You will find on this page all of the information regarding the Business Studies course taught at St Matthews. This includes the content of the course, as well as how a pupil will be learning a topic.

Course Content

This course has been developed to recognise learners’ skills, knowledge and understanding of business functions, environments and operations. It will develop their understanding of business and elements of the ‘real world’ and complements Enterprise Education in key stage 4.  The learners carry out a range of tasks that have been designed to recognise their achievements in a modern, practical way that is relevant.

This course is equivalent to 2 GCSE’s at A-C grades

The course is made up of three units.

Unit 1 Investigating business

By completing this unit candidates will develop knowledge and understanding of why businesses adopt certain types of ownership, and create particular internal structures. Candidates will also explore the wider issues of sectoral change, stakeholder involvement and competition.  In previous years businesses visited and investigated by students were Manchester Airport, Manchester United Football Club and the Trafford Centre. Candidates will produce evidence to meet the unit assessment objectives in order to show that they understand:

• business aims, types of business ownership and reasons for change, forms of organisational structure,  stakeholder interests,  sectoral change,  competition and means of competing,  choice of location and reasons for change.

Unit 4 Communication in business

By completing this unit candidates will develop knowledge and understanding, and demonstrate practical skills, in the use of IT based, and non-IT based verbal and written communication methods in a business context.

Candidates will produce evidence to meet the unit assessment objectives in order to show that they understand:

• how to produce written communications for specific purposes,  how to use appropriate research methods,  how to use email,  how to use verbal communication in specific situations,  the advantages and disadvantages of communicating using technology,  the continuing development of ICT.

Unit 7 Promotion in Business

By completing this unit candidates will develop skills, knowledge and understanding required to
propose a possible promotional strategy for a product or service. Candidates will develop an
appreciation of available forms of promotion, how these forms can be combined into a promotional
strategy, and the factors influencing such strategies.

Candidates will produce evidence to meet the unit assessment objectives in order to show that
they understand:

• the purpose of promotion,factors of effective promotion and barriers to success, how to define the market position of a business, promotional techniques and constraints upon them, how promotional techniques are selected, how to combine promotional techniques to form a plan as part of a campaign, how to evaluate the success of a promotional campaign.

Assessment

All units are centre-assessed and externally moderated.

The units and over grading for the course will be marked as either a:

• PASS                       (equivalent - 2 x C Grades)
• MERIT                      (equivalent - 2 x B Grades)
• DISTINCTION          (equivalent - 2 x A Grades)