AES

There are four units in the GCSE course.

Section 3.1: Setting up a Business

• This unit is designed to provide abroad introduction to the key functions to be found in business organisations and the environment in which businesses operate. The areas covered include: the aims and objectives of business organizations, marketing and sales, business location, the use of IT, business communications, customer service, environmental constraints, etc.

Section 3.5: Marketing and Customer Needs

• In this unit candidates will investigate how businesses use marketing activities to meet customers' needs and deal with competition. The areas covered are understanding customer needs through research, marketing activities and competition and understanding customer service.

Section 3.6: Enterprise

• This unit gives students the opportunity to run an enterprise activity, giving them the knowledge and understanding of what is involved in starting up a business.  The enterprise skills needed and the different responsibilities that need to be undertaken.

Section 3.7: Business Finance

• This unit looks at how businesses use money in the different transactions they undertake. Students discover how money is raised and managed in the business environment, including the most common forms of financial records. The areas covered are: investigating the flow of financial documents, calculating the profit and loss of a business, investigating methods for making and receiving payments, understanding a balance sheet, etc.

Assessment

Section 3.1, is assessed externally by a 1 hour written exam paper. 20% of final marks.

Section 3.4 and 3.5 are assessed by a controlled assessment, each worth 30% of total marks internally marked and moderated externally.

Section 3.7 is assessed externally by a 1 hour written exam paper. 20% of final marks.

AQA A Level Applied Business-5131/6131

SYNOPSIS OF CONTENT

AS course:

• Unit 1 - Investigating Business - the meaning of enterprising behaviour
• Unit 2 - People in Business - activities associated with the recruitment process
• Unit 3 - Financial Planning and Monitoring - planning finance and using this information in decision making A2 course
• Unit 8 - Business Planning - a synoptic unit where a business plan is produced
• Unit 10 - Promotional Activities - producing a promotional campaign
• Unit 11 - The Marketing Environment examining the impact of the external environment on marketing decisions

Assessment

• All 6 Units have equal weight
• AS Units 1 & 2 - coursework assignment
• AS Units 3 - external exam
• A2 units 8 & 10 - coursework assignment
• A2 unit 11 - external exam

A Level Economics - OCR H461

SYNOPSIS OF CONTENT

A/S Course in Year 12

• Unit F581: Markets in Action
• Unit F582: The National and International Economy

A/2 Course in Year 13

• Unit F583: Economics of Work and Leisure
• Unit F585: The Global Economy

Assessment

AS Course

• 2 exams: 1.5 hrs. Each worth 50% of AS.
• Short answer and data response questions plus one essay.

A2 Course

• 2* 2h written paper 60 marks
• Unit F583: Section A: one mandatory data-response question. Section B: one structured question from a choice of three. This unit is synoptic.
• Unit F585: Questions based upon pre-released stimulus material, involving data interpretation and essays. This unit is synoptic.

IB Higher and Standard Economics

SYNOPSIS OF CONTENT

** = Higher level only.

Section 1 Introduction to Economics:

• Definitions
• Scarcity/Choice
• Basic Economic Problem
• Mixed Economies

Section 2 Microeconomics:

• 2.1 Markets:
• Demand, Supply, Equilibrium, price controls, exceptions to the law of demand.
• 2.2 Elasticities: Taxes.
• **2.2 Theory of the firm: Cost theory, Market structures: Perfect competition, Monopoly, Oligopoly, Monopolistic competition, Price discrimination.
• 2.3 Market failure: Reasons, government responses.

Section 3 Macroeconomics

• 3.1 Measuring National Income
• 3.2 Introduction to Development
• 3.3 Macroeconomic models
• 3.4 Demand and supply side policies- including Multiplier and Accelerator
• 3.5 Unemployment and Inflation- including methods of measurement, ** Phillips curve, Natural rate of unemployment, NAIRU.
• 3.6 Distribution of Income- including **Laffer curve and Gini Coefficient.

Section 4 International Economics

• 4.1 Reasons for trade- **to include comparative advantage.
• 4.2 Free trade and protectionism
• 4.3 Economic integration- to include trade creation and trade diversion
• 4.4 World Trade Organisation
• 4.5 Balance of Payments
• 4.6 Exchange Rates to include fixed and floating, monetary integration, Purchasing Power parity.
• 4.7 Balance of Payments problems **to include- Marshall Lerner and J curve
• 4.8 **Terms of trade to include measurement, changes and elasticities.

Section 5 Development Economics

• 5.1 Sources of economic growth and or development
• 5.2 Consequences of growth
• 5.3 Barriers to economic growth/development
• 5.4 Growth and development strategies
• 5.5 Evaluation of growth and development strategies

Assessment

2 year course with internal exams at the end of the L6 Higher Level assessment:

• Paper 1- one essay- 20% final mark
• Paper 2- 4 short essays- 20 % final mark
• Paper 3- 3 data response questions 40% final mark
• Internal coursework assessment: A portfolio of 4 commentaries 20% final assessment

Standard Level assessment

• Paper 1- one essay 25% final mark
• Paper 2- data response questions 50%
• Internal assessment- 4 commentaries 25% final assessment

Assessment procedures

In order to assess the wide variety of different learning that is taking place within the department, the following assessment methods are used:

• Report writing
• Case studies
• Short answer type questions
• Exam style questions (data response, multiple choice, essays)
• Oral/visual presentations
• Interactive worksheets
• Tests
• Half termly marks for GCSE
• In GCSE Business Studies the marking policy is that the exercise book is taken in once a cycle and marked positively with a comment and an indication of level achieved. This is flexible, depending on the type of task being carried out

In the Sixth Form:

i) Applied Business coursework and IB Economic commentaries are set with specific deadlines for both the draft and final version and marked according to the examination board criteria, with feedback given.

ii) All independent study tasks and homework tasks for A Level Applied Business, A Level Economics and IB Economics are marked according to examination board criteria.

Informal testing

Past exam questions are used through out the course to develop the students' exam technique and raise levels of achievement.

All IB students sit an internal exam in the summer of the Lower Sixth year and a Mock Exam in the January of the Upper Sixth year. This is using past exam papers and is gone over in depth with the class.

AS/A2 Economics- sit a mock examination during lessons at the end of each module.

Applied Business- students sit an internally organised mock exam for units 3 and 11.

Extra curricular activities:

• Coursework club for GCSE Business Studies
• Bank of England interest rate competition
• Make your Mark Enterprise Challenge
• Visit to Coca-Cola Bottling plant
• Visit to Disneyland Paris
• Visit to Bank of England, Barclays Global Capital, LME
• Visiting speakers
• European Parliament Strasbourg, Euroscola conference