Business

Studying Business concerns aspects of organisations, both large and small, and their relationship with the community, the government and the economy. This subject involves understanding how entrepreneurs use their skills to make profits (or losses!) by producing goods and services. The factors which make a business profitable and successful are explored by the use of real life case studies such as the invention of the Dyson Hoover, how and why Coca Cola developed Coke Zero and other such business examples. The world of business takes place at such a breath taking pace and consequently there are always plenty of examples to draw upon.

Pupils will be taught, in addition to the content of the course, the skills of application, analysis and evaluation. This will not only equip them to make rational judgements of businesses but will also serve as invaluable transferable skills.

Our vision is to develop real world, enterprising, and employability skills for tomorrow’s leaders and to prepare our students for an ever changing and challenging business environment. We have carefully selected a curriculum which interests and challenges our students by applying their learning to real business organisations and real-time business news. Both GCSE and A-Level courses focus on building logical arguments for achieving specific Business decisions, based on knowledge and evidence from case studies or live business situations We provide an environment for all students to be entrepreneurial, independent learners, confident presenters and strong team players with a sound understanding of the world in which they live. Our lessons are designed to inspire and challenge our students to value diversity, be open- minded, develop teamwork skills, take risks and develop their financial awareness.

The GCSE (Edexcel) is sequenced to work through the beginning of starting a business, and therefore starts with the entrepreneur and the skills they possess and why they would start a business – risk versus reward. This includes all aspects of running a business, start up – entrepreneurs, business plans, funding, all finance of running a business, recruitment, and growing a business such as internal and external factors that can affect the business, marketing and meeting the needs of customers. In KS5 students can study an A Level in Business (Edexcel). This course is with the same exam board as the GCSE and will extend learning from the GCSE qualification. It is also designed to recap/fill in gaps for students who have not sat the GCSE.

At Dame Alice Owen’s we offer GCSE Business (Edexcel) and A Level Business (Edexcel) . Details of each course follows.

GCSE Business Studies (Edexcel)

Students will be assessed through two 90 minute written exam papers at the end of the course, which includes a range of calculation, case study and longer written questions. Each paper carries an equal weighting.

Theme 1: Investigating small business

Topic 1.1 Enterprise and entrepreneurship
Topic 1.2 Spotting a business opportunity
Topic 1.3 Putting a business idea into practice
Topic 1.4 Making the business effective
Topic 1.5 Understanding external influences on business

Theme 2: Building a business

Topic 2.1 Growing the business
Topic 2.2 Making marketing decisions
Topic 2.3 Making operational decisions
Topic 2.4 Making financial decisions
Topic 2.5 Making human resource decisions

For further information visit https://qualifications.pearson.com/en/qualifications/edexcel-gcses/business-2017.html

A Level Business (Edexcel)

Business is front-page news and the course exposes students to a broad range of business scenarios from the outset, in order to explore and understand business behaviour and develop a critical understanding of what business is and does. The course integrates up to date topic areas such as digital technology and e-commerce. Students will develop their analytical and evaluative skills crucial for success at University and the world of work. Most of the assessment material is based on real world scenarios and therefore students will be required to interpret up to date case studies. Business is a very marketable A Level which acts as a great foundation for a range of related degrees.

The qualification is structured into four themes and consists of three externally examined papers.

Theme 1	Theme 2
Meeting customer needs	Raising finance
The market	Financial planning
Marketing mix and strategy	Managing finance
Managing people	Resource management
Entrepreneurs and leaders	External influences

Theme 3	Theme 4
Business growth	Global markets and business expansion
Business objectives and strategy	Globalisation
Decision-making techniques	Global marketing
Assessing competitiveness	Global industries and companies
Managing change