A-Level Business

​With a focus on helping students to become a good decision maker, the course covers essential managerial skills alongside techniques to help solve problems. Students will become more aware of the world in which they live and the strong influence that business can have on all of us. The course has a strong quantitative content designed to develop mathematical skills in a business context. These skills are all highly sought after and valued in a wide range of careers.

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Progression Routes

Many students go on to take business related courses at university, or go into careers in Marketing, Human Resources, Finance, Fashion, Sports Marketing, Customer Service as well as Administration and Law. This course can enhance whatever further study or employment you choose.

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Programme of Study

The AQA A-Level Business Studies programme will be assessed externally and focusses on 10 units.

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Year 1 – 6 units

Unit 1 What is business?
 
Unit 2 Managers, leadership and decision making
 
Unit 3 Decision making to improve marketing performance
 
Unit 4 Decision making to improve operational performance
 
Unit 5 Decision making to improve financial performance
 
Unit 6 Decision making to improve human resource performance
 

Year 2 – 4 units

Unit 7 Analysing the strategic position of a business
 
Unit 8 Choosing the strategic direction
 
Unit 9 Strategic methods
 
Unit 10 Managing strategic change
 
 

Assessment Method

100% examination - 3 examinations at the end of Year 13

Paper 1: 2-hour exam (33.3%) – Includes 15 Multiple choice questions, short answer questions and two essay questions

Paper 2: 2-hour exam (33.3%) – 3 data response questions worth around 33 marks each consisting of 3- or 4-part questions.

Paper 3: 2-hour exam (33.3%) – One case study followed by approximately 6 long answer questions.

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OCR Cambridge Technical Introductory Diploma in IT

​In today's world, where ICT is constantly changing, individuals will increasingly need technological and information literacy skills that include the ability to gather, process and manipulate data and digital media technologies. These skills are now as essential as the traditional skills of numeracy and literacy. The impact of ICT on society is enormous and as the percentage of businesses and households connected to communication networks such as the internet grows, so does the need for individuals who can master and manipulate these new technologies. As well as the rapid development of new technologies that gather, organise and share information, familiar technologies like television, multimedia, telephone and computers are evolving and being expanded by digitised information, causing a convergence of technologies.

Progression Routes

The skills gained in this qualification allow students to enter further or higher education, or the workplace with a rigorous IT skill set. Students obtaining this qualification have gone on to study graphic design, computing and game design, Media and Communications and Digital Marketing at University.

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Programme of Study

The course consists of five units completed over two years. The units are; 

Fundamentals of IT (Exam)

A sound understanding of IT technologies and practices is essential for IT professionals. Information learnt in this unit will provide a solid foundation in the fundamentals of hardware, networks, software, the ethical use of computers and how business uses IT.

Global Information (Exam)

The purpose of this unit is to demonstrate the uses of information in the public domain, globally, in the cloud and across the internet, by individuals and organisations. Students will discover that good management of both data and information is essential, and that it can give any organisation a competitive edge.

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Virtual and Augmented Reality (Coursework) 

Virtual reality is a simulated environment that is intended to replicate the physical experience of being in places in the real or imagined worlds by giving the user sensory experiences that match those which would be experienced were the user actually in that environment. Augmented reality is the process of changing the user’s view of the real world in order to give them an improved, or more detailed, view of what they are seeing. Students will learn about both technologies and how they are used and then design both a virtual and an augmented reality resource. 

Social Media and Digital Marketing (Coursework)

The use of social media has increased massively over recent years and is now a world-wide phenomenon. Users of social media are able to share ideas and files, compare opinions and pass comment on the activities of their friends and contacts. In doing so, they are not only generating huge amounts of data about themselves, but also allowing others the opportunity to contact them and monitor some of their online activities. Social media also allows users to collaborate with others across the globe.

This unit looks at digital marketing as a concept and then offers the opportunity to explore the possible impacts, both positive and negative, that may be generated by the use of social media as a digital marketing tool.

The Internet of Everything (Coursework)

This unit is about the use of the internet and how it is impacting people and society. Students will learn about the Internet of Everything (IoE) and how it is used. Using this knowledge they will carry out a feasibility study for a potential idea and then pitch this idea to potential stakeholders.

Assessment Method

​There are 2 written exams and 3 units of coursework.