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Blackfen School for Girls

Blackfen School for Girls

Raising aspirations - releasing potential

Business Studies

Welcome to the Business Department, part of the Vocational Faculty.  Our department offers; BTEC Tech Award Enterprise (Year 10 and 11) and National Award Business (Year 12 and 13) (Edexcel); Business GCSE (Edexcel) and Economics GCSE (OCR); Business A-level and Economics A-level.  We believe that our department equips students with the skills they need to function effectively in the workplace, may this be numeracy, analytical skills, how to work in teams or understand their place in an organisation.  Our Department offers different courses for different levels of ability and for those whose preferred learning style is either examinations or continual assessment.

BTEC Tech Award Enterprise

Component Summary

Component 1; Exploring Enterprises

Internal Assessment

Pupils will examine different enterprises to develop their knowledge and understanding of the characteristics of enterprises and the skills needed by entrepreneurs.

Component 2; Planning for and pitching an Enterprise activity

Internal Assessment

Pupils will select an idea for a micro-enterprise activity to plan and pitch. They will individually pitch their business plan for their idea to an audience and then use the feedback to review their plan and pitch.

Component 3; Promotion and finance for Enterprise

External Synoptic Assessment
Pupils will explore the different promotional methods used by enterprises and the factors that influence hoe enterprises identify and target their market. Pupils will explore financial documents and how to use them to monitor and improve the performance of an enterprise in order to make decisions and recommend strategies for success.

Welcome to the Business Department, part of the Vocational Faculty.  Our department offers; Business GCSE (Edexcel) and Economics GCSE .We believe that our department equips students with the skills they need to function effectively in the workplace, may this be numeracy, analytical skills, how to work in teams or understand their place in an organisation.  Our Department offers different courses for different levels of ability and for those whose preferred learning style is either examinations or continual assessment.

GCSE Business

Two externally examined papers

Year 10

Topics Summary

Theme 1

Investigating small business

Theme 1 concentrates on the key business concepts, issues and skills involved in starting and running a small business. It provides a framework for students to explore core concepts through the lens of an entrepreneur setting up a business. In this theme, students will be introduced to local and national business contexts and will develop an understanding of how these contexts impact business behaviour and decisions.

Year 11

Topics Summary

Theme 2

Building a business

Theme 2 examines how a business develops beyond the start-up phase. It focuses on the key business concepts, issues and decisions used to grow a business, with emphasis on aspects of marketing, operations, finance and human resources. Theme 2 also considers the impact of the wider world on the decisions a business makes as it grows.

BUSINESS BTEC

Extended Certificate

Exam board: Edexcel

Why study this subject:

In the BTEC National units, there are opportunities to give students practice in developing employability skills. The three main categories of employability skills developed during this course are:

  • Cognitive and problem-solving skills: use of critical thinking, approach non-routine problems applying expert and creative solutions, use of systems and technology
  • Intrapersonal skills: communicating, working collaboratively, negotiating and influencing, self-presentation
  • Interpersonal skills: self-management, adaptability and resilience, self-monitoring and development.

 

Units of study:

1 Exploring Business (Mandatory Internal coursework)

2 Developing a Marketing Campaign (Mandatory Synoptic External)

3 Personal and Business Finance (Mandatory External)

8 Recruitment and organisation

 

How will I be assessed: 

Unit 1: Internally assessed. 

Unit 2: A task is set and marked by Pearson and completed under supervised conditions in lessons. Students will be provided with a case study two weeks before a supervised assessment period in order to carry out research. The supervised assessment period is a maximum of three hours and can be arranged over a number of sessions in a period timetabled by Pearson. This unit is worth 70 marks.

Unit 3:  2-hour written examination set by the examination board and worth 100 marks.

Unit 8: Internally assessed

 

Future course and possible careers:

Business is a subject that affects everyone, in every day of their lives.  It is a very

useful qualification for any career choice but will be particularly useful if you want to work in an office, be a manager or run your own business in the future.