Business Studies
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Departmental Staff
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Head of Department: Mrs P McGuinness
Mrs A O’Hare
Curriculum
GCSE (Years 11 & 12)
Year 11
Unit 1 – Business Start Up
- Business Start Up
- Production
- Marketing
This unit is assessed by an externally set exam worth 35% of the overall GCSE Grade.
Year 12
Unit 2 – Business Development
- Finance
- Managing People
- Business Growth
- Business Plan
This unit is assessed by an externally set exam worth 40% of the overall GCSE Grade. There is also a controlled assessment that is carried out for this unit worth 25% of the overall grade.
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A Level (Years 13 & 14)
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AS Level – comprises of three units
Unit 1 –Enterprising Business
- What is an enterprising business?
- Aims and objectives of an enterprising business
- How is an enterprising business organised
- Communication
- Functional areas of business
- Enterprising distribution channels
- Enterprising market research
- Innovatory marketing methods
- Monitoring and reviewing business activities
Unit 2 - The Enterprising Manager
- Skills and abilities of an enterprising manager
- Managing people
- Managing finance
- Managing other resources
- Styles of management
Units 1 and 2 are internally assessed and based on a local case study of the Carrickdale Hotel.
Unit 3 – External Influences of the Business Enterprise
- Markets
- Market sectors
- The competitive environment
- Improving competitiveness
- Stakeholders and competition
- Supply and demand
- Government influence and economic policy
- International competition and its influence on business in Northern Ireland
A2 – comprises of three units
Unit 7 –Finance
- Sources of Finance – different sources of finance, types of financial statement (for sole traders)
- Interpretation of Accounts – Accounting Ratios (for limited companies)
- Investment Appraisal – nature of capital investment decisions, investment appraisal methods, cost behaviour patterns, absorption costing, breakeven analysis
- Budgeting – budgets
Unit 9 –Enterprise in Practice
- Teamwork
- Formation
- Market research and marketing
- Role allocation
- Production or service
- Finance
- Evaluation
(This unit is internally assessed within the school and involves the students starting up an enterprise business)
Unit 10 –Investing in People
- Planning for investing in people
- Employee motivation and training
- Taking care of staff