Business GCSE

New Specification - Starts September 2009

Business Studies at GCSE combines business studies theory with application of real life case studies. In year 10 you are introduced to issues concerning Setting up a Business - You will explore the activities of a business and the reasons for success or failure. Topics covered include; Setting aims and objectives, Business planning, and choosing an appropriate legal structure. You will then be introduced to the areas of Marketing, People in business and Operations management. At the end of Year 10 (May/June) you will sit your unit 1 exam - Worth 40% of the GCSE grade!

In year 11 you will investigate Growing as a Business. This unit builds on the content of Unit 1 and allows you to study businesses as they grow and the issue that expansion raises. You will consider methods of expansion, changing aims and objectives, legal structure and location. Marketing, Finance and People and Operations are revisited in the the context of a growing business. At the end of year 11 (May/June) you will sit your unit 2 exam - Worth 35% of the GCSE Grade.

Unit 3, Investigating Business, is a controlled assessment which makes up 25% of your total GCSE grade. You will be issued with a task which will require you to investigate a business, by researching and planning for about 5-8 hours. You must produce individual responses to the task. You will then be allowed three hours to write up your investigation under controlled conditions.

GCSE - MARKING POLICY