Business
GCSE Business
Examination Board: Edexcel
Watch the video to the right to find out about GCSE Business!
Why should STUDENTS choose GCSE Business?
The aim of this course is for students to gain the knowledge and understanding of how the business world works. Our passion in Business is to inspire intensely curious, problem solving future entrepreneurs, equipped with the best grade they can achieve to access the next stage of their education.
What will STUDENTS need to be successful in this course?
Students will need to apply strong analytical and evaluative skills to much of the course. They will work independently on a number of inquiry-based activities, thinking critically and reflecting on different circumstances in order to make informed business recommendations and cultivate an entrepreneurial mind set. Students will use both literacy and numeracy skills. Confidence in using basic formula substitution and the use of ratios is essential in the financial aspects of this course.
SUPPORT FOR STUDENTS
This course is suitable for students of all ability levels. Students with aspirations of Grade 7 and above can expect challenges and should always aim to complete 3 chilli tasks which will often be thinking about the impacts of actions/decisions on key stakeholders. We will be expecting the level of writing to be sophisticated and students will be able to write extended responses that show logical chains of reason, using key vocabulary and written in the context of the business. We will challenge their financial skills by providing increased levels of difficulty in the use of formulas to calculate profit, loss, break-even and financial ratios for example.
Students aiming for Grade 3 and higher will be well supported with sentence structures to help craft written responses, activities that are differentiated, enabling students to choose their starting point and level of difficulty. We have support videos to help revise key topics and students will spend Year 9 developing key vocabulary with regular low stakes definition and factual recall tests and plenty of opportunities to develop their extended writing skills over time. Use of iPads feature highly and we have our own bespoke Business GCSE website available just for students of Warden Park. Our extended responses are based on number of links and we help support students with their connectives to structure these sentences. Homework tasks are differentiated and enable students to choose an appropriate level of challenge.
As students approach the examinations we offer both targeted and general revision sessions after school and at other key times.
Course Description
The subject aims for students to learn and apply their knowledge in a range of different business contexts, ranging from small local business to transnational corporations. They will start by exploring the world of small businesses through the lens of an entrepreneur. They will investigate; how and why business ideas come about and what makes a successful business. They will learn how to develop an idea, spot an opportunity and turn it into a successful business. They will understand how to make a business effective, manage the finances and see how the world around us affects small businesses and all the people involved.
Then students move on to investigating business growth. Considering the main topic of how does a business develop beyond the start-up phase? They will learn about key business concepts, issues and decisions they need to make when growing a business and working in a global environment. They will learn about meeting customer needs, making decisions regarding marketing, operations, financial and human resourcing and they will explore how the wider world impacts the business as it grows. You can see some student work samples below. These are students who are currently in Years 9 & 10. You can see full details of the course via the exam board specification, available to the right.
COURSE SPECIFICATION.pdfCourse content
Theme 1: Investigating small business
Topic 1.1 Enterprise and entrepreneurship; what are the risks and rewards for entrepreneurs?
Topic 1.2 Spotting a business opportunity; all about market research, the methods including the use of social media
Topic 1.3 Putting a business idea into practice; calculating profit, loss interest, completing cash flow forecasts, interpreting data, and the available sources of finance for businesses including crowdfunding
Topic 1.4 Making the business effective ; marketing through product, price, promotion and place- where and how the product is sold. Location and technology in business
Topic 1.5 Understanding external influences on business; interest rates, employment, consumer income, supply and demand and exchange rates are just some of the economic aspects we explore in this topic
Theme 2: Building a Business
Topic 2.1 Growing the business; how has globalisation affected business, how can a business grow both internally and externally?
Topic 2.2 Making marketing decisions; looking at product, pricing strategies, promotional methods and distribution in more depth
Topic 2.3 Making operational decisions; production methods, how businesses manage their quality, interpreting stock control diagrams
Topic 2.4 Making financial decisions; calculating gross and net profit, ratio analysis, which involves calculating profit margins and the average rate of return on what a business invests
Topic 2.5 Making human resource decisions; types of organisations and how they are structured, how businesses motivate and train their employees as well as how businesses use communication
Examples of student work
These are examples of long written responces, as well as calculation work. There is also an example of some project work.
Example project work.pdf
Assessment
The course is examined externally at the end of the three years. Each paper represents 50% of the grade. There are 6 types of writing structures that students will learn throughout this course. the same structures are used in both papers, these include the following command words- outline, explain, discuss, analyse, justify and evaluate.
Paper 1 - Theme 1
Written exam: 105 minutes, 90 marks.
Multiple choice, calculation, short-answer and extended-writing questions.
There are three sections in the paper.
Each section is ramped, starting with multiple choice questions, moving to short answer questions and ending with extended writing.
Sections B and C are based on real life, relevant business contexts and examples.
Paper 2 - Theme 2
Written exam: 105 minutes, 90 marks.
Multiple choice, calculation, short-answer and extended-writing questions.
There are three sections in the paper.
Each section is ramped, starting with multiple choice questions, moving to short answer questions and ending with extended writing.
Sections B and C are based on real life, relevant business contexts and examples.
Further Education and Career Pathways
A-level Courses – Business Studies, Economics, Media Studies, Information Technology as well as BTEC Level 3 Nationals in Business.
Potential career pathways:
For those students who may want to run or manage a business in the future this would be a great course. There really is something for everyone, as most of us one day will work for a business and this course provides a great introduction to the world of business.
Marketing, advertising, public relations, online retail, accountancy, law and the leisure and tourism industry are just some of the careers/industries our previous students have undertaken and entered. We are pleased to say that a former student was recently named as a finalist in the Young Entrepreneur of the Year award for a business idea he began during his time here.