What is covered by the course?
Year 1
Students are introduced to business in Themes 1 and 2 in year 1 through building knowledge of core business concepts and applying them to business contexts to develop a broad understanding of how businesses work.
Theme 1: Marketing and People
Students will develop a knowledge of:
· Meeting customer needs
· The market
· Marketing mix and strategy
· Managing people
· Entrepreneurs and leaders.
Theme 2: Managing Business Activities
Students will develop an understanding of:
· Raising finance
· Financial planning
· Managing finance
· Resource management
· External influences.
Year 2
The breadth and depth of knowledge and understanding, with applications to a wider range of contexts and more complex business information, are developed in Themes 3 and 4, requiring students to take a more strategic view of business opportunities and issues. Students are encouraged to use an enquiring, critical and thoughtful approach to the study of business, to understand that business behaviour can be studied from a range of perspectives and to challenge assumptions.
Theme 3: Business Decisions and Strategy
This theme develops the concepts introduced in Theme 2.
Students will develop an understanding of:
· Business objectives and strategy
· Business growth
· Decision-making techniques
· Influences on business decisions
· Assessing competitiveness
· Managing change.
Theme 4: Global Business
This theme develops the concepts introduced in Theme 1.
Students will develop an understanding of:
· Globalisation
· Global markets and business expansion
· Global marketing
· Global industries and companies (multinational corporations).
How is it examined?
A-Level Assessment
A-level assessment consists of three two hour written exams taken at the end of the two year course.
Paper 1 is worth 35% of the qualification and will assess marketing, people and global businesses. Questions will be drawn from Themes 1 and 4, and from local, national and global contexts.
Paper 2 is worth 35% of the qualification and will assess business finance and operations, business decisions and strategy. Questions will be drawn from Themes 2 and 3, and from local, national and global contexts.
Paper 3 is worth 30% of the qualification and will assess content across all four themes. Questions will be drawn from local, national and global contexts. For Paper 3, there is be a pre-released context document that is researched in advance of the exam