Sixth Form Options Booklet

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M I Beacham Head of Economics mbeacham@mtsn.org.uk A Level Business is a potential new A level being offered at Merchant Taylors’ from next year. It aims to equip students with a critical understanding of organisations, the markets they serve and the strategies they use to compete in the UK and in the global economy. The course involves rigorous analysis of the internal workings and management of businesses, and detailed exploration of business decision making in a dynamic external environment characterised by risk and uncertainty. Case study research of businesses lies at the heart of the A Level course. Students are taught business theory and how to apply it to issues, problems and opportunities facing real businesses such as Airbus, Apple, BMW, Starbucks, Lego, Microsoft, Netflix and Zara. A Level Business helps you develop critical thinking skills. They include the skills of analysis and evaluation, which are transferable and can be applied to most situations in everyday life. You will also get a good grounding in a range of decision-making methods and techniques which are widely used in both public and private sector organisations. Modules that you will cover and assessment details We will be following the Edexcel Business A Level specification. In Lower Sixth, students will cover Theme 1: Marketing and People and Theme 2: Managing Business Activities. These introduce students to core business concepts and applying them to business contexts to develop a broad understanding of how businesses work – for example, exploring marketing and financial planning. During Upper Sixth students will cover Theme 3: Business Decisions and Strategy and Theme 4: Global Business. Breadth and depth of knowledge and understanding, with applications to a wider range of contexts and more complex business information, are developed here. Taking a more strategic view of business opportunities and issues is critical, with a need to understand how businesses can respond to issues and opportunities in local and global markets. Topics include financial statements; change management; critical path analysis; corporate culture; globalisation and trade liberalisation.

For the A level Business qualification, students will have to sit 3 papers:

Paper 1: which will include questions drawn from Theme 1 and Theme 4 Paper 2: which will include questions drawn from Theme 2 and Theme 3 Paper 3: a synoptic examination paper which will cover all themes.

All three examinations will include data response and extended open-response questions with the addition of Paper 3 having a section where the students will be questioned on the pre released context in a given industry or market.