Year 11 pathway to follow.
| AS & A LEVEL BUSINESS STUDIES |
This is the main A Level course where students further their understanding of business and develop their ability to analyse issues and problems with businesses and make judgements on how to improve business performance
The Edexcel A Level divides the study of the syllabus into 4 Units:
AS Unit 1: Developing New Business Ideas
50% of the total AS marks 25% of the total GCE marks
Content summary:
This unit covers the characteristics students would need to develop to be successful in business and how new or existing businesses generate their product or service ideas and test them through market research.
AS Unit 2a: Managing the Business
50% of the total AS arks 25% of the total GCE marks % of the total Content summary:
This unit covers key activities which students may be involved in if they were to set up and/or manage a business whether small, medium-sized or large.
A2 Unit 3: International Business
50% of the total A2 marks 25% of the total GCE marks
Content summary:
The aim of this unit is to introduce the student to the world of international business and issues which a company trading internationally would have to consider.
A2 Unit 4a: Making Business Decisions
50% of the total A2 marks 25% of the total GCE marks
Content summary:
In this unit, students will be able to assess the current competitiveness of a business through performance and non performance indicators. They will analyse corporate objectives and strategy on the basis of these indicators and on external manage risk effectively.
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AS & A LEVEL ECONOMICS |
Students pursue a course of study which develops their understanding of relevant economic and business concepts and theories and their ability to apply these to a range of real-world issues. It is a course especially favoured by the top universities in the country. We will be expecting students to THINK! And think hard! They will need to be naturally inquisitive and mature in their approach to the subject.
The Edexcel A Level divides the study of the syllabus into 4 Units:
AS Unit 1: Competitive Markets — How They Work and
Why They Fail
This unit provides an introduction to economics and examines how the price mechanism allocates resources in markets . It analyses the nature of market failure, its causes and possible policy remedies.
AS Unit 2: Managing the Economy
This unit introduces the key measures of macroeconomic performance and the main objectives and instruments of macroeconomic policy.
A2 Unit 3: Business Economics and Economic Efficiency
This Unit examines the theory of the firm and the application of industrial economic theory to a modern world.
A2 Unit 4: The Global Economy
This unit develops the knowledge and skills gained in Unit 2 so that they can be applied in both a national and global context. An awareness of trends and developments in the global economy over the last 10 years is required.
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AS & A LEVEL ACCOUNTING |
Students pursue a course of study which develops their understanding of relevant economic and business concepts and theories and their ability to apply these to a range of real-world issues.
The AQA A Level divides the study of the syllabus into 4 Units:
AS Unit 1 – Introduction to Financial Accounting
AS Unit 2 – Financial and Management Accounting
A2 Unit 3 – Further Aspects of Financial Accounting
A2 Unit 4 – Further Aspects of Management Accounting
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AS & A LEVEL APPLIED BUSINESS |
Applied Business AS/A2 has been designed to enhance and build on the strengths of a portfolio (coursework) based approach.
The emphasis on portfolio work allows students to form knowledge and understanding of business in an active way. The fundamental philosophy of this specification is that in order to understand the nature of Applied Business, students must actively experience the business environment through links with industry, local employers, case studies and research. Assessment is designed to give credit for what candidates can do as well as what they know and understand.
Students follow a Double Award (two A Levels) syllabus and the course structure is as follows:
Year 12 AS
Unit 1 Investigating Business – portfolio assessed
Unit 2 People in Business- portfolio assessed
Unit 3 Financial Planning and Monitoring – externally assessed (exam)
Unit 4 Meeting Customer Needs – externally assessed (exam)
Unit 5 Business Communication and Information Systems – externally assessed (exam)
Unit 7 Career Planning – portfolio assessed
Year 13 A2
Unit 8 Business Planning – portfolio assessed
Unit 9 Marketing Strategy – portfolio assessed
Unit 11 The Marketing Environment – externally assessed (exam)
Unit 10 Promotional Activities – portfolio assessed
Unit 12 Managing People – externally assessed (exam)
Unit 15 Financial Accounting for Managers– externally assessed (exam)