BUSINESS (AQA)

A Level Course Outline

Why study Business at A-Level?

If you have a passion for Business and you are interested in the stock exchange or new business ventures this is the course for you. You will gain the skills to analyse real life case studies for companies such as Amazon, Apple, Rolls Royce and Tesco. Business studies will also equip you with the skills to analyse key financial data to help business decision making. Overall you will develop essential skills required to run a business such as in Business Management, Accounting and Finance, Marketing and Human Resource Management.

What is Business at A-Level?

A-level Business considers strategies for larger businesses and how managers might measure the performance of a business. It starts with a comparison of the objectives of the company as a whole and distinguishes them from the objectives of each department. The A- Level syllabus also equips you with skills to analyse financial information and external influences on a business.

Main Topics Covered

• What is business
• Leadership & management
• Marketing & market data
• Human Resource Management
• Finance & business maths
• Operations & manufacturing
• Business strategy
• Political environment
• Economic environment
• Social factors
• Ethical & environmental factors
• Legal factors
• Business culture
• How to deal with change within a business

The Business course helps you to develop a number of skills:

• How to think of a business idea
• Research skills
• Business calculation skills
• How to assemble data and assess it
• How to analyse companies' strategies and tactics
• Problem solving skills in relation to companies performance and strategy
• Knowledge of business models and the business environment
• Essay writing skills & presenting an evaluated argument

What are the challenging aspects of the course?

• A-level Business contains a significant amount of business content, which can be over-whelming. Therefore attending all lessons and being organised are essential skills.
• There will be a big emphasis on business maths, including calculating profit, financial ratios, interpreting and reading income statements and balance sheets, just to name a few. Therefore regular practice and being numerical is imperative to success.
• A key performance measurement on the course is effective essay writing, which will be assessed on a weekly basis. Essay writing will require careful planning, analytical thinking and evaluative judgement skills.

BUSINESS (AQA) A-Level Specification

Note: Assessment is 100% examinations based, therefore there is no course work.

Structure of the Course

This course will be taught for 6 x 1hour lessons per week. Independent study is set each week and deadlines must be adhered to. The course will involve additional reading, so please be prepared for this.

Core Textbook

Surridge M; Gillespie A, AQA A-level business, Hodder education, 2019. ISBN-10: 1510453342.

Further Reading

Wolinski J; Coates G. “AQA A-level Business 1 Third Edition”, Hodder education, 2015. ISBN-10: 1471836096.

Marcousé I; Hammond A; Watson N. “Business Studies for A-level”, Hodder education, 2015. ISBN-10: 1471835693.

Porter M. “Competitive Strategy: Techniques for Analysing Industries and Competitors”, Free press, 2004. ISBN-10: 9780743260886.