A Level Business Studies

The ‘A’ level Business Studies course aims to:

Enable candidates to focus on the contemporary business world
Provide opportunities for research into topical business issues
Offer opportunities for the development and application of a full range of academic skills

The course is divided up into 4 units.
2 units complete the AS course and another 2 units are studied to complete the A2 course.

AS Level Unit 1: Planning and Financing a Business

20% 1 hour examination 60 marks

Multiple choice questions plus one compulsory multi-part data response question.

This unit gives an introduction to business studies and an overview of the
activities involved in setting up a small business. It also covers the essential areas of financial planning eg break even, cash flow forecasting and budgeting.

AS Level Unit 2: Managing a Business

30% 1 hour 30 examination 80 marks

2 compulsory multi-part data response questions.

This unit covers the key functional areas of a business – people, operations, marketing and finance and examines how the management of these functions can assist in improving the effectiveness of the business.

Skills developed in the AS units are:- calculations, interpreting and analysing data, use of judgment and research, applying knowledge to unfamiliar situations, developing arguments and interpreting calculations.

A2 Level Unit 3 - Strategies for Success

25% 1 hour 30 examination 80 marks

Five questions - Unseen case study.

This unit builds on the material covered at AS and examines the ways in which
the internal functions of business can contribute to the success of the business,
and how the performance of a business (and its success) might be measured. It
considers the functional objectives that businesses set, the possible strategies they use to achieve these and how these might help the business to achieve its overall corporate objectives.

A2 Level Unit 4 - The Business Environment and Managing Change

25% 1 hour 30 examination 80 marks

Pre-release research tasks lead to the first section of a two section
examination. The second section will consist of choice of essays. All questions will draw upon knowledge from all four units.

This unit considers the relationship between businesses and external factors. It examines how external factors can impact upon businesses and the responses they may take. It also examines business aims and objectives, leadership, corporate culture and managing change.

Skills developed in the A2 units are:- using knowledge selectively to judge the performance of a business, develop arguments on how to improve a business’s performance, take decisions, identify and solve problems using knowledge of the internal functions of a business.

The Future

Students studying the A level Business Studies course have many options if they wish to continue into further education or it is a suitable qualification for many types of employment.

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