Business

What do I need to know, or be able to do, before taking this course?

It doesn’t matter if you haven’t studied business before. You might have an interest in business and want to know more about the impact business has on the world around you.

The Pearson Edexcel Level 3 Advanced GCE in Business is structured into four themes and consists of three externally examined papers. Students are introduced to business in Themes 1 and 2 through building knowledge of core business concepts and applying them to business contexts to develop a broad understanding of how businesses work. Breadth and depth of knowledge and understanding, with applications to a wider range of contexts and more complex business information, are developed in Themes 3 and 4, requiring students to take a more strategic view of business opportunities and issues.

Students are encouraged to use an enquiring, critical and thoughtful approach to the study of business, to understand that business behaviour can be studied from a range of perspectives and to challenge assumptions.

Theme 1: Marketing and people. Students will develop an understanding of:

• meeting customer needs
• the market
• marketing mix and strategy
• managing people
• entrepreneurs and leaders.

Theme 2: Managing business activities. Students will develop an understanding of:

• raising finance
• financial planning
• managing finance
• resource management
• external influences.

Theme 3: Business decisions and strategy

This theme develops the concepts introduced in Theme 2. Students will develop an understanding of:

• business objectives and strategy
• business growth
• decision-making techniques
• influences on business decisions
• assessing competitiveness
• managing change.

Theme 4: Global business

This theme develops the concepts introduced in Theme 1. Students will develop an understanding of:

• globalisation
• global markets and business expansion
• global marketing
• global industries and companies (multinational corporations)

Paper 1 will assess marketing, people and global businesses.

Questions will be drawn from Themes 1 and 4, and from local, national and global contexts.

Overview of assessment

• Written examination.
• The paper comprises two sections.
• Students answer all questions from both sections.
• Sections A and B each comprise one data response question broken down into
• A number of parts, including one extended open-response question.
• Duration: 2 hours. 35% of the A level

Paper 2 will assess business finance and operations, business decisions and strategy. Questions will be drawn from Themes 2 and 3, and from local, national and global contexts.

Overview of assessment

• Written examination.
• The paper comprises two sections.
• Students answer all questions from both sections.
• Sections A and B each comprise one data response question broken down into a number of parts, including one extended open-response question.
• Duration: 2 hours. 35% of the A level

Paper 3 will assess content across all four themes. Questions will be drawn from local, national and global contexts.

For Paper 3, there will be a pre-released context document issued on the website in November of the previous year. A new context will be given to centres each year and will relate to the examination series for the following summer. The context will focus on a broad context, such as an industry or market in which businesses operate.

The question paper will be in two sections. The first section will focus on the broad context provided. This will be outlined to centres through the pre-released document. Questions will focus on the broad context.

The second section will focus on at least one strand within the context provided, such as a particular business.

Each section will contain unseen stimulus materials comprising quantitative and qualitative evidence. Students are required to apply their knowledge and understanding from Themes 1, 2, 3 and 4 and their understanding of the broad context to this evidence. Students cannot take any of their research or investigation data carried out as part of the pre-release into the examination.

Overview of assessment

• Written examination.
• The paper comprises two sections.
• Students answer all questions from both sections.
• Sections A and B each comprise one data response question broken down into a number of parts, including one extended open-response question.
• Duration: 2 hours. 30% of the A level

What do Business graduates do?

Jobs directly related to a Business degree include:

Jobs where your degree would be useful include: