BUSINESS (AQA)

A Level Course Outline

Why study Business at A-Level?

If you have a passion for commerce and you are interested in setting up a firm or working for a major blue-chip organisation, then this is the subject for you. Through this course you will develop enterprise and leadership skills and an understanding of major business concepts to help analyse real life business case studies, based on companies such as Amazon, Apple, Rolls Royce and M&S. Business will equip you with the skills to analyse key financial data to help with decision making. The course progresses to more challenging concepts such as the external environment and why businesses fail. Business is popular with students interested in progressing onto university courses, as the subject opens up opportunities in many degree disciplines.

What is Business at A-Level?

A-level Business Studies begins with a comparison of common objectives for a company, typical legal structures and leadership concepts, then progresses to more intricate workings on how a typical business is run, through understanding the main functional areas. The course will require significant numerical skills to analyse financial information, as many accounting concepts are studied. The course evolves into investigating strategies for larger more established businesses to grow and survive.

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 through 6 x 50 minute 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.