Business
Business Studies is being phased out as a GCSE subject at Notre Dame. Students in Y10 and Y11 currently studying Business will continue to completion of their course and further curriculum information can be seen below.
Business Studies will still be available as an A-Level subject. Details can be found on our A-level Business Studies page.
Studying Business enables students to understand the decisions and motives of entrepreneurs and business managers. Students will learn the steps and procedures involved in running a business. They will develop and apply their knowledge, understanding and skills to contemporary issues in a range of local, national and global contexts.
Topics studied
Students will study topics such as Finance, Marketing, Business Economics and Human Resource Management. Students have also had the opportunity to become budding entrepreneurs by turning £10 in to as much profit as they possibly can. The subject also runs an extracurricular lunch club for Year 10 Business students where they get the opportunity to start and run their own business through The Young Enterprise scheme.
Curriculum
Year 10 | Year 11 | |
---|---|---|
Aut.1 | Enterprise & Entrepreneurship | Growing the Business Making business decisions |
Aut.2 | Spotting a Business Opportunity Putting a Business Idea into Practice |
Making business decisions Making financial decisions |
Spr.1 | Putting a Business Idea into Practice Making the Business Effective |
Making financial decisions Making operational decisions |
Spr.2 | Making the Business Effective Understanding External Influence |
Making operational decisions Making people decisions |
Sum.1 | Understanding External Influences | Making people decisions Revision |
Sum.2 | Reflection & Assessment of Theme 1 Growing the Business |
Course Structure
The course consists of two externally examined papers; Theme 1: Investigating small business which is 50% of the qualification and Theme 2: Building a business which is also worth 50% of the qualification. Both papers will consist of calculations, multiple-choice, short-answer and extended-writing questions.
Theme 1 content overview
- Topic 1.1 Enterprise and entrepreneurship
- Topic 1.2 Spotting a business opportunity
- Topic 1.3 Putting a business idea into practice
- Topic 1.4 Making the business effective
- Topic 1.5 Understanding external influences on business
Theme 2 content overview
- Topic 2.1 Growing the business
- Topic 2.2 Making marketing decisions
- Topic 2.3 Making operational decisions
- Topic 2.4 Making financial decisions
- Topic 2.5 Making human resource decisions
Career Pathways
What does the course lead to?
Business GCSE links with A Level courses such as Business, Economics, Politics and increasingly Modern Foreign Languages. Business is also an excellent subject to have on a CV, even more so given the current business and economic climate. Students studying this course should have an interest in learning about the world around them and their place in it. The course will require students to solve problems and investigate businesses from a range of different perspectives. Students of Business must have a mature and hardworking attitude in order to pass the course.
For more information click on our 6th Form A Level Business Course.
Career Options
You can watch a great series of videos of young people who are working in jobs that use Business Studies on the BBC Bitesize website.
Green Careers: This is a significant growth sector with a wide variety of roles. Check out our webpage to find out more.
For example careers that lead from this subject click here.
For advice on apprenticeship courses, click here.
THINK Business Studies THINK Apprenticeships from Amazing Apprenticeships on Vimeo.