Business Studies (BTEC)

The secret of business is to know something that nobody else knows

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Course Summary

This course will enable students to gain knowledge and understanding of the business sector with an emphasis on developing skills relevant to the workplace. The aim is to allow students to develop a better understanding of the way in which the business world operates.

Year 12

In Year 1 students utilise the skills learnt in KS4 to develop their understanding of how businesses operate, from SMEs to large multinational corporations. This will involve looking at ownership and liability, financial records (balance sheets, P&L accounts, etc) and stakeholder relationships to name a few key topics.

Unit 1 - Exploring Business

Unit 2 - Personal and Business Finance

Year 13

Year 2 brings a more vocational approach to learning. Students will look at how businesses promote their goods/services, ultimately developing their own marketing campaign for a business within a case study. Finally, students will spend a week in a workplace of their choice to apply the skills learnt in the classroom. This is a fantastic opportunity for them to establish a career pathway and should create more clarity around their choices post-Sixth Form.

Unit 3 - Developing a Marketing Campaign

Unit 4 - Work Experience in business

Enrichment and Extra-Curricular

Students are encouraged to carry out independent research on local businesses. We have a weekly drop-in Business Studies surgery for students to further develop ideas or to expand their knowledge of concepts. Educational visits from professionals are to help consolidate concepts and provide exposure to real-world business scenarios.

Jaguar-Land Rover factory tour in castle Bromwich at KS5

There is also a bi-annual Tycoon Enterprise competition that will be open to all Business Studies students. The aim is to create a business plan that will be pitched to a panel of professionals with the winner going on to compete against other schools for funding of their product/service.

Exam Board

Pearson BTEC Level 3 National Certificate in Business - 601/7155/8

Course Specification

Past Papers

Textbooks and Revision Resources

Reading and resources

Business Review and Economist magazines

Daily newspapers

www.Tutor2U.net/business

www.bbc.co.uk/business

The Google Story by David A. Vise

Marketing Principles by Philip Kotler

Money by Anthony Robbins