Senior School Curriculum Business Studies
Business Studies
Business Studies is taught only as an A-level subject at Clayesmore, in the Sixth Form and thus provides the opportunity for a student to study a subject that they have not studied before.
It is an academic subject, just like any of the others that you might be taking. You will not get to run a business – if you want to do that you need to join the Young Enterprise Scheme when you are in the Lower Sixth. However, Business Studies is relevant to your everyday life.
Undoubtedly, you go shopping, see advertisements and make use of marketing in the form of sales promotions such as ‘buy one, get one free.’ Have you ever wondered why firms promote their products in the way that they do? This is covered in the Marketing section of our course.
Apart from Marketing, the course also covers:
- Objectives and the Business Environment (which includes looking at various types of business, the European Union, inflation, interest rates and business planning);
- Accountancy and Finance (learning to interpret Balance Sheets, Profit and Loss Accounts and other financial information);
- People in Organisations (which includes motivation in theory and practice, employment law and trade unions);
- Operations Management (learning about different types of production methods and how to maximise productivity).
There are 8 lessons a week in both the Lower Sixth and Upper Sixth, with prep set twice a week in each year. The exam board we use is the Welsh Joint Education Committee (WJEC). There is no coursework.
Business Studies is a wonderfully dynamic subject that will prepare you for life outside education, that is, when you finally finish studying full-time and go out to work. It is extremely useful for most professions. The good thing about taking 4 AS subjects and then reducing down to 3 for A2, is that you can try a new subject, such as Business Studies, without having to commit yourself to a whole A-Level in it when you do not know if you will enjoy it. However, very few students drop Business Studies at the end of the Lower Sixth, which presumably means they enjoy the subject! In addition, a large number of students go on to take a business-related degree course at university.