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Business Studies aims to develop an understanding of the objectives, organisation and management of firms and public sector enterprises. Firms operate within economic, social and technical environments, which constrain their actions and provide opportunities for growth and profitability. The course examines these environments and how firms respond to challenges, influenced by their internal structures and the motivation and organisation of individuals within them. The culture and goals of firms will be examined, using case studies.

Pupils will learn simple accounting and investment appraisal techniques. They will use statistical evidence to examine and evaluate the performance of businesses. There is a review of the development of management theory and method over the last century and an introduction to economic theory as an aid to describing and analysing the business environment.

Marketing - a broad term covering the development, promotion, pricing and distribution of goods and services - is a central theme of the course. The organisation, motivation, recruitment and training of people within businesses are studied in parallel with operations management, which reviews the methods of production of both goods and services. The teaching of accounting is conducted using ICT with software written by the department and delivered on the departmental network.

The legal, social and ethical constraints upon business are examined and evaluated. This enables pupils to appreciate the conflicting and complementary interests of all stakeholders in the wealth creating process, The AS course reviews all key areas of the subject giving pupils an overview, which is developed in the second year for A2.

The AS examination comprises three modules in accounting and finance, people and production and external influences with corporate strategy. New topics in the same subject areas are in examined in greater depth and at a more intellectual level in A2. The corporate strategy unit takes a problem solving approach involving numerical analysis of financial and operational data to allow the evaluation of alternative strategies for management.

Business Studies gives an excellent grounding for degree courses in Economics, Management, Finance and Accounting and mixes well with a wide variety of AS / A2 courses drawn from languages, humanities, sciences and Mathematics.