Business Enterprise (Level 2 BTEC)
Contact: Mr. Birch, Faculty Leader for Business & Computing
Why study Enterprise & Marketing?
Enterprise and Marketing encourages you to develop the skills and applied knowledge you’ll need in the business and enterprise sector. It’s a vocational qualification, equivalent in value as a GCSE and contains both practical and theoretical elements. It is suited to students who may have an interest in entrepreneurship or ambitions of one day working for themselves. They will be interested in the world around them and curious about how businesses operate.
Being a vocational course means the majority of the assessment is through NEA although there is an examined unit at the end of Year 11. It will suit students who prefer coursework assessment or wish to reduce the volume of exams they sit at the end of their GCSE’s. Students undertaking Enterprise and Marketing will enjoy the challenges of creativity and problem solving and be confident in both analysing and questioning information they have available.
What content is studied?
We study the OCR Cambridge National in Enterprise and Marketing syllabus which will provide opportunities for learners to develop a range of skills and techniques, personal qualities and attitudes essential for successful performance in working life. This vocational course is an opportunity to take a subject where the assessment is mainly coursework based. All students will study 3 units.
1. Enterprise and Marketing concepts (exam)
Students will learn how market research gives the entrepreneur an insight into the wants and needs of its customers so that goods and services can be developed. They will also study how to judge the financial viability of a business proposition. Students then learn how the marketing mix elements blend to help business performance, exploring a range of decisions businesses have to make. The key topic areas covered are:
- Characteristics, risk and reward for enterprise
- Market research to target customers
- Financial viability
- Enterprise and marketing concepts
- Marketing mix
- Considerations when starting and running an enterprise.
2. Design a business proposal (NEA)
In this unit students learn how to develop market research tools and use these tools to complete market research on the design of a new product being brought to market. They will identify customer needs and assess market viability using financial calculations and make judgements on whether their product design could be successful. On completion of the unit students will have a greater understanding of what it means to develop a product and successfully be able to bring it to market.
Students will learn about:
- Market research
- Customer profiling
- Design mix
- Break-even
- Pricing strategies
- External influences
3. Market and pitch a business proposal (NEA)
Following on from designing a product proposal students will learn how to create a brand identity and promotion plan. They will study how to make a product stand out in the market and then create a promotional campaign to get noticed by potential customers. These ideas will then be presented in a pitch to an audience where feedback will be given and students have the opportunity to reflect.
Specific content covered is:
- Brand identity and methods
- External influences on a business
- Promotional campaigns
- Planning a professional pitch
How are the students assessed?
- Design a business proposal (NEA in Year 10) – 30%
- Market and pitch a business proposal (NEA in Year 11) – 30%
- Enterprise and Marketing concepts (exam in Year 11) – 40%
This course cannot be taken with Business (GCSE)
