Your GCSE Business Studies Handbook 1 Welcome to the subject of Business Studies! We think that you have made a very good choice in choosing this subject and we hope that you enjoy studying it as much as we enjoy teaching it! This handbook aims to give you and your parents an overview of what to expect in GCSE Business Studies. It includes information on what will be taught and how the course will be assessed. What will you learn? There are three units that make up the course. In the first two units you will be introduced to the world of small businesses and will look at what makes someone a successful business person. You will find out how to develop an idea and spot an opportunity and turn that into a successful business. You will understand how to make a business effective and manage money well. You will also see how the world around us affects small businesses and all the people involved. In Unit 3, you will learn more about how small businesses develop and you will discover how businesses promote themselves and keep their customers happy. You will learn how businesses manage their finances and the people who work for them. How will you be assessed? The course consists of two written examinations and a controlled assessment task. For Unit 1, you will take a written examination paper with multiple choice and objective test questions based on this unit. This exam is 45 minutes long. For Unit 2, you will be given a list of controlled assessment tasks based upon what you have studies in Unit 1. Each task will be in the form of a question and you can choose which question interests you the most. You will then have up to 6 hours where you conduct research, both in and out of the classroom into your title. You will need to keep a log to record your research activities and build up a research file. You will then have three hours in school, under exam conditions, where you can use the information you gathered through your research to assist you in writing up your answer to the question you have chosen. We anticipate that you will sit Unit 1 and Unit 2 at the end of Year 10. At the end of Year 11 you will sit Unit 3 which is another written examination paper. The questions will be a mixture of multiple- choice, data response, short-answer, extended-writing and scenario-based questions. For example, you might be given details of a business and asked a few questions on that business. This exam is 90 minutes long. 2 Detail of each unit and what you will be studying Year 10: Unit 1 - Introduction to Small Business 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 3 Spotting a business opportunity Understanding customer needs Market mapping Competition Added value Franchising Showing enterprise What is enterprise? Thinking creatively What questions do entrepreneurs ask? Invention and innovation – generating new business ideas Taking a calculated risk Other important enterprise skills Putting a business idea into practice Objectives when starting up The qualities shown by entrepreneurs Estimating revenues, costs and profits Forecasting cash flows Obtaining finance Making the start-up effective Customer focus The marketing mix The importance of limited liability Start up legal and tax issues Effective on-time delivery and customer satisfaction Recruiting, training and motivating staff Understanding the economic context Market demand and supply Impact of changes in interest rates Impact of changes in exchange rates How do business cycles affect small businesses What effects do business decisions have on stakeholders Year 10/11: Unit 2 – Investigating Small Business In this unit, you will use the content of Unit 1 to research, analyse and evaluate a selected task on enterprise issues. The unit will be internally assessed and moderated by the exam board (Edexcel). You will select one set task from a choice of five. Your teachers will help you find an appropriate business to research and on which to base your investigation. Researching the task should take approximately two curriculum weeks (a maximum of six hours) and can be completed under limited supervision. The writing up sessions should take approximately one week of curriculum time (a maximum of three hours) and must be completed under formal supervision. Each task will be marked out of 40 across the following skill areas: 4 - Research (12 marks) - Present information/data (8 marks) - Analysis (12 marks) - Evaluation (8 marks) Year 11: Unit 3 – Building a Business 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 3.5 5 Marketing What is marketing? Market research Product trial and repeat purchase Product life cycle Branding and differentiation Building a successful marketing mix Meeting customer needs Design and research development Managing stock and quality Cost-effective operations and competitiveness Effective customer service Meeting consumer protection laws Effective financial management How to improve cash flow How to improve profit Break-even charts and analysis Financing growth Effective people management Organisational structure Motivation theory Communication Remuneration The wider world affecting business Ethics in business Environmental issues Economic issues affecting international trade How will you be assessed and what do your results look like in grades? For each unit you take you will receive a mark and a grade. These marks are then added together to give you your total mark for the subject and this is then converted into your overall GCSE grade. For example, if you scored 39 on Unit 1, 43 on Unit 2 and 75 on Unit 3, you would have a total subject mark of 157. This would give you a grade B overall for Business Studies. The minimum marks required for each grade for each unit are as follows: Units 1 and 2 Unit grade Max = 50 marks A* 45 A 40 B 35 C 30 D 25 E 20 F 15 G 10 A* 90 A 80 B 70 C 60 D 50 E 40 F 30 G 20 D 100 E 80 F 60 G 40 Unit 3 Unit grade Max = 100 marks What your GCSE grade looks like overall: GCSE grade Max = 200 marks 6 A* 180 A 160 B 140 C 120 GCSE Business Studies Grade Descriptions To achieve a Grade A You must be able to recall accurately, select and communicate your detailed knowledge and thorough understanding of business concepts, theories, issues and current practices. You must be able to use business terminology accurately and appropriately. You must be able to plan and carry out effectively a range of investigations and tasks using a wide range of skills competently, making effective use of time and resources. You must show that you can use your knowledge and understanding effectively to select and organise information from a wide range of sources and that you can investigate business organisations in a range of contexts. You can use and evaluate quantitative and qualitative evidence effectively with a high degree of accuracy to analyse problems and issues, and make informed and reasoned judgements to present conclusions accurately and appropriately. To achieve a Grade C You can recall, select and communicate sound knowledge and understanding of business concepts, theories, issues and current business practices, and use business terminology appropriately. You show that you can plan and carry out different investigations using a range of skills appropriately. You can apply your knowledge and understanding to select and organise information from a variety of sources in order to investigate business organisations in different contexts. You can use and evaluate evidence to analyse problems and issues with some accuracy and make reasoned judgements and present conclusions that are supported by evidence. To achieve a Grade E You demonstrate knowledge and understanding of some basic aspects of business concepts, theories, issues and practices. You can use some simple business terminology. You can carry out a straightforward investigation and tasks using a limited range of skills. You can apply your knowledge and understanding to select and organise simple information from a limited range of sources to investigate business organisations. You can identify simple evidence in order to analyse problems and issues and make judgements. You can present simple conclusions that are sometimes supported by evidence. 7 Finally! What more can you do? We hope that your interest in the subject will develop and extend outside of the classroom and doing homework. There are a number of things that you can do and these will help deepen your knowledge and understanding of the subject. These include watching the news for current business stories and reading newspapers such as The Daily Telegraph, The Times and The Guardian (available in the school library!). You could also watch programmes such as The Apprentice and Dragons’ Den. The following websites are also excellent sources of information: BBC Bitesize www.bbc.co.uk/schools/gcsebitsize/business Bized www.bized.co.uk Business Studies Online www.businessstudiesonline.co.uk The Times 100 www.thetimes100.co.uk Bank of England www.bankofengland.co.uk British Franchise Association www.thebfa.org Tutor2U www.tutor2u.net BBC business news www.bbc.co.uk/business Federation of small businesses www.fsb.org.uk Dragons Den www.bbc.co.uk/dragonden Business Link www.businesslink.gov.uk Franchises and starting up www.uk250.co.uk The Business Channel www.thebusinesschannel.com Business in the Community www.bitc.org.uk Your teacher is also around to help you, so always ask when you do not understand or need further information! 8