BUSINESS STUDIES

A Level business studies is a great choice for anyone interested in the world of commerce and entrepreneurship. It’s a great way to prepare for university courses in the fields of business and management, and to equip yourself with the know-how to start up your own business or follow a career in finance, accounting, marketing or management post university.

Through Business Studies A-level, you’ll engage with the world of business through the context of current business developments and real business situations. You’ll learn how management, leadership and decision-making can improve performance in marketing, operational, financial and human resources. You’ll also explore the interrelated nature of business activities and how they affect businesses, be they large or small, UK or internationally focussed and in different sectors such as service or manufacturing.

The course is structured into four themes and assessed via three externally examined papers. Students are introduced to business in Themes 1 and 2 through building knowledge of core business concepts and applying them to business contexts to develop a broad understanding of how businesses work. 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. The specification and assessment will encourage students to follow business developments and think critically about contemporary business issues. Much of the assessment material is based on real or realistic business situations. By examining and thinking critically about real business situations as they study the subject, students will gain an insight into different contexts which will help them to understand the key issues in any situation and compare and contrast this with other situations and apply their understanding.

• Paper 1: Assesses marketing, people and global businesses. Questions will be drawn from Themes 1 and 4, and from local, national and global contexts.
• Paper 2: Assesses 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: Assesses content across all four themes. Questions will be drawn from local, national and global contexts. For Paper 3, there will be a pre-released context.