Applied Business

Applied Business

What is Applied Business?
Applied Business is designed to offer students an alternative to A-levels.

The Applied Business course enables you to:

• Investigate the activities of different business organisations and how they operate in the real world through project and portfolio work.
  e.g. develop a strategy to identify how a business meets the needs of its customers.
• Acquire knowledge and understanding of various business themes and topics.
  e.g. marketing, finance, people in business
• Develop creative and analytical thinking through your research investigations.

You will be able to choose either the Six-unit (Single) award or the AS Award.

Course outline
In the Applied Business course you can choose from two awards:
Award Length of course/teaching Explanation

Six unit (Single) Award

• 2 years
• Taught by one teacher in one option block

• Equivalent in length and standard to one A-level
• Course content includes marketing, people, finance
• 4 portfolio (project) units and 2 examined units
• One grade awarded - A, B, C, D, E, U

Three unit (AS) Award

• 1 year
• Taught by one teacher in one option block

• Equivalent in length and standard to one AS-level
• Course content includes marketing, people, finance (AS standard)
• 2 portfolio (project) units and 1 examined unit
• One grade awarded - A, B, C, D, E, U

What type of work will be involved?
The following list gives some examples of the different types of projects you will do whilst studying your Applied Business Course:

Investigating business
You will investigate the activities of a business by researching its:

• Objectives
• External factors
• Marketing activities
• Teamwork and enterprise

People in business
You will produce a portfolio of work investigating a local business and complete a practical recruitment exercise. You will describe the job roles and responsibilities of a manager, a supervisor and an employee. You will also plan and take part in a recruitment and selection process (which involves interviewing and analysing the effectiveness of recruitment documentation).

Business Planning
You will produce a business plan for a business proposal which explains the activities of the business - aims and objectives, type of ownership and key personnel. In the business plan you will include information on your marketing, operations and financial plan. You will also be expected to assess the viability of your business proposal.

Promotional Activities
You will produce a promotional campaign, that includes the following:

• Main objectives of the campaign
• Range of promotional activities
• Characteristics of target audience
• Timings and cost data
• Analyses of customer attitudes, the AIDA model and other business resources

How will I be assessed?
In two-thirds of the units, your teachers through project work will assess your work internally.
In the remaining units, you will take some form of external assessment, which can be an examination or extended writing based on a case study produced and assessed by the awarding body.

Teaching and learning
Students taking Applied Business learn to take responsibility and with the support of their teachers are expected to take control of their own learning. Examples of some of the activities you will be involved in include:

• Individual work and working as part of a team
• Project and assignment based work
• Case study and data response questions
• Presentations
• Examination questions and papers