Economics

Mr Darren Holland, Head of Business Studies & Economics

Accreditations

Mr Holland is a very experienced teacher with over 30 years teaching experience.  He has been a writer of Economics examination papers for AQA, an Assistant Principal Examiner for Business AQA, a senior examiner for Economics Edexcel and an examiner for AQA, Edexcel and OCR for Business and Economics.  He has held many positions in schools including Assistant Head Teacher, Director of Post 16 Studies, Director of Business Specialism and Head of Faculty.  In his own time he enjoys travelling and is an ardent Wolverhampton Wanderers FC supporter.

Economics

Key Stage 4:

GCSE Business
Examination Board: Edexcel

Business GCSE examines how businesses start and grow. Now, pupils are consumers but one day they will work in a business. GCSE Business will provide helpful knowledge and understanding to make this transition.

Business is a subject that gives pupils the opportunity to develop a wide range of transferable skills.

The aims of this qualification are to enable students to develop:

  • Business will offer practical opportunities to use skills gained in maths as well writing persuasive arguments in favour of one course of action over another.
  • Business will help pupils to extract salient information, whether in text or tabular and graph format, and use this information in responses to questions.
  • Pupils will become skilled in making decisions, being creative, solving problems, understanding finance, analysing data and working as part of a team. Each pupil will not only gain business knowledge and understanding, but will gain the opportunity to put it into practise through a range of business activities and projects.
  • Business gives pupils the opportunity to understand the world that we live in and to become more aware of global issues and events.

Course Content

1. PAPER 1: Investigating small business (50%)
  • Enterprise and entrepreneurship
  • Spotting a business opportunity
  • Putting a business idea into practice
  • Making the business effective
  • Understanding external influences on business
2. PAPER 2: Building a business (50%)
  • Growing the business
  • Making marketing decisions
  • Making operational decisions
  • Making financial decisions
  • Making human resource decisions
Extra-curricular

Students will be able to set up and run a business with other members of the group. Visits to businesses will take place as and when appropriate.

A Level Economics
Examination Board: Edexcel A

Economics examines how scarce resources are allocated to meets the unlimited wants and needs of individuals, firms and governments in a global setting.

The aims of this qualification are to enable students to develop:

  • enquiring, critical, thoughtful and logical thinkers.
  • who understand the wider economic and social environment and apply concepts in a variety of different contexts.

Course Content

1.Paper 1: Markets and business behaviour (35%)
  • Nature of economics
  • How markets work
  • How markets failure
  • How businesses growth
  • Business objectives
  • Revenues, costs and profits
  • Market structures
  • Labour markets
  • Government Intervention in markets and market failure
2. Paper 2: The national and global economy (35%)
  • Measures of economic performance
  • Aggregate Demand and Aggregate Supply
  • National Income
  • Economic growth
  • Macroeconomic objectives and policies
  • International economics
  • Poverty and inequality
  • Emerging and developing economies
  • The financial Sector
  • Role of the state in the macroeconomy

 

3. Paper 3: Microeconomics and Macroeconomics (30%)
  • A case study synoptic paper testing the microeconomic and macroeconomic knowledge from the entire course
Extra-curricular

Students will have opportunities to attend Economics conferences and appropriate local businesses, when appropriate.

Open Events

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