Business Studies
The course aims to develop a knowledge and understanding of how businesses are organised, financed and operated.
Students also learn about the environmental, social and economic factors that influence businesses and acquire and develop IT skills required in a modern company.
GCSE Business Studies OCR
A two-year course is taught through the use of presentations, note-taking, research, reading and investigations. Pupils take part in individual learning as well as groupwork and are encouraged to keep up-to-date with current affairs. Educational visits are made to local and national businesses.
Unit 1: Marketing and Enterprise
- Marketing
- Market research and data collection
- The marketing mix
- Marketing in the wider business environment
- Enterprise
- Enterprise and the entrepreneur
- The business plan
Unit 2: Business and People
- The structure of business activity
- The need for business activity
- Business ownership, trading organisations, growth and location
- The workforce in business
- Employment and retention
- Organisation and communication
Unit 3: Production, Finance and the External Business Environment
- Using and managing resources to produce goods and services
- Types of production methods
- Management and control of production
- Production costs
- Financial information and decision making
- Sources of finance
- Financial forecasting and analysis
- External influences on business activity
- The competitive environment
- Environmental influences and business ethics
- Government and the UK economy
- Globalisation and UK business
A Level Business Studies
This two-year course follows the OCR syllabus and is taught to students who will have achieved at least a grade C at GCSE level in both Mathematics and English.
It can be undertaken both by those students who have covered the GCSE Business Studies course and also by those who are undertaking this subject for the first time.
Class sizes are small and this allows for greater individual learning. The subject is taught through note-taking, investigations, use of case studies, reading, discussions and research.
Students are also taken on educational visits to businesses which are local, national and international.
The aims of this course are:
- To understand the importance of seeing problems through different perspectives, working with others and contributing to the work of teams
- To understand how businesses are organised internally and also how businesses operate in the local, national and international environment
- To understand the importance of inputs in order to develop product outputs
- Through observation and experience, understand the need for co-operation and inter-dependence between society and business.
AS Business Studies (Year 1)
Unit 1: An Introduction to Business
Unit 2: Business Functions
- Market strategy, product, price, place, promotion, PED, IED, Boston Matrix
A2 Business Studies
- The market the marketing function in regards to the company objectives, other departments and the resources
- Market segmentation - the customers, market share and growth, buyer behaviour, marketing and the law
- Market research the purposes and methods of research, sampling techniques and errors, understanding normal distribution and calculating standard deviation.
Unit 4: Strategic Management
- Business objectives and strategy stakeholders, objectives and planning
- Business analysis forecasting, data analysis, decision making, measuring business performance.
