Year 13

Examination Board - AQA A2 2131

Curriculum Organisation

Students have six lessons per week in Year 13 and are taught in mixed ability groups, which are allocated depending on which option block is chosen. Course books are ‘AQA A2 Business Studies’ and ‘CGP AQA A2 Business Studies Revision Guide’.

Independent Study

Students will be given a reading schedule of pages they need to read from their two course text books. This will enable students to catch-up on missed work if absent or give them the chance to read ahead in preparation of future lessons. They will also be given an outline of the work they will cover, with approximate time allocations for each area of the syllabus. Both these documents will be closely linked to their main course text book.

Students are expected to read outside of lessons. They should be reading pages indicated on their reading schedule to ensure full understanding. They must then obtain further help in their non-contact time if they do not understand concepts. They should be making notes from the pages indicated, either on flash cards or by using PowerPoint. Students should also take an interest in ‘real’ business issues, by reading the ‘business’ newspapers. They should also listen to Podcasts, details of which can be found in the ‘useful websites’ section.

It is vital that they read the ‘Business Review’ magazine in the library. This comes out every three months and back copies are kept. This can be borrowed on a short-term basis.

Assessment and Reporting

Students will be assessed by the following external examinations:

Content       Unit Code Weighting Date
Unit 3 – Strategies for Success     BUSS3  50%  June
Unit 4 – The Business Environment and Managing   BUSS4  50%  June

Students will be assessed against ‘real’ A2 criteria throughout the year and these will be used to grade students accordingly for reporting. Student progress will be monitored using a departmental tracking sheet and targets will be set from this data, as appropriate. Students will also be expected to set their own targets at the end of each area of study. Extension tasks will also be set to further the knowledge of high achieving students. Students should be constantly trying to improve their understanding by attempting tasks from their text book.

Extra Curricular Opportunities

Students will get the chance to participate in various Enterprise projects.

Useful Websites

BBC Wake up to Money Podcast http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio/podcasts/money/
Business Studies revision site! http://www.freewebs.com/jcbiz
AQA examination board page for specification and past examination papers http://www.aqa.org.uk/qual/gce/business_studies_new.php
Tutor2u revision materials http://www.tutor2u.net/
BBC Business News search http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/default.stm
Business Studies Online revision materials http://www.businessstudiesonline.co.uk/
BBC Working Lunch online business news programme http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/programmes/working_lunch/default.stm
S-Cool revision site http://www.s-cool.co.uk/default.asp
BBC Bitesize revision site http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/gcsebitesize/business/
The Times newspaper 100 case studies http://www.thetimes100.co.uk/index.php
Biz-Ed revision materials http://www.bized.co.uk/