Business A Level
Engaging with many of the issues most relevant in today’s society, studying A Level Business also gives you the knowledge and tools needed to understand how businesses are created, managed, and become successful; it also explores why this actually matters!
Always bringing together a range of students, studying A Levels across the arts, humanities, and sciences, classes also include students who have studied GCSE Business and those brand new to the subject. This diversity really helps develop an academic approach to support all of your A Level studies. It may be that you’re interested in studying a business course at university or through an apprenticeship, or you might just want to understand the world we live in a little better; whatever your reason, you’ll find a course that challenges you and engages you, building the academic expertise key to your success at College, and beyond.
Entry requirements
A minimum of 4 GCSE subjects at grade 5 or above, as well as GCSE English Language and Maths at grade 4 or above. There is no requirement to have studied Business at GCSE, but a minimum of a grade 5 is needed if you have.
What will I study?
Business gives an understanding of the many problems businesses face and encourages students to develop analytical and evaluative ways to solve them.
Across the two years students will study the following units:
- What is business?
- Managers, leadership and decision making
- Decision making to improve marketing performance
- Decision making to improve operational performance
- Decision making to improve financial performance
- Decision making to improve human resource performance
- Analysing the strategic position of a business
- Choosing strategic direction
- Strategic methods: how to pursue strategies
- Managing strategic change
Method of delivery
You will be in College four days a week, with your studies being classroom based; there is no online delivery on this course.
How will I be assessed?
Three A Level exams are sat at the end of Year Two and assess the content from both Year One and Year Two; these papers are each 2 hours long. Questions include multiple-choice, short-answer responses, and essays, and look to test your knowledge, ability to apply it, and then use it to analyse and evaluate different business scenarios and contexts.
Good course combinations
Business combines well with any subject but particularly Accounting and Economics.
Your next steps
You can progress onto a higher-level course at York College or university in a number of related areas e.g. marketing and business.
"The Business and Economics courses have linked perfectly and have had a small cross-over of content to help me understand certain topics very well. I like the combination of numerical answers and essay style writing, an especially nice balance in these subjects."
