KS5 Business
AS & A LEVEL BUSINESS
This is a 2 year course, but students will set an AS at the end of Year 1. In Year 2, the final grade will all be weighted on the final 2 exams in the second year.
There are 10 units over 2 years, in Year 1 units 1-6 will be examined and in Year 2 all 10 of the units will be examined. Topics that will be studied over the 2 years are:
- 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
- Analysing the strategic position of a business (A-level only)
- Choosing strategic direction (A-level only)
- Strategic methods: how to pursue strategies (A-level only)
- Managing strategic change (A-level only)
At the end of Year 1, 2 exams will be sat. Both papers are worth 50% of the total AS mark. Both papers are marked out of 80 and both are 1 hour and 30 minutes. Each paper has different styles of questions such as multiple choice, data response, case study and essay style questions.
At the end of Year 2, 3 exams will be sat. All of these exams are 100 marks and are 2 hour written exams. Each exam will be worth a third of the overall A Level. Each paper has different styles of questions such as multiple choice, data response, case study and essay style questions.
BTEC LEVEL 3 NATIONAL EXTENDED CERTIFICATE IN BUSINESS
This qualification is split into 2 parts. In the first year students will study for the BTEC Level 3 National Certificate in Business. This is equivalent to an AS. In Year 2, students will study the National Extended Certificate which is equivalent to an A Level.
In the first year students will study:
- Unit 1 – Exploring Business – in this unit students will build a portfolio of work. A range of topics will be covered, such as how businesses are organised, stakeholders and their influence, aims and objectives of businesses and the external environment.
- Unit 2 – Investigating a marketing campaign – this is an externally assessed unit, students are given a case study 2 weeks prior to the exam to study and then sit an exam under timed conditions based on the case study.
- In the second year students will study: Unit 3 – Personal and Business Finance – this is a 2 hour written examination that is externally assessed.
And an extra optional unit, which will either be regarding customer service or recruitment.