Business Studies

Whether you want to work for a large company in marketing or management, have some great ideas for new products or services, or can see yourself as the head of a successful business, the Business Studies A Level course gives you an incredibly powerful start to launch you on to becoming a business person.

A lot of people prefer small businesses offering individual service or set up their own business, working for themselves. Whether you are selling home-made candles or starting your own e-company, you still need to know about business - how to get your product to market; how to price; how to promote them and how to get paid. All the key topics of starting and running a business are covered.

Students who take Business Studies often also study Accounting, Computing, Economics, Modern Languages or Mathematics, but those committed to the arts or sciences should also consider taking Business Studies to develop a range of skills:

• How to assemble data and assess it

• How to investigate facts and use deduction

• How to put over your point of view fluently

• How to work as a team to achieve results

In the first year you will have two main learning topics. The first of those is called ‘Planning and Financing a Business’ and includes information on the different types of business structure and an introduction to money matters. The second topic is called ‘Managing a Business’ and gives you more knowledge on increasing profits, recruiting and managing employees, operations management (including customer service and technology), plus marketing.

In the second year you will build on that solid knowledge base with another two main learning topics. The first is titled ‘Strategies for Success’ and includes financial strategies to improve profits, strategies to take on the competition, operational strategies to improve products and for improving employee relations. These are the four cornerstones of a successful business. The second topic is titled ‘The Business Environment and Managing Change’. This helps you to plan the vision of a business and how to deal with the impact of economic, cultural, political or technological changes on an organisation.