S3 Business

Pupils will extend on their business knowledge from S2. Pupils will look at:

• Needs and wants

• Goods and services

• Factors of production

• Sectors of industry

• Enterprise and entrepreneurs

• Sources of finance

• Sectors of economy

• Types of business (sole trader, partnerships, franchises, private limited companies)

Pupils will have a number of 'progress checks' throughout the topic, which will either be peer marked, self-marked or marked by the teacher. Homework will also be set, and should be around two pieces (although this will differ depending on teacher).

Assessment

Pupils will have a written assessment at the end of the topic. This assessment is very important, as it will be used to recommend the level which pupils can continue Business Management at in S4. Generally, pupils require to achieve at least 60% to be recommended to study Business Management at N5 level.

This topic will be completely new to all pupils. It touches on the very basics of financial accounting. Pupils will be introduced to following accounting documents:

• Ledgers

• Income statement

• Statement of financial position

Learning layouts is extremely important for this section of the course. Pupils will generally work through tasks at their own pace, once the fundamentals have been covered at whole class level. Teachers will periodically check certain pieces of classwork in order to monitor progress. Homework will also be set with around one piece per sub-topic.

Assessment

Pupils will have three separate assessments for this part of the course. These assessments will be carried out once each sub-topic has been completed (this allows pupils to demonstrate their knowledge). These assessments are very important, as they will be used decide if a pupil will be recommended for N5 Accounting. Generally, pupils require to achieve an average of at least 60% to be recommended.

Marketing is all about how businesses get consumers to purchase their products. Pupils will be exposed to several marketing concepts, before embarking on a marketing challenge in small groups. Pupils will look at:

• Market segmentation

• Market research

• The marketing mix (4 P's)

At the end of the learning the theory, pupils will be put into groups to work on a small project. Pupils will need to use their new knowledge to come up with a creative solution to a given brief. As part of the project, some homework will be inevitable as pupils will need to ensure that market research is completed in order to progress onto the next stage.

Assessment

This topic is assessed via a marketing pitch. Pupils will need to ensure they fully answer all the areas of the brief in their presentation, as well as answer any questions from the audience.

In S2, pupils were introduced to basic cash budgets (personal and business); this topic will extend that knowledge further. Pupils will look at:

• Why cash budgets are used

• Creation of simple business cash budgets

• Cash flow problems and how to solve them

• Credit sales and purchases

• Creation of more complex business cash budgets

Pupils will largely work through tasks at their own pace, with their class teacher going over tasks as a whole class. Pupils will also get an opportunity to extend their IT skills and use Spreadsheet software to draw up cash budgets.

Pupils will have at least one piece of homework to complete for this topic. This allows the teacher to monitor progress and provide some feedback on where improvements are required.

Assessment

There will be no "formal" assessment of this topic. Instead, pupils performance will be monitored as they progress through the topic. This will include classwork and homework.

This topic will be completely new to all pupils. Its main purpose is to expose pupils to the various influences on business. Pupils will look at:

• The external business environment

• The internal business environment

• Stakeholders

• Interest of different stakeholders

Pupils will have a number of 'progress checks' throughout the topic, which will either be peer marked, self-marked or marked by the teacher. Homework will also be set, and should be around two pieces (although this will differ depending on teacher).

Assessment

There will be no "formal" assessment of this topic. Instead, pupils performance will be monitored as they progress through the topic. This will include classwork and homework.

This topic will be completely new to all pupils. It touches on the very basics of how the economy works. Pupils will be introduced to a number of different economic terms and theories, including:

• The basic economic problem (scarcity)

• Opportunity cost

• The theory of demand

• Conditions of demand

• Determinants of demand

Pupils will also be required to problem solve in order to correctly draw fully labelled demand curves.

As this is the last topic pupils will look at, there will be no "formal" homework. However, pupils may be expected to complete work in their booklets in preparation for the next lesson.

Assessment

Pupils will have a small "end of topic" assessment at the end of this topic.