Business is an academic subject taught in some schools from GCSE level, but in most schools largely at A-Level. It is the study of skills relating to running a business; including finance, accountancy, management, business organisation, human resources, marketing and advertising.
Business is considered to be an accessible GCSE course, taken by students across the full range of abilities, and often those with a particular interest in Business, Economics and Accountancy. In recent years, Business has become an increasingly popular subject choice, but not many schools are able to include this within their already over-loaded GCSE curriculum, so most schools introduce Business at A level only. Exam Boards offering GCSE Business include AQA, Edexcel, OCR, WJEC (Eduqas) and CCEA. GCSE BTEC Business is also available, as a more vocational option, in a small number of schools and colleges. Generally GCSE Business is assessed with two exam papers, each of 1 hour 45 minutes; typically paper 1 focusing on the themes of "Starting a Business" and paper 2 on "Growing a Business".
A-Level Business is an inter-discplinary subject stretching across the disciplines of Accountancy, Economics, Management Science, Law and Social Psychology. Most students choosing an A-Level Business Course will do so without having done GCSE Business. A number of students may consider choosing Economics and/or Business at A-Level. Economics focuses much more on the global picture of world finances and economic processes, whereas Business keeps the specific focus on developing skills to manage a specific organisation or company. Generally, schools advise that students pick one of either Business or Economics, not both, and that the more academically-inclined students should opt for the more rigorous Economics Course. Business requires less understanding than Economics but involves more learning of content and so there is arguably more work to cover.
