EuraStudy
RevisionRevision / N11UK · A-Levels
Business
A-Level Business is the study of how organisations create value, take decisions under uncertainty and compete in a changing environment, set against the Department for Education GCE AS and A level subject content and delivered here through the AQA 7132 specification. The first half is functional: what a business is and why it exists; management, leadership and decision making; and decision making to improve marketing, operational, financial and human-resource performance. The second half is strategic: analysing a firm's strategic position, choosing a strategic direction, the methods used to pursue strategies, and managing strategic change. Throughout, the subject blends written analysis of business behaviour with quantitative tools (break-even, contribution, ratios, investment appraisal, decision trees, capacity utilisation and elasticity) and, above all, the applied evaluation of decisions in context that discriminates the top grades.
0/59 Texts10 Chapters~261 min total
AQA 7132 3.1.1DfE GCE Business - the nature and purpose of businessDfE GCE Business - enterprise and entrepreneursAQA 7132 3.1.2DfE GCE Business - mission and corporate objectivesAQA 7132 3.1.3+83 moreFoundationStandardAdvanced
Table of contents · 10 ChaptersT·10
- The nature and purpose of businessText L·01 · Recommended start5 min
- Enterprise, entrepreneurs and starting a businessText L·024 min
- Mission, aims and the hierarchy of objectivesText L·034 min
- Forms of business ownership and liabilityText L·045 min
- Markets: size, share and growthText L·055 min
- Stakeholders and the purpose of businessText L·064 min
- Setting marketing objectivesText L·134 min
- Understanding markets: research, segmentation and positioningText L·144 min
- Price and income elasticity of demandText L·156 min
- The marketing mix, product life cycle and Boston matrixText L·165 min
- Price, promotion and placeText L·174 min
- Marketing strategy: mass, niche and AnsoffText L·184 min
- Setting operational objectivesText L·194 min
- Operational performance: productivity, capacity and unit costsText L·205 min
- Increasing efficiency: lean production and JITText L·214 min
- Improving qualityText L·224 min
- Managing inventory and the supply chainText L·234 min
- Technology and matching supply to demandText L·244 min
- Setting financial objectivesText L·254 min
- Sources of financeText L·264 min
- Revenue, costs, profit and contributionText L·275 min
- Break-even analysis and the margin of safetyText L·286 min
- Cash flow and cash-flow forecastingText L·295 min
- Budgets and variance analysisText L·304 min
- Analysing profitability: margins and ROCEText L·316 min
- Mission, objectives and measuring performanceText L·384 min
- Financial ratio analysis: profitability and liquidityText L·395 min
- Financial ratio analysis: gearing and efficiencyText L·405 min
- SWOT analysisText L·414 min
- The external environment: PESTLEText L·424 min
- The competitive environment: Porter's five forcesText L·434 min
- Investment appraisal: payback, ARR and NPVText L·446 min
- Paper 1 - Business 1 (AQA 7132/1)
- 2 hours, 100 marks, one third (33.3%) of the A-Level. A mixed-format paper drawing on all sections of the specification. Section A is 15 multiple-choice questions (15 marks), many of them quantitative. Section B is a set of short-answer questions (35 marks). Section C offers two essay questions from a choice of three, worth 25 marks each (50 marks). It rewards students who can define and apply concepts, calculate and interpret data, and build a two-sided evaluative argument to a supported judgement.
- Paper 2 - Business 2 (AQA 7132/2)
- 2 hours, 100 marks, one third (33.3%) of the A-Level. Three compulsory data-response questions, each based on unseen quantitative and qualitative stimulus material about a business, and each building from short application and calculation tasks to a 20-mark or 25-mark extended evaluation. The emphasis is on applying theory precisely to the given context and the given data - generic answers are not rewarded.
- Paper 3 - Business 3 (AQA 7132/3)
- 2 hours, 100 marks, one third (33.3%) of the A-Level. One compulsory case study about a single business, with a sequence of questions culminating in extended, whole-specification (synoptic) evaluations worth up to 25 marks. This paper rewards students who can connect the functional and strategic content and reach a justified overall recommendation about a real decision.
- Assessment objectives, the quantitative requirement and grading
- The four assessment objectives are weighted with application and evaluation dominant: AO1 knowledge and understanding of terms, concepts, theories and methods (approximately 21%); AO2 application to a range of business contexts and situations (approximately 29%); AO3 analysis of issues, showing an understanding of their impact on the business (approximately 21%); and AO4 evaluation - making reasoned judgements and drawing supported conclusions (approximately 29%). A minimum of 10% of the overall A-Level marks assess quantitative skills (calculating and interpreting break-even, contribution, ratios, percentages, indices, elasticities, investment appraisal and averages). All three papers are sat at the end of the linear course and the qualification is graded A*-E (U below E).