The GCSE Business Studies/Economics course is divided into four units.

All Year 10 students must complete Units 1 and 2 as detailed below:

• Unit 1: Introduction to Small Business – Students concentrate on the key issues and skills involved in enterprise. It provides a framework to consider the marketing, financial, human and operational issues involved in a small business. It also investigates economic factors that affect small businesses.

•Unit 2: Investigating Small Business – where students research, analyse and evaluate a selected task on enterprise issues.

In Year 11 students will choose to follow the GCSE Business Studies pathway (Unit 3) or the GCSE Business Studies and Economics pathway (Unit 5). The content for each pathway is detailed below:

• Unit 3: Building a Business – This unit builds on Units 1 and 2 and examines how a business develops beyond the start-up phase. It focuses on practical methods used to build up a business, with an emphasis on aspects of marketing, customer service, financial and people management. It also considers the impact of the wider world on the success or failure of a business.

OR

• Unit 5: Introduction to Economic Understanding – This unit introduces students to the principles of economic understanding, to provide a broad national and international perspective on the subject area.