Business

Year

Topic(s)

Why this? Why now?

Year 10

GCSE Business (9-1)

Theme 1: Investigating small business

Topic 3: Putting a business idea into practice

Topic 4: Making the business effective

1.4.1 The options for start-up and small business

1.4.2 Business location

1.4.3 The marketing mix

1.4.4 Business plans

Why this - Topic 3

Students move onto look at the practicalities of finance and financial monitoring, emphasising that entrepreneurial ideas and strategic ideas and strategic aims must be backed up by accurate and up-to-date operational systems.

Why now- Topic 3

Students have gained solid introduction to business and key concepts. They know why business ideas come about and how they meet the needs of their customers via market research. They now need to explore the financial implication of a business and how aims and objectives help business to survive.

Why this - Topic 4

Further investigation of operational areas is carried. The concept of risk is revisited and reinforced by looking at ways of reducing risk e.g. limited liability companies.  Students will understand concepts of liability and how this underpins the spread and reduction of risk for business owners.

Why now - Topic 4

Topic 4 builds on Topic 3 and looks at what happens once an entrepreneur has taken the risk to start the business . It begins by studying the importance of ownership .Students then learn about location and how this impacts businesses and the marketing mix element.

Year 11

GCSE Business (9-1)

Theme 2: Building a business

Topic 2.3 Making operational decisions

Topic 2.4 Making financial decisions

Topic 2.5 Making human resource decisions

Why this -

This topic allows the students to focus on meeting customer needs through the design, supply, quality and sales decisions a business makes. They understand the purpose of production, producing products and providing a service. They will also learn how and why businesses need to work with suppliers. Allowing them to understand the importance of quality control.

Why now -

The students now have a solid understanding on globalisation and the impact of marketing mix. They are in a good position to understand how businesses manage the products and services they provide.

Why this -

Students have a firm understanding of how small and large businesses engage with customers and suppliers. This students topic will allow them to explore the tools a business has to support financial decision making, including ratio analysis and the use and limitation of a range of financial information.

Why now -

As students have a good understanding of all key aspects of business operations, they need to focus on how positive and negative financial decisions can impact the day to day and long aims and objectives of any business.

Why this -

Growing a business means that decisions relating to organisational structure, recruitment, training and motivation need to be made to influence business activity.

Year 12

Pearson BTEC Level 3 National Extended Certificate in Business (360 GLH) 601/7159/5

Unit 1 - Exploring Businesses

Unit 2 - Developing a Marketing Campaign

(Assessment May 2023)

Why this -

Learners study the purposes of different businesses, their structure, the effect of the external environment, and how they need to be dynamic and innovative to survive.

In this unit, you will gain an overview of the key ingredients for business success, how businesses are organised, how they communicate, the characteristics of the environment in which they operate, and how this shapes them and their activities. You will also look at the importance of innovation and enterprise to the success and survival of businesses, with the associated risks and benefits.

Why now -

This unit is an introductory unit. It is fundamental to, and supports, all other units in the programme. Students  learn real, practical skills for the business world. These include making presentations, completing group tasks, interpreting financial data, producing business documents and responding to tough business decisions, which prepare them for Unit 2, 3 and 8.

Why this -

Students will examine the marketing aims and objectives for existing products/services and understand the importance of relevant, valid and appropriate research in relation to customers’ needs and wants. They will use given market research data and other information to make recommendations about the type of marketing campaign that a business should undertake.  This unit is assessed under supervised conditions.

Why now - 

To complete the assessment task within this unit, students will need to draw on their learning from across your programme. They have gained a significant amount of business knowledge from Unit 1 to understand the key principles of business structures to complete a marketing campaign.

The Part A Research Pack is released to students under low control conditions in the afternoon on the day before the Part B assessment, which will be sat in the morning session. Students have access to Part A for a 2 hour preparation period with the Part B assessment being a 3 hour supervised session. The assessment is set and marked by Pearson

Year 13

Pearson BTEC Level 3 National Extended Certificate in Business (360 GLH) 601/7159/5

Unit 3 - Personal and Business Finance

(External exam Jan 2024)

Unit 8 - Recruitment and selection process

Why this -

Learners study the purpose and importance of personal and business finance. They will develop the skills and knowledge needed to understand, analyse and prepare financial information.

This unit includes aspects of both personal and business finance. Personal finance involves the understanding of why money is important and how managing your money can help prevent future financial difficulties. It is vital you understand the financial decisions you will need to take throughout your life and how risk can affect you and your choices.

Why now -

This unit will provide a foundation for a number of other finance and business units and will help you to analyse profitability, liquidity and business efficiency. It will give you the knowledge and understanding to manage your personal finances and will give you a background to business finance and accounting as you progress to employment or further training.

The assessment availability is twice a year in January and May/June. The first assessment for our students is January 2023. This unit is assessed by a written examination set by Pearson. The examination will be two hours in length. The number of marks for the examination is 80. (Section A contains questions on the personal finance unit content and approximately one-third of the marks, and Section B contains questions on the business finance unit content and approximately two-thirds of the marks).

Why this -

The unit gives students the opportunity to participate in selection interviews and review their performance. Students will learn that successful recruitment is key to maintaining the success of a business, as people are often considered to be the most valued resource. Students will explore the various selection tools and the enhanced use of technology in this area. Businesses with an effective recruitment process in place are more likely to make successful appointments. In a competitive labour market this is a major advantage and will support business success. This unit gives Students the opportunity, through role play, to take part in selection interviews. They will need to be organised and prepared so that they demonstrate your communication skills in this work-related competence.

Why now -

As our Year 13 students prepare to complete their final full term with us, they are also preparing for the world of work and higher education which will require them to take part in the recruitment and selection process. This unit will give them a foundation for progression to employment.  Through undertaking recruitment activities the unit will help them to develop the skills needed in an interview situation. Students will have an opportunity to review their individual performance and analyse their skills for development.