Taught by:
Mr. S. Yousaf, BSc Business IT (Hons), Westminster, London; PGCE ICT, Kings College, London; CELTA, London

Business Studies is often the most popular of optional GCSE choices for students here at Brondesbury College. The department is very well grounded and achieves excellent results year on year. Business Studies is the study of how businesses are set up, financed, organised and controlled, how people are employed, managed and paid, how goods are developed, produced and sold, how goods and services are priced, and how local, national and international governments and organisations help or hinder business.

Aims and objectives:
Every time you buy a bar of chocolate, take a bus ride home or work a shift at your local supermarket, you are playing an important part in the workings of the business world.  Studying Business Studies will give you an appreciation and understanding of the business world and will also help you get the most out of your roles of customer, employee and maybe later on, employer.

Opting for Business Studies will give you the opportunity to find answers to the following types of question:

• How are marketing campaigns put together?
• How do businesses design new products?
• How do businesses make sure that they recruit the right new staff?
• How can businesses motivate their employees?
• How and why are the types of jobs available in our economy changing?
• How do businesses work out how well they have been performing?
• How do businesses raise finance?
• How are company accounts put together? 

Students take part in the 'ifs student investor comptetition' which is a national competition run by Bloomberg, where students have an opportunity to invest a virtual £100,000 on the live stock exchange. Regular trips to build upon knowledge include Cadbury’s World, Coca Cola as well as the Bank of England.

Course structure:
We offer Business Studies during student KS4 studies at iGCSE level and it aims to provide the basic knowledge, skills and understanding that you will be able to use in a business. The content of the course and the work you do will all be related to the world of business in some way. For example, you'll look at the types of businesses that exist in the UK, the range of job roles that exist in them and discover the different skills and knowledge needed to run even the smallest business successfully.

Students sit a single exam paper which is externally assessed at the end of the course, during the summer term.

Exam board:
Edexcel