GCSE Business Studies Revision Workshops - Spring 2013
We were delighted with the response to our pilot GCSE Business Studies revision workshops which we held at the amazing Westfield Stratford City - right next door to the Olympic Park! So we’ve decided to roll out the GCSE Business format to a series of dates in the 2012/13 school year. We’re running three events before Easter and an overflow event after Easter. The dates and venues for our 2012/13 programme are summarised below:
Colleagues can make provisional bookings for these revision workshops using the following online form: https://tutor2u.wufoo.com/forms/gcse-business-revision-workshops-spring-2012/
read more...»GCSE Year 11 Business Studies Online Revision Clinic - 27 May 2012
We are holding an online revision clinic for students taking their final GCSE Business Studies exam (30 May). The clinic will run from 8pm at this blog address. We’ll have teacher panellists ready to answer questions for AQA (Unit 2) and Edexcel (Unit 3) as well as provide support for OCR and other GCSE boards as appropriate. Students who wish to participate in the session will need to login when the session is live using their FB, Twitter or OPEN ID details.
read more...»Making Finance Fun 2012 - CPD Course (London and Manchester)
This new CPD course from the tutor2u team looks at how we can make the teaching and learning of finance fun!, We’re running the course for the first time on 20 June 2012 in central London and the following day in Manchester…
read more...»Evaluation - Making a ‘judge’ment
Here is a little exercise I have done with my AS Business groups this week. When trying to help with the longer essay questions, split the class into groups and and have them practice how to make a judgement for each essay question. I am using this for the OCR F292 Case Study of TSL. You can have one person in each group as the prosecution stating why they have made one certain judgement and then have another person acting as the defence stating why they think it should be a different outcome. The teacher can role play as ‘The Judge’ for the first exercise show the class what is expected.
read more...»Developing Exam Skills: AQA GCSE Business: Kingfisher Caravan Parks Ltd
This is the first in a series of practice 9-mark questions for AQA GCSE Business Studies Unit 2. This one is on Kingfisher Caravan Parks Ltd.
read more...»Support for Teachers Delivering AQA GCSE Business Studies: The 9 Mark Question
One of the key themes that teachers mentioned at the recent AQA GCSE Revision Conference in Stratford last week was the 9 mark question(s) and how students really feared them.
read more...»Developing Exam Skills: AQA GCSE Business Studies: Definitions and Accessing the Higher Marks
I wrote a blog recently based on ways for students to tackle the 9 mark questions in the AQA GCSE Business Exam. My blog was based around information from the Unit 1 Examiners report.
read more...»Developing Exam Skills: AQA GCSE Business Studies: Application
One area that students struggle with time and time again is the key skill of application and this was highlighted in the examiners report from the last Unit 2 exam sat in June.
read more...»GCSE (AQA) Business Studies: Developing Exam Skills: The 9 mark question
Examiners reports…just full of exam gold. Nuggets of information to allow us to better prepare our students.
read more...»Spotting a Business Opportunity - Eastenders and Coronation Street
Whilst watching Eastenders last night, this belting activity just popped into my head. I think its perfect for the first unit of most GCSE courses but could also be used for BUSS1. A while away I know but I thought I would blog it before I forget.
read more...»Business Revision Workshops - Latest Availability
We are often asked how many places are left on our popular revisions workshops. So we’ve created a widget which shows you the latest seat availability! The details for the next series of revision workshops is shown below. It is updated each time our office processed a new or amended booking, so it provides an up-to-date overview of the remaining places.
read more...»tutor2u launches revision workshops for GCSE Business Studies
Following a large number of requests, we have decided to launch a programme of our popular cinema-based revision workshops for GCSE Business students. The initial programme takes us to two venues…
read more...»AQA & Edexcel GCSE Business Controlled Assessment 2012 - CPD Support Course
A date for your diaries in April 2012 if you teach AQA or Edexcel GCSE Business Studies. We are running CPD days in Manchester (19 April 2012) and London (20 April 2012) to support teachers preparing and supervising their GCSE Business students as they tackle the 2012 controlled assessment tasks. A separate course is being run for both the 2012 AQA and Edexcel controlled assessments. Each course will run from 10.30 a.m. until 2.30 p.m. including lunch.
Places on the courses will be limited, so please make a provisional booking as soon as possible. Places can be booked online here:
https://tutor2u.wufoo.com/forms/gcse-business-controlled-assessment-support-cpd/
GCSE Business Controlled Assessment - 2012 Survey
We are gathering the opinions of colleagues and departments who offer GCSE Business Studies about the Controlled Assessment. If you teach GCSE Business Studies, please take 5-10 minutes to provide us with your views using the following survey form:
https://tutor2u.wufoo.com/forms/gcse-business-controlled-assessment-survey-2012/
Revision Quiz - Market Research for a Business Startup
This new revision quiz looks at how a startup can undertake market research. There are over 20 questions in the quiz bank for this topic and each time you run the quiz 10 questions are selected at random.
Launch Revision Quiz - Market Research for a Business Startup
Problem for Pupil - PEST Solution
Entrepreneurs are risk takers, they spot gaps in a market where customers’ needs are left unfulfilled. They have to balance cash flow management against overstocking, anticipate the likely responses of intelligent rivals and the capricious behaviour of external regulators or governments.
read more...»Lesson Worksheet - Stakeholders in a Business
This lesson worksheet addresses the key topic of stakeholders in a business. Who are the internal and external stakeholders? What is the difference between shareholders and stakeholders? To what extent might stakeholders have different and conflicting objectives?
Download lesson worksheet on stakeholders
Revision games - Marketing Basics (True / False)
Try these true/false revision games which provide 20 questions on the basics of the marketing mix each time you play…
AQA GCSE Business - End of Topic Tests (People)
Many thanks to Allan Todd for providing these two superb End of Topic tests for the people management content in Units 1 and 2 for AQA GCSE Business Studies….
read more...»Insights from an Entrepreneur - Kirsty Henshaw (Worthenshaws)
This fantastic Smarta interview features Kirsty Henshaw, one of the entrepreneurial stars of 2010, who wowed the Dragons with her frozen desert Worthenshaws Freedom. Kirsty is joining us at the Business Teacher National Conference 2011 on Thursday 30 June and it will be lovely to hear how her business has developed since this interview. Kirsty’s story is perfect as a case study for all business spec units covering the essentials of enterprise and entrepreneurship.
read more...»Introducing the “austerity” entrepreneurs
It is often said that enterprise thrives in adversity. Many successful and exciting businesses are born in a downturn. This feature article in the Independent provides some terrific examples of how the entrepreneurial flame burns bright amongst people who have been let down by the traditional employment market,
The underlying theme of each of the entrepreneurial stories told in the article is that of grasping opportunities. That involves hard graft, persistence and an unwillingness to admit defeat. Students should read these stories and learn. Hopefully they will also be inspired!
Lesson activity - business organisation basics (matching)
This series of matching activities which can be used to consolidate knowledge of key terms relating to business organisation. The activities have different numbers of terms to match, ranging from 10 terms to 25. The worksheet with 10 terms is a little easier, as well as shorter, than the 25-term challenge…
read more...»Lesson activity - people basics (matching)
This series of matching activities uses a list of core people management terms. Select activities which range from just ten terms (quite easy) to 25 terms (more time required & a little harder!)
read more...»Lesson activity - operations basics (matching)
We’ve picked out 20 popular production & operations terms from the main GCSE exam specifications for these matching activities. The activities have different numbers of terms to match, ranging from 10 terms to 20. The worksheet with 10 terms is a little easier, as well as shorter, than the 20-term challenge…
read more...»Lesson activity - marketing basics (matching)
This series of matching activities which can be used to consolidate knowledge of core marketing terms. The activities have different numbers of terms to match, ranging from 10 terms to 25. The worksheet with 10 terms is a little easier, as well as shorter, than the 25-term challenge…
read more...»Lesson activity - basic finance (matching)
Here is a series of three matching activities which can be used to consolidate knowledge of key terms in business finance. The three activities have different numbers of terms to match, ranging from 10 terms to 25. The worksheet with 10 terms is a little easier, as well as shorter, than the 25-term challenge…
read more...»Can this start-up win with pay-as-you train gym membership?
At our recent AQA BUSS1 revision workshops we had a session looking at the viability of the business concept behind The Gym - a growing chain of low-cost, no frills fitness clubs. According to this article on BBC Scotland it looks like the health club market is set for further challenges from new entrants.
one of the new entrants to the market is payasUgym. The payasUgym programme is due to launch at the start of 2011 and will let customers visit a network of clubs without having to pay membership fees. Gym-goers will “load” cash onto an online account which can then be used at various fitness centres. The easyJet entrepreneur Sir Stelios Haji-Ioannou is also said to planning to launch a budget fitness club in 2011 with monthly-only contracts costing as little as £15-a-month.
The payasUgym concept is an interesting one in that it utilises the existing capacity of the UK health club sector. The business is avoiding the need to raise the significant capital required to build health clubs. It is simply acting as a marketing channel for existing clubs. How sustainable is that business model? if a customer finds and uses a local gym that he/she really likes, what is to stop that gym from trying to recruit the member away from the payasUgym organisation? Students ought to be be able to identify other potential upsides and issues with this business model. A good one to analyse!
New insights into the UK franchising sector in 2010
I last looked at the size and structure of the UK franchising sector back in 2008 when several exam boards added franchising to their new business specifications. In subsequent exam papers it is clear that the examiners like franchising too - not surprising given how relevant franchising is to key topics such as generating a business idea, financing a startup, choosing a growth strategy, branding etc.
I have revisited my sources this week and picked up the latest statistics on UK franchising which I have summarised below.
read more...»Video case study - enterprise at the sharp end
Market trading. You’ve seen it on various tasks on The Apprentice. And the value of sales at the UK’s 1,000+ outdoor markets is estimated at over £3.6bn. So perhaps it is not surprise that increasing numbers of people are looking to make their first step into enterprise by setting up a stall in a local market. The problem is that running a viable market stall is no easy task. The typical customer at a local market is feeling the pinch and you also need to develop some sharp entrepreneurial skills to make the stall a success.
This excellent three minute video from Jenny Hill of BBC Breakfast takes us behind the scenes at a market in the Midlands to meet some of the experienced traders. Can a new training scheme help budding entrepreneurs make their fledgling businesses a success?
Starter Activity - i-Teach
Research shows that we retain around 90% of what we actually teach. Indeed, Confucius said, “I hear and I forget. I see and I remember. I do and I understand.” Based on this concept is an extremely simple and engaging teaching strategy that works brilliantly as a lesson starter…
read more...»
