The Business Studies Department offers three courses in S3/S4, at Intermediate 2 (or Intermediate 1) Level:

Business Management
Accounting 
Administration

From Session 2008-09 onwards S Grade subjects were replaced with Intermediate level qualifications. This change took place in order to provide a more relevant challenging course to students of all abilities. This course also allows for better preparation for the study of Business subjects in S5/6.

The details of each course are given below:

INTERMEDIATE ACCOUNTING 

Summary of Course Content
The Intermediate course is made up of two Units:

Financial Accounting
Management Accounting

The Financial Unit involves the recording financial transactions, the preparation of the final accounts of sole traders, partnerships, limited liability companies, and non-profit making organisations. The Unit looks at business in both the retailing and manufacturing sectors. It also covers analysis of accounting information through ratio analysis.

The Management Unit deals with the classification of costs and costing systems, the preparation of cost statements, budgeting, break-even analysis and profit maximisation statements all of which aid decision making within an organisation. Throughout the Management Unit the pupils will be shown how IT can impact on the work of the management accountant.

Assessment and Examinations
Each Unit will be internally assessed during the course. Both Unit tests must be passed to gain an award in the subject.  The external examination will be a written paper of 2 hours. Pupils will be expected to give answers to at least 4 questions which will be either computational or theoretical in nature.

Folio/Project Work:  None required

INTERMEDIATE ADMINISTRATION 

Summary of Course Content
The course is made up of three Units:

Administrative Services 
Information Technology for Administrators
Presenting and Communicating Information

Administrative Services contains the knowledge and understanding which underpins the administrative function at this level and covers the following topics:

factors contributing to the effectiveness of an organisation
factors affecting the administration assistant in the work environment
the role of functional departments and the activities carried out within these departments · uses of the internet and office technologies
procedures for arranging and paying for business travel/accommodation

IT for Administrators concentrates on the use of information technology to solve business problems. Pupils are required to makes use of spreadsheet, database and word processing software to do this.

Presenting and Communicating Information gives the pupil an opportunity to develop the skills necessary to use the internet to search and extract information. Pupils will also learn how to use e-mail/e-diaries and presentation software such as PowerPoint to present and communicate information.

Assessment and Examinations
Each Unit will be assessed internally during the year. All Units must be passed to gain an award in the subject.

The external examination consists of 2 papers. Paper 1, which is 1 hour long, assesses Knowledge and Understanding. Paper 2 is a practical paper assessing ICT competences and lasts for 1hour 20 minutes.

Folio/Project Work:  None required

INTERMEDIATE BUSINESS MANAGEMENT
 
Summary of Course Content
This Course is made up of three Units:

Business Enterprise
Business Decision Areas: Marketing and Operations
Business Decision Areas: Finance and Human Resource Management

The Business Enterprise Unit considers how businesses operate in the economy with reference to all types of organisations, in both the private and public sector. It considers the objectives of organisations and the factors which affect their operation. The role of IT in business is also studied in this Unit.

Marketing and Operations. The Unit explores key issues surrounding these topics such as the role of Marketing within business, the marketing mix, market research methods, materials management, methods of production and quality issues.

The final Unit follows a similar pattern to the second, although this time the focus falls on Finance and Human Resources. Issues addressed in this Unit include the role of finance within a business, the uses of financial data and the users of that data. HRM looks at recruitment and selection, staff welfare issues, employment law, health and safety.

Assessment & Examinations
Internal assessment will be carried out in the form of 3 end of Unit assessments. These must be passed in order to gain the full course award.

The external examination will be a written paper of 1 hour 45 minutes duration, worth 75 marks. The paper is split into 2 sections - the first is a case study based series of compulsory questions, the second has 5 essay style questions of which 2 must be attempted.

Folio/Project Work:  None required