departments & subjects > Business Studies

 

Welcome to Business Studies

 

Currently Business Studies runs two groups, taught by Mrs J Kiddle.

Business Studies operates only in KS4 with students choosing it from Options in Yr 9.

The course currently on offer is the Applied Business Double Award which takes up 4 x 1 hour lessons per week on the timetable, and gives
2 GCSE’s at the end of Year 11.

The course consists of 2 portfolios of work plus one external examination and is organised so that the students submit one portfolio of work in June at the end of Year 10 and sit the external examination in the January of their Year 11. This leaves only the final portfolio which is submitted in the summer of Year 11.

This spreading of work relieves the pressure on students in Year 11 and has proved to be successful in terms of results. The other advantage of this system is that any student who does not achieve a good grade can be re-entered for any of the early units to try to improve the overall grade.

The course relies heavily on utilising the college’s links with businesses in the local community.

The businesses linked with to date have been Golden Wonder, Morrisons and Matalan. The links involve visits from school to the premises and from representatives of the businesses into school.

It is a common misconception that a Business Studies course is only appropriate for students who want to set up their own business. Of course, it would be invaluable in that situation, but that is only one of many career options that Business Studies could lead to.

The qualification leads into As/A level business courses, together with a variety of business related courses at the FE colleges. There are also many business related degrees on offer at Universities all over the UK, although Hull has one of the most prestigious and modern business schools in the country.

Business Studies can be linked to almost any other subject and studying it can provide students with flexibility when making choices about future careers.

Over the years the Business Studies department has taken students on visits to the universities of Hull and Lincoln where they have been able to experience a typical day in the life of a university student. They have also been given some careers advice and the feedback received has always been very positive, from the point of view of both the students and the universities.

Business Studies students have also been taken on day visits to London where they have had a tour of the Square Mile which makes up the business district of the City of London, and also found time to explore marketing strategies used by the major stores on Oxford Street.

Female business studies students have also been taken on a “Women into Enterprise” day in York where they worked with other female students from all over Yorkshire and Lincolnshire on business related projects, and had talks from young women who were running successful businesses themselves.

It is hoped that these visits will continue as they give students a real insight into career options outside the local area and motivate them by showing them how the business studies they learn in the classroom relates to what goes on in the world of work.