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Business Studies

The Staff Team

Mr S Burgess, Head of Business Studies, has worked in education for over past 20 years and has a passion for relating the theory of Business Studies to the real world of business.

The Learning Spaces

Our GCSE and A-Level groups are based in a dedicated Business Studies suite (D5) situated in the centre of the school, conveniently close to the computer suites, which we will frequently use to help bring the subject alive by researching relevant topical examples from the real world of business to help exemplify the theory we are studying.

The curriculum

Key Stage 4 – GCSE

We aim to inspire our students by offering a course that is relevant to the world of work. Our specification is structured into two themes, taking students from how entrepreneurs start businesses (Theme 1) through to growing and global businesses (Theme 2). There are two equally weighted exam papers, focusing one each specification theme.

Theme1

Students start by exploring the world of small businesses through the lens of an entrepreneur. How and why do business ideas come about? What makes a successful business? They learn how to develop an idea, spot an opportunity and turn it into a successful business. They will understand how to make a business effective, manage money and see how the world around us affects small businesses and all the people involved.

Theme2

Students then move on to investigating business growth. How does a business develop beyond the start-up phase? They learn about key business concepts and issues and decisions you need to make when growing a business and working in a global business. They learn about meeting customer needs, making marketing, operational, financial and human resourcing decisions and you’ll explore how the wider world impacts the business as it grows.

Key Stage 5 – A’ Level

A Level Business is a very popular option at Chipping Norton. There is no requirement to have studies Business at GCSE and the course the aims to enable students to develop an enthusiasm for studying business.

They will gain a holistic understanding of business operates in a range of contexts. Develop a critical understanding of organisations and their ability to meet society’s needs and wants, while understand that business behaviour can be studied from a range of perspectives. Students are encouraged to generate enterprising and creative approaches to business opportunities, problems and issues. They will need to be aware of the ethical dilemmas and responsibilities faced by organisations and individuals and acquire a range of relevant business and generic skills, including decision making, problem solving, the challenging of assumptions and critical analysis

The A Level in Business is structured into four themes and consists of three externally examined papers.

Students are introduced to business in Themes 1 and 2 through building knowledge of core business concepts and applying them to business contexts to develop a broad understanding of how businesses work. Breadth and depth of knowledge and understanding, with applications to a wider range of contexts and more complex business information, are developed in Themes 3 and 4, requiring students to take a more strategic view of business opportunities and issues.

Students are encouraged to use an enquiring, critical and thoughtful approach to the study of business, to understand that business behaviour can be studied from a range of perspectives and to challenge assumptions.

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