Business
A-Level Business is a popular choice amongst Sixth Formers. It builds on the foundations of GCSE but it is available for students to begin as a new subject. The focus of study is the analysis of business decisions and understanding how success in a business is affected by both internal and external influences.
The AQA specification is followed which requires students to examine case studies from real-world businesses. Logical and critical thinking skills are essential to succeed as well as numerical ability to handle financial information. The specification is split into 10 units studied over 2 years.
The Aims of these specifications are to encourage candidates to:
- develop an enthusiasm for studying business;
- gain a holistic understanding of business;
- develop a critical understanding of organisations and their ability to meet society's needs and wants;
- understand that business behaviour can be studied from a range of perspectives;
- generate enterprising and creative solutions to business problems and issues;
- be aware of the ethical dilemmas and responsibilities faced by organisations and individuals;
- acquire a range of relevant business and generic skills, including decision making, problem solving, challenging assumptions and quantifying and managing information
Students will sit three, 2 hour examinations at the end of year 2. Each exam accounts for 33.3%. The exam comprises of multiple choice, shorter answer questions, data response and essay format questions.
The following units are in Year 1
- What is business?
- Managers, leadership and decision making
- Decision making to improve marketing performance
- Decision making to improve operational performance
- Decision making to improve financial performance
- Decision making to improve human resource performance
The following units are in Year 2
- Analysing the strategic position of a business
- Choosing strategic direction
- Strategic methods: how to pursue strategies
- Managing strategic change
