Edexcel BTEC First Diploma Unit 1 – Abbey Grange School
Unit 1 – Assignment 1
This Unit will have just one assignment, which should be completed by
December. The assignment will be based around four business organisations:
- Coca Cola
- Abbey Grange High School
- Guiseley Gardens
- Barnardos
In this assignment you will be covering ‘Pass’ (P) ‘Merit’ (M) and Distinction (D)
criteria.
HOW MUCH TIME DO I HAVE?
We will be working on this unit during the Autumn term. This means you will
have approximately 30 hours of lessons, plus homework time, to complete this
assignment. Your work will be made up of a number of tasks, which your
teacher will set you. You will be given deadlines for each task.
ASSESSMENT CRITERIA – WHAT’S THAT?
The exam board will mark your
coursework using the Assessment
criteria we have given you. It is
important to understand this so you
know what you have to do to get a good
mark. Your teacher will explain the
assessment criteria - ask if you are
unsure.
Miss Williams
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Edexcel BTEC First Diploma Unit 1 – Abbey Grange School
ADVICE
The exam board want to see a detailed piece of coursework. Careful
preparation and time management are therefore key to a successful project –
get started straightaway, work steadily to the interim deadlines your teacher
gives you and don’t leave it all till the last minute!
WHAT HELP WILL I GET?
1. You will be given deadlines to hand in drafts of each task for your teacher
to look at. Provided you meet these interim deadlines, your teacher will give
you feedback on each section which will enable you to review your work.
2. Please share information and ideas with your teacher and other students in
your class, a collaborative team-working approach will benefit us all! Of course
this does NOT mean that you should copy each other!
WHERE CAN I GET
INFORMATION
FROM?
Online help
There is lots of information about
what Coca Cola and Abbey Grange do
online, as well as general information
on the topic areas we look at:
1. www.abbeygrange.ik.org
2. www.thecocacolacompany.com
3. www.barnardos.org.uk
4. www.tutor2u.co.uk
Other sources of help
1. Your Teacher
2. Your own BTEC help area
Miss Williams
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Edexcel BTEC First Diploma Unit 1 – Abbey Grange School
TASKS
Task 1 – Write an introduction to your work
From what we have discussed in this lesson, you are going to complete an
introduction to your work. This means that you are going to show
understanding of what it is that you are going to be doing over the next 30
hours of lesson time!
1. Explain the overall purpose of the assignment.
2. Explain each section briefly and show understanding of what you are
going to be investigating.
3. State where you will find out your information and how you will use it.
TASK 2 – Purpose of Business Organisations (P1)
In this task you need to show that you understand why business organisations
exist.
1. Explain the purpose of business organisations:
- Name a business that provide goods, and a business that provides
services. Can you think of a business that does both?
- Name a businesses that wants to make a profit, and a business that
wants to provide something for free.
-What do most businesses want to do?
2. Explain the purpose of your business organisations:
-Coca Cola
-Abbey Grange
-Guiseley Gardens
-Barnardos
-Do they provide goods/services or both?
-Are they profit or ‘not for profit’ organisations?
-Explain how you know the above.
Miss Williams
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Edexcel BTEC First Diploma Unit 1 – Abbey Grange School
TASK 3 – Size/Scale of Business Organisations (P2)
In this task you need to examine how and why different organisations vary in
size and scale.
1. Explain the different sizes of businesses:
- Explain what is meant by a small business, and give 1 example
- Explain what is meant by a medium business, and give 1 example
- Explain what is meant by a large business, and give 1 example
- Can you find any examples of businesses which have started small and
grown?
2. Explain the different scale of businesses:
- Explain what is meant by a local business, and give 1 example
- Explain what is meant by a regional business, and give 1 example
- Explain what is meant by a national business, and give 1 example
- Explain what is meant by a European business, and give 1 example
- Explain what is meant by a Global business, and give 1 example
3. Identify the size and scale of your 4 business organisations:
-Coca Cola
-Abbey Grange
-Guiseley Gardens
-Barnardos
Make sure you provide evidence for your decisions.
Miss Williams
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Edexcel BTEC First Diploma Unit 1 – Abbey Grange School
TASK 4 – Types of Business Organisations (P2)
In this task you will need to show that you understand the different types of
business organisations that exist. You should produce a table like the one shown
below:
Type of
No. of Size Liability Advantages Disadvantages Examples
Business
Owners
Sole
Trader
Partnership
Ltd
PLC
Franchise
Public
Sector
Charity
You’ll need to fill in the table with information following the lesson on each type
of business.
You also need to explain how the type of organisation links to size and scale (e.g.
a sole trader is generally a small, local business because....).
TASK 5 – The Four Business Organisations (P2)
In this task you need to decide which type of business organisation the four
businesses fit in to.
1. What type of business organisation is Coca Cola?
2. Why do you think this?
3. How does this type of business organisation link with ‘size’ and ‘scale’ of
the organisation?
4. Repeat the above 3 points for:
-Abbey Grange
-Guiseley Gardens
-Barnardos
Miss Williams
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Edexcel BTEC First Diploma Unit 1 – Abbey Grange School
TASK 6 – Comparing Ownership (M1)
This is your first Merit task. It must be thorough and written to a high
standard.
You need to examine just two businesses out of the four we have been looking
at, and need to compare and contrast their ownership - Go back to the table
you drew up for task 4 for help!
1. Recap on the ‘type of business organisation’ for Guiseley Gardens and
Coca Cola.
2. Explain 4 differences, and 2 similarities between the two types of
business organisations.
3. Recap on the ‘purpose’ of both Guiseley Gardens and Coca Cola.
4. Explain 2 differences, and 2 similarities between the two organisations’
purposes.
TASK 7 – Primary, Secondary and Tertiary (P3)
For this task you will need to describe what is meant by Primary, Secondary
and Tertiary industries, using your lesson notes.
1. Describe what is meant by Primary industry and give 1 example
Describe what is meant by Secondary industry and give 1 example
Describe what is meant by Tertiary industry and give 1 example
2.
3.
4.
5.
What sector or
What sector or
What sector or
What sector or
Miss Williams
sectors
sectors
sectors
sectors
is
is
is
is
Coca Cola in? Explain your decision.
Abbey Grange in? Explain your decision.
Guiseley Gardens in? Explain your decision.
Barnardos in? Explain your decision.
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Edexcel BTEC First Diploma Unit 1 – Abbey Grange School
TASK 8 – The Growth and Decline in Primary, Secondary and Tertiary
Sectors (M2)
This is the Second of the ‘Merit’ tasks that we will look at in this project. The
task is to explain the areas of growth or decline in the primary, secondary and
tertiary sectors.
1. From your lesson notes, explain which sectors have grown, and which
ones have declined
2. Find evidence (from internet research) to back this up.
- Try looking on www.bbc.co.uk and type in ‘decline in manufacturing’, or
‘increase in service industries’. Include articles you find in your work.
- Try Business Studies websites such as tutor2u.net or
businessstudiesonline for tables and graphs on industrial sectors.
3. Provide examples of industries in each sector which have grown or
declined. Again look on the bbc website and see if you can find any
recent examples of:
- factories which have closed (secondary)
- service industries which have increased in popularity (tertiary)
- changes in the farming industry (primary)
TASK 9 – The Role of Government (P4)
In the next three tasks you need to examine the role of government in
creating a business climate in which firms operate.
1. Explain what is meant by the minimum wage.
2. Find out the current minimum wage rates.
3. Explain how the minimum wage affects businesses.
TASK 10 – The Role of Government (P4)
1. Explain what is meant by Interest Rates.
2. Find out the current Interest Rate.
3. Explain how interest rates affect businesses.
TASK 11 – The Role of Government (P4)
1. Explain what is meant by The Competition Commission.
2. Find a recent example of The Competition Commission in action!
3. Explain how The Competition Commission can affect businesses.
Miss Williams
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Edexcel BTEC First Diploma Unit 1 – Abbey Grange School
TASK 12 – The Local Business Environment (P5)
In this task you need to use the document ‘Leeds a Summary’ to find out about
the local business environment. Is Leeds a good area for businesses to set up
in?
1. Explain the growth or decline in the types of industries (primary,
secondary, tertiary) in our local area.
2. Comment on the numbers of students in our local area.
3. Comment on the transport links in our local area.
4. Comment on the unemployment in our local area.
5. Do you think Leeds a good area for businesses to set up in?
TASK 13 – Response to Changes in Business Environment (D1)
This is your first ‘Distinction’ task and so must be detailed and analytical in
nature. You should not attempt this task until you have completed your Merit
tasks and had them checked. In this task you need to ‘evaluate how a business
organisation has responded to changes in the business environment’.
1. Describe the main changes in the local business environment
(unemployment, nature of industry, recession etc)
2. Choose one of the previously investigated organisations, and list the
ways it has been affected by the above changes (e.g. Unemployment =
less customers as people have less money)
3. Explain in more depth how the chosen business has responded to each
change (e.g. less business, so cheaper products launched)
4. Evaluate whether or not the business has responded appropriately to
the changes in business environment.
5. Suggest and explain other actions the business could take to deal with
these changes.
Miss Williams
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Edexcel BTEC First Diploma Unit 1 – Abbey Grange School
Miss Williams
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