AQA BUSINESS SUBJECTS AND ECONOMICS - AN INNOVATIVE SUITE OF MODULAR SUBJECTS

Teaching Business & Economics, Summer 2009 by Sumner, Carol

Throughout the development phase of the new specifications at AQA, we have actively taken on board teachers' comments to provide continuity with our existing, popular specifications but also to update the subject content. This is to ensure that they reflect current business practice and are relevant to the needs and experience of students in the 14-16 age group. The resulting specification. Business Subjects and Economics, is an exciting modular suite of subjects, which we hope will engage students by equipping them with the tools and concepts to make sense of the dynamic world of business and economics in which they live.

Teachers might be concerned that these revisions will require a radical change to their teaching methods and resources, and ultimately more work. We can assure you that the majority of changes to the subject content are comparatively small. The main change is the introduction of controlled assessment.

Controlled assessment

One of the changes affecting all GCSE business specifications (with the exception of economics) is the introduction of controlled assessment. AQ As approach is to provide a focused task for students to investigate, with a degree of choice. The task will change each year and guidance material will be provided. For example, in the Business Studies specimen assessment, students need to choose a business start-up to provide a service for a local need. The guidance materials advises on what research is required and what students should include in their final presentation. This last activity should be done under teacher supervision within a time limit of up to three hours, which can be spread over several lessons. Giving structure and guidance should help students to produce work which is more concise and focused. Controlled assessment will be internally assessed and AQA will provide teachers with the necessary training to mark students' work.

Business Studies/Applied Business greater flexibility and choice

All students studying GCSE Business Studies (short and full course) or GCSE Applied Business start with a common unit: Setting up a Business. This introduces students to the issues concerning the start-up and operation of a small business.

Having completed this core unit, students have a number of pathways they can choose.

* To achieve the GCSE Business Studies (Short Course), students simply need to take a controlled assessment.

* To achieve a full GCSE in Business Studies, students need to Unit 2, Growing as a Business, and a controlled assessment.

* To achieve a Double Award in GCSE Applied Business, students need to take Unit 7, Business Finance, and two additional units chosen from:

Unit 4: People in Business

Unit 5: Marketing and Consumer Needs

Unit 6: Enterprise.

Unit 6, Enterprise, has been specially developed to build on enterprise activities currently taking place in centres. These can now be used towards achieving a formal qualification. In this unit, students explore the attributes associated with enterprise and entrepreneurship. After planning and carrying out an enterprise activity they then evaluate the lessons learnt.

Economics - a new direction

Over the years, the numbers taking GCSE Economics has declined considerably in schools. This decline has continued in spite of increasing demands for young people to be financially capable, an aspiration clearly spelt out in the government's Every Child Matters agenda. At AQA, we have seen this as an ideal opportunity to review the current content of our GCSE specification to meet this objective and a real chance to revitalise the subject at key stage 3. The result has been the production of a unit entitled Personal Economics (Unit 11) which contains a strong emphasis on personal finance and money management.

The unit equips students with the basic tools of the economist to help them understand their place in, and contribution to, the local, national and global economy as consumers, workers and citizens. We believe this unit will be a very effective instrument to deliver financial capability as part of a PSHE programme, with the added bonus that it is an accredited qualification. The unit can be taken as a standalone qualification and is certificated as a GCSE Short Course in Economics. It is worth half a GCSE.

Students wanting to take the full GCSE in Economics take an additional unit. Investigating Economic Issues (Unit 12). This builds on the content of Unit 11 and encourages students to think more widely by using economic tools and concepts to investigate real national and global economic problems and issues, such as poverty, development and the environment. The GCSE provides a solid foundation for further study without burdening students with concepts they will cover at AS.

Economics and Business Studies

Students can study economics and business studies together either as two separate full course GCSEs or by taking the two short courses.

Business and Communication Systems

Business and Communication Systems comprises three units:

* Unit 8: ICT Systems in Business