It is the vision and aims for the Business Studies Department at Stoke Newington School and Sixth Form to provide opportunities through a rigorous curriculum to develop commercial minded and enterprising individuals. Business Studies should enable pupils to:

  • Know about entrepreneurs – some well-known and other more local and less well known.
  • Understand what makes a successful entrepreneur.
  • Develop an awareness of their enterprise capabilities so that they can consider owning their own business as an alternative career path. They should also be equipped with the employability skills needed for the changing world of work and entrepreneurship.
  • Meet with adults other than teachers to have real life examples and knowledge about business in the real world therefore challenging and enriching the pupils’ vocational opportunities.
  • Develop knowledge and understanding of business and economic concepts and terms.
  • Develop knowledge and understanding of their role in business and as a wider part of society and the economy.
  • In addition to learning about business theory and calculations, pupils will be required to consider the health, social, moral, and ethical issues surrounding business decisions and the impact that businesses can have on a wide range of stakeholders.
  • Develop an interest in current business and economic affairs by reading widely around the subject in newspapers and magazines, as well as watching business related television programmes.

The Business Studies curriculum at Stoke Newington School is highly ambitious and designed to give all pupils the necessary knowledge and skills they need to live in the business-orientated world in which we live. It has also been designed to prepare pupils who wish to pursue both academic and vocational Level 3 courses in business and related areas for those who wish to begin an apprenticeship in the field of business or go onto university.

The Business curriculum is planned to develop knowledge and understanding of financial literacy. Pupils have opportunities to develop their financial awareness and to master the skills needed to analyse and interpret financial documents. The department has a clear plan for what pupils should know and be able to do in Business by the end of KS4 and KS5. Pupils are expected to be able to talk and write knowledgeably about business, enterprise, and the economy, using subject specific language accurately and confidently. They should be able to utilise Business specific skills such as making links between different units of work, analysing, and interpreting business case studies and understanding financial information and language.

GCSE Business | Key stage 4

At Stoke Newington School, students can choose to study business as a GCSE option from Year 9. The course offered at SNS is Pearson Edexcel Level 2 GCSE (9-1) in Business (1BS0). The 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 on each specification theme.

Students will 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? Students will 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.

Students will then move on to investigating business growth. How does a business develop beyond the start-up phase? They will learn about key business concepts and issues and decisions you need to make when growing a business and working in a global business. Students will 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.

Examinations

  • The qualification will be assessed in two equally weighted exam papers. There is no coursework.
  • Paper 1 - Theme 1: Investigating small business (50% weighting – 90 minutes, 90 marks)
  • Paper 2 - Theme 2: Building a business (50% weighting – 90 minutes, 90 marks)

GCSE Business curriculum maps - Year 9 | Year 10 | Year 11

BTEC Business | Key stage 5

Young people taking their first step into a new career need the right blend of technical and academic skills to support them. And we know that employers and Higher Education are looking for highly skilled, job-ready individuals with a strong work ethic. That is why we have chosen to offer the BTEC Level 3 National Diploma in Business! With over 5,000 universities, employers and professional bodies with employability at the heart, learners can develop the skills and confidence they will need to step into a prosperous future. Furthermore, 95% of universities and colleges in the UK now accept BTECs – including Oxford University.

The BTEC Level 3 Diploma is designed for learners who want a strong core of sector study. The BTEC Level 3 Diploma is equivalent to two A Levels. Therefore, the programme may be chosen alongside another A Level to support progression to higher education courses in business areas before entering employment. The additional qualification studied allow learners either to give breadth to their study programme by choosing a contrasting subject, or to give it more focus by choosing a complementary subject.

The content of this qualification has been developed in consultation with universities to ensure that it supports progression to higher education, as well as, employers and professional bodies in order to confirm that the content is appropriate and consistent with current practice for learners planning to enter employment directly in the business sector. The qualification gives learners the knowledge, understanding and skills that underpin the business sector that will prepare them for further study or training.

The units which you will study are:

BTEC Business curriculum map | Year 12 and Year 13

Enrichment

At Stoke Newington School and Sixth Form we are proud to be able to offer our students the chance to take part in a wealth of extra-curricular activities to help enrich their learning. For example, there are a range of competitions that students enter throughout the year; taking part in nationally recognised programmes such as Young Enterprise which empowers young people to set up and run a student company under the guidance of a business volunteer. Students make all the decisions about their business, from deciding on the company name, managing the company finances, and selling to the public. Participants gain practical business experience and key skills.

Furthermore, we conduct educational visits to places such as:

  • Visit the local high street and analyse the shops that are located here, compare this to a town and a larger city
  • Bank of England – tour and information
  • Museum of Brands
  • Cadbury’s World
  • Thorpe Park

Career and future pathways

GCSE Business

Provides a strong foundation for employment, with students progressing, with further training, to a wide range of careers such as banking, sales, product management, general management (consulting, entrepreneurship, and general management), marketing, accountancy and even running your own business.

Alongside this, it is important to remember that plenty of the business jobs that business professionals hold today did not exist a couple of generations ago. A century ago, not many business people could have imagined a career as a social media manager. The point is, the transferable skills and knowledge you learn from studying business at school will equip you with the skills and qualities needed for a wide range of roles in the future.

For example, some business specialists of the future may be doing jobs like:

  • Digital currency – advisors will give people advice of how to make the most of their online currencies (which are expected to expand far beyond Bitcoin)
  • Simplicity experts – will help make companies of the future more efficient, using their understanding of both people and business.
  • Localisers – encourage and help communities to use what’s close at hand rather than relying on global supplies – for example, local solar energy.

BTEC Business

In addition to the business sector specific content, the requirements of the qualification mean the student develops the transferable and higher order skills that are highly regarded by Higher Education, employers, and self-employment. Some examples of direct career path include Accountancy, HR, Education, Management (Consulting, Entrepreneurship, General Management) Marketing, Retail and Management. Furthermore, progression into Higher Education in specialist areas such as Law, HR, Management, Marketing, Economics, Finance, Accountancy and Education.