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Business Studies

 

2011 Examination Results

Business Studies

The Business Studies department supports the Sixth Form curriculum at MTGS, offering Business Studies at both AS and A2 level. The Business Studies specification offered by AQA has been designed to provide pupils with a critical understanding of the internal functions of contemporary business organisations of all types together and the dynamic external environment within which businesses operate. The specification has been split into four units, two units covering the AS qualification and the additional two units taking the qualification to A2 level. The specification requires no previous knowledge of Business Studies at GCSE level.

Business Studies investigates the nature of organisations and how they manage their activities. These organisations can include small private firms and large public companies together with non-profit making concerns. The principles of management and decision making are examined and then applied to case studies. These case studies demonstrate the way in which organisations face a number of inter-related problems.

AS level

The AS is focused on small to medium-sizes businesses operating within national, as opposed to international, markets. Pupils are introduced to the challenges and issues of starting a business, including financial planning.

Unit1 (Planning and Financing a Business) covers the issues involved in a business start-up, such as research and planning, as well as the factors that determine success. The areas covered include:

• Starting a Business - the challenges and issues of starting a business; enterprise; entrepreneurs.
• Financial Planning - essential financial concepts needed to start a business including: calculating costs, revenues, profits; using break-even analysis and cash flow forecasting.

This unit is assessed via a 1 hour 15 minute examination made up of short answer questions and extended responses based on a mini case study.

Unit 2 (Managing a Business) focuses on how established businesses might improve their effectiveness by making tactical decisions at a functional level. The areas covered include:

• Finance - budgets, improving cash flow and profits
• People in Business - organisational structures, recruitment, training, motivation
• Operations Management - operational decisions, quality, customer service, suppliers, technology
• Marketing and the Competitive Environment - designing and using effective marketing mix, market conditions and competitiveness.

This unit is assessed via a 1 hour 30 minute examination based on mini case studies/ data response questions.

A2 level

The A2 units build on the AS by considering more complex business scenarios. It considers strategies for larger businesses and how managers might measure the performance of the business. Finally, it considers the effects that external factors can have on businesses and how a business can plan for and manage change, including leadership style and change in business culture.

Unit 3 (Strategies for Success) focuses on larger businesses, which may be trading in international markets, and considers how managers might measure the performance of a business. This unit covers functional strategies that larger businesses may adopt to achieve their objectives. Areas covered include Finance, Marketing, People, Operations and Human Resources.

Assessment is via a 1 hour 45 minute examination with questions based on an unseen case study. The focus will be on measuring business performance and assessing appropriate functional strategies to achieve success.

Unit 4 (The Business Environment and Managing Change) considers the relationship between businesses and external factors. It examines how external factors can impact upon businesses, and the responses they may take. This unit also examines a number of themes which are important in the strategic management of businesses, for example, leadership and corporate culture and how businesses can manage change successfully.

Assessment is via a 1 hour 45 minute examination drawing upon knowledge form all four units. The first section, of a two section examination, will have questions based on a pre-released research task. Section B will be a choice of essay titles from which the candidate will select one.

At the end of the course, pupils should have a good understanding of the skills needed for successful Business Management and will be familiar with problem solving techniques. This should enable them to understand the issues which are of current interest and importance to businesses in Britain. AS and A2 Business Studies lays appropriate foundations for further study of
Business Studies or related subjects at Higher Education. It gives a useful insight into the nature of management and can stimulate higher education study in related fields of Business Management and Economics. It can be linked with another subject to provide a wide range of alternatives, for example, Marketing combined with a modern foreign language.

Considering Applying for Business Studies, Economics or Business Management at University

  • Keep up to date with Business and Economic issues happening within the UK and the wider world.
  • Read Newspapers
  • Read Business Review Magazine
  • Read Economics Review and Economics Today Magazines
  • Watch the News, especially the Business News programmes (BBC Business Breakfast, BBC Working Lunch)
  • Keep up to date with Bank of England Monetary Policy Committee (Interest Rates) and Governmental Monetary and Fiscal Policies.
Websites
  • Tutor2u is a good website with forums for pupils considering applying to University with suggested reading lists for Oxbridge applications.
  • UCAS website for Open Days and key dates.

Library - Guide to Oxbridge Applications in Economics and the Social Sciences (331.702)

Extra-curricular activities

The Business Studies Department is committed to offering a variety of extra-curricular activities wherever and whenever practicable considering the restraints of time due to public examinations. Currently, extra-curricular activities offered by the Business Studies Department are offered to any pupils in the sixth form and are timetabled to run on Wednesday afternoons. Activities offered have included:

  • The Young Enterprise Scheme
  • Merseyside Industry and Commerce Award (MICA), together with a Crest Award
  • ProShare. Currently pupils participate in the ProShare Student Investor Challenge.

Proshare

The ifsProShare Student Investor Challenge

ifsProShare Student Investor Challenge is a set of business competitions for UK students aged between 14 and 19. The competition includes:

The Portfolio Challenge

Portfolio Challenge is a UK wide investment game for pupils who have the opportunity to invest £100,000 on the Stock Market. Trading runs from November to February after which the top teams go head to head in the regional finals.

What does the challenge involve?

The Portfolio Challenge is designed for teams of four students and has two distinct phases:

Phase One: Using this website, invest a virtual £100,000 in a set of stocks between November and February and watch your wealth grow.

Each month, the most improved team will be rewarded with a prize (only one prize per team).

Phase Two: The top 20 teams from each region with the best performing portfolios as of February will be invited to attend the regional finals, which will take the form of a University Challenge. Teams will be given a series of questions and the top two teams from each region will be invited to the National Final usually in April.

How do I know which shares to trade?

There is a whole host of extra information on the website on each company to help pupils make a good investment decision. Throughout the game, they will be able to refer to advice from the mysterious share Guru on how to pick shares, and if their portfolio performs better than his then the team will get a virtual cash bonus! (Beware though, Guru's friend Monkey is also playing this year, buying and selling shares completely at random - doing worse than the Monkey would be most embarrassing...).

The Rules

Your portfolio will consist of ten stocks chosen from a list of FTSE100 companies, plus 50 selected smaller companies from the FTSE SmallCap Index.

  • Of your stocks, at least six must be from the FTSE100.
  • Those companies that make the FTSE's FTSE4Good UK 50 ethical index will be clearly marked.
  • When you buy a stock, you'll be charged stamp duty and commission, just like you would be in the real world. You will also be charged commission when you sell stock.
  • You'll also have the option to invest up to £20,000 of your virtual cash into an investment trust.
  • The charges for investing in a trust vary, just like the real world.
  • Holding more than £15,000 in hard (virtual) cash is not very helpful and against the rules (the challenges are all about investing, after all!).
  • The minimum investment in any one stock or investment trust is £1,000.
  • There is a 20% maximum spend in any one company.
  • All stock market data will be the genuine live data, provided courtesy of Bloomberg.
 Head of Business Studies - Mrs H Irwin 
Courses Offered       

 A2 / AS (AQA)

 

 Business Studies