WHY CHOOSE THIS COURSE?
Whether it is setting up your own small business or working for a global multinational, many of the key areas of understanding and useful skills are introduced within the A Level Business Studies course. You will be provided with a valuable insight into the world of business and why organisations make the decisions that they do and how this impacts upon markets and individuals. The course will also help you develop numerical and literacy skills in an applied setting through class work and assessments. Perhaps most importantly, the course will require you to reflect upon the commercial environment around you and understand how it impacts on your daily life.
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Start date: 08/09/2025
TOP COURSE HIGHLIGHTS
From localism to globalism
learn about finance
develop numeracy and literacy skills
join a thriving student community

Lots of career choices
Study a subject that will be relevant and useful to whatever career you embark on in future.

Experienced teaching team
Work with a teaching team that includes experienced examiners who add value through expert guidance and insight.

learn entrepreneurial skills
Understand the role of leadership and entrepreneurialism in achieving functional and corporate objectives.
WHAT WILL I LEARN?
Theme 1: You are introduced to the market, exploring the marketing and people functions and investigating entrepreneurs and business start-ups.
Theme 2: You will study Managing Business Activities exploring the finance and operations functions and investigate external influences on the business.
Theme 3: You will study Business Decisions and Strategy building on your understanding of many of the concepts introduced within Theme 2 and explore how these influence business strategy and strategic decision making.
Theme 4: You will investigate businesses that trade on a global scale and explore their reasons for doing so.
Theme 1: You will gain an understanding of how businesses identify opportunities and explore how businesses develop competitive advantages and interact with customers. You will develop an understanding of how businesses need to adapt their marketing to operate in a dynamic business environment. You will also consider people, exploring how businesses recruit, train, organise and motivate employees, as well as the role of enterprising individuals and leaders. Finally, you will investigate different types and sizes of organisation in various business sectors and environments and in local, national and global contexts.
Theme 2: You will gain an understanding of raising and managing finance and measuring the performance of a business. The theme outlines the importance of using resources efficiently within a business to ensure that goods or services can be delivered effectively and efficiently, and to a high quality. You will consider the external influences that have an impact on businesses, including developing your understanding of the economic and legal factors which can impact both positively and negatively upon a business. Once again, you will investigate different types and sizes of organisation in various business sectors and environments and in local, national and global contexts.
Theme 3: This theme bridges the gap between the role of functions and the strategy of the business. You will analyse corporate objectives and strategy against financial and non-financial performance measures and how businesses grow by organic and inorganic methods, developing an understanding of the impact of external influences and of organisational culture. The theme covers the causes and effects of change and how businesses mitigate risk and uncertainty. You will develop your quantitative skills further by enhancing your knowledge previously acquired by learning how to forecast sales, how to calculate moving averages and how to work out budget variances.
Theme 4: You will develop your understanding of the concepts introduced in Theme 1 and explore business activity in a global context. You will develop an understanding of the globally competitive environment and consider the ethical and moral dimensions of global business activities. You will explore the emerging markets of BRIC and MINT, examine the various methods that a UK business can use to achieve globalisation and will examine the growing dominance of multi-national corporations looking into topics such as tax avoidance and tax evasion.
WHERE WILL IT TAKE ME?
Many universities highly value the qualification and it can also be a stepping stone to related topics such as management and administration, economics, marketing, and accountancy. Business studies is a subject that is very relevant to most jobs today, and the concepts learned will assist you within the commercial world.
Career choices include: Marketing Executive, Accountant, Events Management, Management Consultant & HR Executive.
Higher Education courses: Business Management, Economics, Human Resources, Marketing and Accounting.
assessment arrangements
3 Examinations of 2 hours
Paper 1 – Marketing, people and global business {Theme 1 and 4} worth 35% of qualification
Paper 2 – Business activities, decisions and strategy {Theme 2 and 3} worth 35% of qualification
Paper 3 – Investigating businesses in a competitive environment worth 30% of qualification
Your achievement in this subject is dependent upon excellent attendance, punctuality, effort, and further research. You will be assessed with regular formal classroom assessments to develop examination technique as well as understanding. These will also include feedback on your understanding, structure and use of key terminology. You will undertake formal mock examinations in advance of your final exams. You will review your own performance in 1:1 sessions with your lecturer, as well as through self-reflection based on your class assessments.
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Entry requirements
In addition to the minimum GCSE entry requirements for A Level, you will require a Grade 5 in English or a Humanities subject, and a Grade 4 in Mathematics.
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