Business Studies

At UniHawk, our instructors will provide you with a wide array of resources alongside continual guidance. Here’s a sneak peak for you:

• Comprehensive Study Material: Our focus is ensuring mastery of concepts and not memorization. Our study materials bundle is simple to go over after class, yet concomitantly entails all essential knowledge needed for the subject.
• Organised Study Schedule: Students require individualised guidance, with constant motivation, clear expectations and deadlines to reach their maximum potential in a subject. Our instructors do so by directing them through personalised study roadmaps, and by fostering accountability and discipline in students through regular engagement and practice.
• Practice with past papers and mock exams: While students do fall behind in their grade due to gaps in knowledge of concepts, very commonly it’s also due to negligence of the following:
  • Problem-solving skills
  • Analytical skills
  • Time management skills
  • Anxiety management

To develop these skills, students require guided practice. Here, a common way is working with past papers. It benefits them immensely when they receive expert insight and strategies while doing past papers.

• Regular review and student evaluation: Helps make students ready for the Exam day. Regular review and evaluation reduces overall stress and boosts confidence. Students thus feel ready than ever to tackle the exam!

On our website, you can find information about three prominent exam boards offering Business Studies qualifications. These boards are Edexcel, CIE, and AQA. Here’s a summary of what each exam board offers:

Edexcel

• Content: Edexcel covers various aspects of business, including business activity, influences on business, people in business, business finance, marketing, and business operations.
• Papers: They offer two papers, Paper 1 (Investigating small businesses) and Paper 2 (Investigating large businesses).
• Paper Code: Paper 1 is coded as 4BS1/01, and Paper 2 as 4BS1/02.
• Exam Cycle: Exams are available in June and November.
• Topics in Exam: Both papers cover a wide range of topics.
• Time: Each paper is a 1-hour 30-minute examination.
• Exam Format: Paper 1 focuses on small businesses, while Paper 2 focuses on large businesses. Both papers consist of four compulsory questions, each worth 20 marks. The questions include multiple-choice, short-answer, data-response, and open-ended questions, and calculators are allowed.
• Marks: Both papers are worth 80 marks each.
• Weightage: Each paper contributes 50% towards the IGCSE qualification.
• Discussion of Board: Notable points about Edexcel include that they are transitioning from January exams to November exams starting in 2023, and they offer a clear and straightforward curriculum. They also use the 9–1 grading scale and provide pathways for students to progress to International AS and A Levels and vocational qualifications.

CIE (Cambridge International Examinations)

• Content: CIE covers a comprehensive range of topics, including understanding business activity, people in business, marketing, operations management, financial information and decisions, and external influences on business activity.
• Papers: They offer Paper 1 (Short Answer & Data Response) and Paper 2 (Case Study).
• Paper Code: Paper 1 is coded as 0450, and Paper 2 as 0450.
• Exam Cycle: Exams are available in June and November, with an additional March option for India.
• Topics in Exam: Both papers encompass all the topics.
• Time: Each paper has a duration of 1 hour 30 minutes.
• Exam Format: Paper 1 consists of four questions that require a mix of short answers and structured data responses. Candidates answer all questions. Paper 2 is case-study-based, featuring questions with appendices and stimulus material, including tables, graphs, newspaper extracts, and advertisements.
• Marks: Both papers are worth 80 marks each.
• Weightage: Each paper contributes 50% towards the qualification.
• Discussion of Board: CIE’s curriculum is comparable to GCSE and offers both A* to G and 9-1 grading scales. They provide opportunities for students to advance to International AS and A Levels. CIE also offers the choice of the 9–1 grading scale for Cambridge IGCSE Business Studies (0986) and provides other business studies qualifications, including Cambridge O Level Business Studies (7115).

AQA

• Content: AQA’s curriculum covers a range of business-related topics, including business in the real world, influences on business, business operations, human resources, marketing, and finance.
• Papers: They offer Paper 1 (Influences of operations and human resources on business activity) and Paper 2 (Influences of marketing and finance on business activity).
• Paper Code: Paper 1 is coded as 9225, and Paper 2 as 9225.
• Exam Cycle: Exams are available in May/June and November.
• Topics in Exam: Papers are aligned with the specified content.
• Time: Each paper has a duration of 2 hours.
• Exam Format: Both papers include three sections, with Section A having multiple-choice and short answer questions, Section B featuring a case study/data response stimuli, and Section C containing a mixture of compulsory short answer and extended response questions.
• Marks: Each paper is worth 90 marks.
• Weightage: Each paper contributes 50% towards the qualification.
• Discussion of Board: AQA’s curriculum is comparable to GCSE and employs the 9-1 grading scale. Students completing AQA’s Business Studies qualification can progress to International AS and A Levels.

These exam boards provide students with diverse options for Business Studies qualifications, and the choice of which to pursue depends on individual preferences and educational goals.