Business & Enterprise

As a department we endorse the school’s culture of learning through drive, ambition, academic rigour and breadth of academic experience.

The Business Studies courses look to equip HAB girls with a thorough theoretical understanding and knowledge of the world of business with close reference to the related academic fields of economics and finance where appropriate.

Students who pursue Business Studies at HAB will increasingly be able to apply their knowledge of these fields. They will meaningfully engage with business news and updates by reading business and finance-related articles from reputable newspapers and journals, as well as understanding the news stories covered by other media outlets.

Our NCFE Level 2 Certificate in Business and Enterprise is a technical alternative to GCSEs with equivalent levels of academic rigour and challenge. Students who study this course become strong candidates for our Level 3 course through a curriculum that provides a sound basis of understanding of the substantive knowledge and key concepts within the field.

Our curriculum contextualises the theoretical understanding of the world of business by looking in depth at finance, marketing, human resource management and e-business. Examples of this thorough grounding include the study of start-up projects; how to identify risks and rewards, market research, business finance, different marketing opportunities and techniques, developing project plans and implementing projects and evaluating success.

Students who acquire this knowledge will also gain disciplinary knowledge and develop practical and technical skills to help them devise their own business plans, organise charitable business activities and events.

The course is structured in a vertical fashion. Units are taught discretely and ensure thorough understanding of each key concept prior to work being submitted. This approach benefits students as they can then, where appropriate, consider each subsequent piece of learning with a sound grounding in concepts that have gone before, so working in a cumulative fashion with students gradually and methodically building up a working knowledge of the core concepts relevant to their learning.

Over time, we segment the curriculum as and when is pertinent to make sure students’ theoretical knowledge is closely applied to the most up-to-date case studies of the day.

The curriculum plan for all years can be downloaded below.