Business is one of the most varied and diverse subjects available, and is a popular subject within this school. As such we currently offer two types of business courses, which both offer a taster of the most important management fields to enable students to develop their interests and skills for a possible future career:
- GCSE Applied Business
- BTEC Level 2 First Diploma in Business
GCSE Applied Business
Studying for the GCSE in Applied Business enables learners to learn about the business world in an interesting and practical way. Learners will investigate how businesses operate today and how the actions of different businesses can affect us in our everyday lives. As this is an ‘applied’ GCSE, learners are able to apply what they learn to real businesses to see what happens in practice.
Many students who have successfully achieved GCSE Applied Business have been so interested, they have gone on to learn more about business at a higher level.
This qualification is worth one GCSE, which is achieved by completing Units 1 and 2.
In year one (year 10), learners will study Unit 2: Financial Records, which focuses on the financial transactions that occur within business organisations. These are crucial as all businesses must keep financial records as well as make payments for goods and services they buy. Learners will find out how businesses work out whether or not they are financially successful and how to understand the main documents - balance sheet and profit and loss account – that tell them this. Unit 2 is worth 40% of the overall GCSE qualification, and is assessed via a one-hour examination.
In year two (year 11), learners will study Unit 1: Investigating How Businesses Work, which introduces them to the work of business and business enterprise. Learners will discover all about the activities businesses carry out, how businesses are organised and the tasks that are carried out by the people who work there, in addition to discovering the importance of customers and the rights and responsibilities of employers and employees. Unit 1 is worth the remaining 60% of the overall GCSE qualification, as it assessed via controlled assessment, which is carried out over a number of weeks.
BTEC Level 2 First Diploma In Business
Choosing to study for a BTEC Level 2 First Diploma in Business is a great decision to make for lots of reasons. This qualification will equip learners for a career in a wide range of industries, as business underpins more or less any job – from starting up in business to working for a charitable organisation. As this qualification is classed as being vocational and work-related, it means that learners will have the opportunity to gain specific knowledge, understanding and skills that are relevant to their future career.
In order to gain a BTEC Level 2 First Diploma in Business, learners will study a mix of units and complete specific assessment activities, which will go into their portfolio of work. There is no examination for this course.
This qualification is broadly equivalent to four GCSE’s, which is achieved by studying nine units of work.
In year one (year 10), learners will study five units of work, and complete portfolio assessments for each unit. These units are:
- Unit 1: Business purposes
- Unit 2: Business organisations
- Unit 3: Financial forecasting for business
- Unit 4: People in organisations
- Unit 11: Customer relations in business
In year two (year 11), learners will study a final four units of work, again completing portfolio assessments for each unit. These units are:
- Unit 12: Business online
- Unit 16: Business enterprise
- Unit 19: The marketing plan
- Unit 20: Managing personal finances
The units studied have been chosen to equip students with a greatest variety of business subjects in order to increase their understanding of the diverse world of business, and help them determine in which field they may want to specialise in the future.