Business, BTEC Level 2 Award

This course is suitable for students who don’t qualify for Level 3 (A Level equivalent) courses.

Its vocational emphasis gives students the opportunity to complete ‘real life’ assignments and activities based on realistic situations linked to working in a variety of businesses. The course is underpinned by external visits.

Business Studies goes well with the majority of subjects, particularly:

• Mathematics
• English
• Digital Design
• Travel & Tourism

The course could lead to further study on a BTEC Level 3 Course, or business related jobs.

The course is offered at Award Level and is equivalent to one GCSE.

Four units are included in the Award course – see below

Coursework in: 

• Enterprise in the Business World 
• Recruitment, Selection and Employment
• Introduction to Business/Retail

External assessment in:

• Finance for Business 

We believe that for learning to be successful, students will need to engage with real businesses. As part of their assessment, students will attend a trip to Thorpe Park to find out about a theme park as a business, alongside visits to other organisations linked to the course.

Course Specific Trips, Visits & Experiences

Students studying the BTEC Level 2 Award in Business have the opportunity to take part in a variety of course related experiences. In the last couple of years, these have included:

• A trip to Thorpe Park or similar, for course-related research
• Primary research in Reigate about local businesses to assist with creating their own start-up business

The intention is to also offer an enterprise day, run by an external organisation.

In addition to course specific experiences, students also have the opportunity to get involved in the College’s Activities Programme.

All students need to gain an experience of the work place during their time at College and for students studying vocational courses it should ideally be linked to one of their subject areas.

This course is assessed by a combination of coursework, projects, written and on-line external assessment. Students will complete four units over the course of the year. The emphasis of the programme is that students are assessed by engaging in practical projects (some similar to the projects undertaken on the BBC hit television shows The Apprentice and Dragons Den).

The assessments could include:

• Developing professional posters and leaflets
• Simulated role play interviews
• Report and memo writing
• Article writing, using Word
• Excel spreadsheets
• Delivering presentations using Powerpoint
• Applying for jobs, writing CVs and producing a career development plan

The exam board for this BTEC Level 2 Award is Pearson BTEC.

In order to study this course, students will need a minimum of four GCSEs or equivalent at Grade 3 or above and a satisfactory school report. Business Studies GCSE is not essential as the course is suitable for all. Students should be interested in Business and be willing to learn. They should enjoy and be good at oral communication and planning their own work. The abilities to problem-solve, work with numbers and produce accurate written work are also very important.