BTEC National Diploma Business

BTEC National Diploma Business

What is the National Diploma in Business?
You will study 18 units over two years - including Exploring Business Activity, Introduction to Marketing, Introduction to Accounting, Investigating Recruitment and Selection, Introduction to e-Business and Starting a Small Business. Each unit is assessed by means of a vocational assignment.

As the National Diploma in Business is equivalent to three A levels you must be very interested in current affairs and the business world. You will be studying decision making within a wide range of organisations against a background of changing environments. Much of your work will be set in the context of real businesses.

Is the National Diploma in Business suitable for me?
Current students have enjoyed Marketing topics as they provide a chance to find out from real experience about a variety of organisations. Students like the fact that their coursework assignments count towards their final grade and that there are no exams. You will be required to use real businesses for your coursework in order to give you real world examples on which to base your assignments.

It is, however, a demanding course and students need to work consistently hard throughout the two years, often on more than one piece of coursework at a time, to achieve a good grade. There are however opportunities to improve grades on coursework.

Your skills in time management will improve over the two years and this will be vital for gaining good grades.

You will often work in small groups and you may well be required to present your findings to a particular task to the rest of the group.

The range of Units you study is very wide, including the Core units and those designed to facilitate more specialist study. The specialist units cover a wide range of business topics, including those concerned with business finances, managing human resources, marketing and enterprise studies.

It is possible for students to study an AS Level alongside their National course, although this is likely to be a challenging programme of study. An opportunity for work experience is included in the course at the end of the first year.

How will I learn?
You will have a mixture of classroom based lessons, workshops and the chance for independent study. In a typical lesson you will be taught relevant business theory, which you will then apply to the real organisation you are researching.

Homework will be a mixture of case study questions and work on individual assignments and is likely to vary from four to five hours per week or more when assignments are due. Learning whilst working or visiting businesses is also essential to success on this course.

How will I be assessed?
Coursework: Year 1: 10 units 100%

Year 2: 8 units 100%

All of your coursework assignments are marked internally by your teachers. All units are assessed at pass, merit or distinction standard. At the end of the course these grades combine together to generate three overall grades, which carry UCAS points in line with those of 'A' level grades.

Progression
By studying the National Diploma in Business you will develop skills in oral and written communication, numeracy and information technology. You will be able to research effectively and present information to others in a business context. All these skills will be valuable in employment and higher education. Most students go onto Higher Education to study business or a related subject at degree level. Others have found employment in areas such as retailing, management, accountancy, selling, office administration and leisure management.

Course costs
All students will be expected to provide their own textbooks, stationery, computer disks and calculators (where applicable). Costs are outlined below:

Essential: £20.00 for 1 textbook

Optional: You may wish to take part in field trips or visits for which a charge will be made.

If the cost of equipment, materials and trips may cause you financial hardship, there is the opportunity to apply for help from the College Access Fund.

Course: EDEXCEL

Entry Requirements You should have at least five C grades or above at GCSE to do a BTEC National Diploma in Business although consideration will be given to those with four C grades. You will need a C grade in English or Maths.