Business

O V E R V I E W

The broad aims of this course are:

• To give students an understanding of the nature and problems faced by businesses. • To illustrate to students the principles which govern business behaviour. • To promote understanding of the ways in which all organisations work. • To promote an understanding of strategic decision making in the solution to business problems.

The study of Business fits well with a range of subjects. It can be combined with 'arts' subjects such as English, History, French, German or Spanish, but goes equally well with subjects like Geography, Economics, Politics or Mathematics.

Head of Department

Mr G A Davey

Examination Board

OCR

Specification

H431

How is the course assessed?

The main subject areas covered by the course are:

1. The nature of business 2. How decisions are made in business 3. The relationships between businesses and individuals 4. The business functions marketing, accounting, finance, industrial relations, production 5. How these functions can best be co-ordinated 6. The relationship between business and government

The course has considerable emphasis on decision making with students being required to understand why the nature, size, and scope of a business makes a difference to its actions. The course utilises ‘real world’ case studies and data.

Teaching is intensive and there is a lot of group work and discussion. You must come prepared to contribute.

The course is taught very much as a series of real world ‘hands on’ activities. There are three papers that will be taken at the end of Year 13 each of which comprise 33.3% of the marks available. This assessment covers a business operating in a local environment, the national environment, and an international environment. The assessment involves multiple choice responses, short answer responses, and also the ability to write essays using qualitative and quantitative data. There is also a great deal of reading and note making.

This is a very popular subject and a very large number of students go on to university to study some form of business degree.

We are looking for hardworking students with a mature outlook who can cope with the responsibility of a course of this nature. It is not necessary to have studied the subject at GCSE to take this course - however, if you have studied at this level then there is a minimum expectation of a grade 6. There is a considerable mathematical component to the A level course and you should be expecting to gain at least a grade 6 in Mathematics if you want to opt for this subject. There is also a minimum requirement of a grade 6 in an English GCSE

Entry requirements