Business Studies
Head of Department: Mrs K Dennan
Awarding Body: Edexcel
Entry Requirements: GCSE Grade 5 or above in Business Studies or Merit in Business Btec (if studied at GCSE level)
Course Description
In the current economic climate, business is never out of the news, with some very famous brands having struggled with the financial consequences of the credit crunch. The world of business has a huge impact on our everyday lives. There are many aspects to running a business and the Business Studies course aims to familiarise you with many of them.
Lessons are delivered through a variety of methods with a strong focus on developing key employability skills and opportunities to participate and apply theory to various business experiences. Examples of activities are Young Enterprise (running your own Private Limited Company), Stock Exchange Challenge, ICAEW Base Accountancy competition and Urban Project Completion.
Year 12 (AS)
Throughout Year 12 students are introduced to Business in Themes 1 and 2 through building knowledge of core business concepts and applying them to business contexts to develop a broad understanding of how businesses work. The specific topics consists of:
Theme 1: Marketing and People
Students will develop an understanding of:
- Meeting customer needs
- The Market
- Marketing mix and strategy
- Managing People
- Entrepreneurs and Leaders
Theme 2: Managing Business Activities
Students will develop an understanding of:
- Raising finance
- Financial planning
- Managing finance
- Resource management
- External influences
Year 13 (A2)
The A2 focuses on breadth and depth of knowledge and understanding, with applications to a wider range of contexts and more complex business information. These are developed in Themes 3 and 4, requiring students to take a more strategic view of business opportunities and issues. Students are encouraged to use an enquiring, critical and thoughtful approach to the study of business, to understand that business behaviour can be studied from a range of perspectives and to challenge assumptions.
Theme 3: Business Decisions and Strategy
The theme develops the concepts introduced in Theme 2. Students will develop an understanding of:
- Business objectives and strategy
- Business Growth
- Decision-making techniques
- Influences on business decision
- Assessing competitiveness
- Managing change
Theme 4: Global Business
- Globalisation
- Global markets and business
- Expansion
- Global marketing
- Global industries and companies (multinational corporations)
Progression
Further study: Previous students have gone on to study courses such as Business Management, Business Administration, Accountancy and Finance, Human Resource Management, Marketing, Retail Management, Tourism Management and International Business.
Careers: Business Studies opens the door to so many job opportunities, it is not surprising that it is one of the most popular subjects in the country. It can lead to careers such as Financial Advisor, Estate Agent, HR Management, Business development manager and many more.