Business Studies

GCSE Business

Business prepares students for all aspects of working life. No matter what industry they will find themselves in after their learning journey here at St John Fisher Catholic High School, they will need to work successfully and understand the nature of working in an organisation with other people and clear objectives. People who are successful in business not only transform their own lives. They also transform the lives of others.  

Our Business curriculum is carefully sequenced so that students’ knowledge and skills are built up over time. The content delivered in Year 9 introduces students to business basics and the impact that business has on the real world. It familiarises students with the purpose of business and types of business ownership.  This lays the foundations for the topics that follow in Years 10 and 11 where they learn about the roles of different functional areas of business-operations, human resources, marketing and finance. This deepens their understanding of businesses as they learn about the roles of the different functional areas and how their performance is managed.

All students take part in the Tenner Challenge in Year 9 where they get the opportunity to plan and run an enterprise activity with funding and then they need to repay the money. This enables them to develop a range of skills including their entrepreneurial, numeracy and customer service skills and it improves their ability to work well as part of a team.

We have very high expectations of students. The curriculum focuses on developing resilient learners and independent thinkers who can provide solutions and advice for businesses based on information provided. As a Catholic school, we also put Christ at the centre and strive to create students who think ethically when studying business. We focus on teaching them how businesses should choose to do what is morally right.

GCSE Business Studies opens up many options for students at Sixth Form and then university, where there are many courses available including business management, marketing, accounting and personnel management. Business graduates typically progress to careers in areas such as marketing, finance, operations and human resource management or become successful entrepreneurs.