Business Studies

Welcome to the Business Careers Page

Why study Business? 

Business Studies is an interdisciplinary subject where students get to acquire practical knowledge and academic theory about how to start, set up and run a business. The insights into the corporate world mean we are regularly reading the news so that we can for example understand why ASOS have offered huge money for the Topshop brand but they don't want the stores! Students get to develop their understanding of the economy and how external influences impact a business. This is useful not only to understand business activity but so students develop an interest in personal economics as well as starting to understand the way the world works. 

Content studied in this course will help give you an insight into the main functions of a business. These are listed below and information on what a job role in this area looks like can be found by clicking on the links:

-Marketing      

-Procurement, Manufacturing & the Supply Chain         

-Human Resources   

-Accounting  & Finance  


Entrepreneurship is also a key theme running through the Year 10 content.  Many entrepreneurs follow their passions and turn them into business ideas. Or they find problems in their lives/society and solve them with marketable solutions! Studying business at GCSE helps give you insights you need to run your own enterprise.

Hear from these diverse entrepreneurs about why they set up a business

                                                    Click on each image below to watch a video of each entrepreneurs  journey into business

Founder of ethical beauty business aged 19!

"I decided to create my own range of cosmetics that matched my ethical values."

WAH nails & Beautystack founder Sharmadean Reid 

"I have the power to do what I want, because of the power I built in my brand."

Founder of SHPT a personal training business

"After a professional career in sport, I wanted a career where I could share my passion of fitness with others."

Fashion designer & owner of brand G.Z.E.M 

"Start finding out what you enjoy and stick to it. No course or experience is a waste of time." 

What skills and knowledge will studying Business help you develop?

Quotes from Successful Entrepreneurs


"Passion, creativity, and resilience are the most crucial skills in business. If you’ve got those, you’re ready to embark on the journey." 

Jo Malone


"If you’re starting something on your own, you better have a passion for it, because this is hard work."
Sallie Krawcheck, Co-founder of Ellevest 

Skills developed in Business and valued by employers

Talulla Y11.mov

Listen to current students speak about the GCSE course

A former Year 11 Business student; Talulla

econ .mov

Listen to some alumni & hear what they are up to!

Jaya studyied Economics, Geography & Spanish at A Level

When students ask me, should I study business. I ask them, "is the news interesting?"

The GCSE course strives to help students to understand the layers of complexity behind the headlines, so they increase their awareness of businesses and all their stakeholders. This helps inform their understanding of the world they live in. Students become more critical as consumers and more financially literate.

Looking ahead...  To University:
 Business degrees are popular in the UK and valued by employers. Business & Economic degrees from top universities have some of the highest graduate salaries, comparable to Law.

 Many exist, each with their own focus, such as:

Looking ahead... To employment:
Apprenticeships in Business Administration are common.  Pre COVID, positions in these Apprenticeships were growing in demand from employers. In 2018/19 there were 119,000 people who were Business Administration Apprentices. This reflects 30% of all UK Apprenticeships. 

Apprenticeships are predominantly offered at post 18 level, and many Apprenticeships are actually taken up by people aged early 20s showcasing that they are not just school leaver roles. 

Further information on Apprenticeships
1: RateMyApprenticeship website lists typical vacancies in Business.
2: Click on the Amazing Apprenticeship icon below to be taken to a video.

Current & future trends in business - where will the jobs be?

Entrepreneurship is a growing global trend. Developments in technology and e-commerce mean that you can set up a business idea and put your business into practice from anywhere! Data says 64% of the UK workforce wants to set up a business and 83% of 18-24 year old dream of self-employment. Passion for their niche idea or longing for independence and control of their own destiny are key driving forces behind these growing figures. However, lack of confidence or fear of failure means not all people will set up their own business. Sadly data shows these traits are currently more evident in women than men.

In both small and large companies in any industry, there is always a need for the functional roles within business that have been listed. So as the UK economy contracts & grows, there are always jobs for students who have studied business within their different specialisms. Every industry, whether it's in fashion, media or music, needs employees who can carry out the different roles in business that we study, to allow the business to function!

BBC Careers Pages provide a wide range of career information about different startups and roles in Business. Use this to explore further:
https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/tags/zd7fqp3/jobs-that-use-business/2

The Business Studies Enrichment Program is designed to aid student career awareness

We work closely with businesses so that when we deliver our lessons, we hear from industry speakers and professionals to help you understand the lessons. This means you hear about a wide variety of jobs/industries.

Denstu Aegis (a global digital marketing agency) have launched competitions with the school for the last 3 years and provided wonderful marketing & branding opportunities for students to get involved in. Through involvement in this partnership, students have received in-class mentors while they were researching & developing ideas for client briefs from employers such as Jaguar, WWF and Cadbury. Students enjoy the teamwork & communications aspects of business pitches as well as insight from employers and site/office visits.

Speaker talks held in October 2020 provided rich content for lessons allowing students to hear about entrepreneurs and job roles in the green energy sector. Hearing employees' background stories & careers journeys helps show to students that career pathways often aren't planned out, and taking risks and following passions pay off! These are some of the speakers we heard from:

Brompton Bikes Factory Tours help students understand careers in the manufacturing process as well as the importance of marketing as they hear about the value of this British brand and its business growth in a global market.