The Business department offers a wide range of courses that will provide students with opportunities to explore the world of business in a practical way. Students will develop the skills, knowledge and understanding that are required in this field, and will learn how to apply them in a realistic way. The following courses are designed to appeal to students who:
- have a keen interest in the subject matter
- enjoy studying a subject which is relevant to their own lives and experience
- want the opportunity to carry out practical research in relevant businesses and in the classroom
- enjoy working in practical business situations
- wish to move on to a related career or higher education course
GCSE Business (AQA)
This two year course for Year 10 and 11 students consists of six Business units:
- Business in the real world – introduces students to business. It considers the purpose of business activity, the role of business enterprise and entrepreneurship, and the dynamic nature of business. While studying this unit students will encounter the different legal forms a business can take, the goals they set themselves, how they decide where to locate and how they plan their activities.
- Influences on business – all businesses are influenced by external factors and this unit considers some of the most important of these, including technology, the economic climate, globalisation and the law.
- Business operations – discover the different ways that businesses produce goods and services, how they manage their stock and their suppliers and how they attempt to produce high quality products and provide excellent customer service.
- Human resources – topics within this unit include how businesses structure their organisations, how they recruit and select new employees and how they motivate those employees once they start work.
- Marketing – This unit encompasses the ways in which businesses identify, understand and target their customers with advertising and other methods of promoting their products. This chapter will help students to understand how businesses discover the needs of their customers using market research.
- Finance – the final unit will help students to understand how businesses raise the finance they need to establish and expand their businesses. It will also show how businesses manager their cash, calculate their profits (or losses) and use financial data to judge their performance
BTEC National Extended Certificate in Business (Edexcel)
(equivalent to 1 A Level)
This two year course for Year 12 and 13 students consists of four Business units:
- 2 units are coursework based
- 1 unit is assessed by a Controlled Assessment
- 1 unit is assessed by an external examination
The units include:
- Unit 1: Exploring Business – In this introductory unit, Students will study the purposes of different businesses, their structure, the effect of the external environment, and how they need to be dynamic and innovative to survive. Students will gain an overview of the key ingredients for business success, how businesses are organised, how they communicate, the characteristics of the environment in which they operate, and how this shapes them and their activities. Students will also look at the importance of innovation and enterprise to the success and survival of businesses, with the associated risks and benefits.
- Unit 2: Developing a Marketing Campaign – This unit looks at how important marketing is for business. Students will explore different stages of the process that a business goes through when developing its campaign and develop their own campaign for a given product/service. Students will examine the marketing aims and objectives for existing products/services and understand the importance of relevant, valid and appropriate research in relation to customers’ needs and wants. Students will use given market research data and other information to make recommendations about the type of marketing campaign that a business should undertake.
- Unit 3: Personal and Business Finance – Students study the purpose and importance of personal and business finance. They will develop the skills and knowledge needed to understand, analyse and prepare financial information. This unit will also give students an insight into where they can get financial advice and support. The business finance aspects of the unit introduces students to accounting terminology, the purpose and importance of business accounts and the different sources of finance available to businesses. Planning tools, such as cash flow forecasts and break-even, will be prepared and analysed.
- Unit 8: Recruitment and selection in business – In this unit, students will learn how successful recruitment is key to maintaining the success of a business. Students will explore the various selection tools and the enhanced use of technology in this area. This unit gives you the opportunity, through role play, to take part in selection interviews. Through undertaking recruitment activities the unit will help students to develop the skills needed in an interview situation. Students will have an opportunity to review their individual performance and analyse their skills for development.