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Business Studies

Business Studies is offered in the Sixth Form at AS and A2 Level. The AQA examination board is studied.

Units 1 and 2 make up the AS course and Units 3 and 4 make up the A2 course.

Unit 1 is called Planning and Financing a Business. Here you will learn about setting up a business and how the finances are managed. The examination is one and a quarter hours, requires short and essay style answers and contributes 20% towards the full A Level.

Unit 2 is called Managing a Business. Here the main functional areas of Business are studied. This includes Marketing, the role of Finance, People with organisations and Operations Management. The examination is one and half hours and contributes 30% towards the full A Level.

Unit 3 is called Strategies for Success. Here the functional areas are taught in context of strategies businesses set in order to be successful. The examination is one and three quarter hours, based on an unseen case study; essay style answers are required. This contributes 25% towards the full A Level.

Unit 4 is called The Business Environment and Managing Change. In this unit you will learn about external factors that affect large businesses and strategies for managing change. AQA issue a new 'theme' each year, for example 'globalisation' or 'recession' from which you have to research key issues and write about them in the examination. The examination consists of two 40 mark essay questions, last two hours and makes up 25% of the full A Level.