Business & Digital Learning

S1

Number of Periods Per Week: 1

Our S1 Broad General Education course offers our young people the chance to experience and develop enterprising skills. The course gives pupils the understanding of how businesses start and the attributes needed to make a business a success. They will learn how businesses set up and how they attract customers whilst exploring various digital technologies.

Pupils are assessed throughout the course based on work produced as well as mini assessments which will test their knowledge on the course.

Homework is issued in class by teachers throughout the course and this will complement what is happening in class activities.  

S2

Number of Periods Per Week: 2

Our S2 Broad General Education course builds on young people’s experience gained from S1. With the extra time, pupils can experience Senior Phase subjects within the faculty, allowing learners to get a flavour of what each course entails.  Topics that we cover include:

• Travel
• Accounts – Invoices & Wages
• Word Processing
• Web Design
• Spreadsheets
• Starting up a Business
• Databases

Pupils are assessed throughout the course based on work produced as well as mini assessments which will test their knowledge on the course. 

Homework is issued in class by teachers throughout the course and this will complement what is happening in class activities.  

S3

Number of Periods Per Week: 3

Our S3 Broad General Education course builds on young people’s experience gained from S2. Throughout this course the learners will further deepen their understanding of concepts taught. The topics will include:

• Admin & IT: Word Processing, Spreadsheets, Databases & Presentation software
• Business Management: Marketing, HR & Cash Budgets

In addition to this our young people have the opportunity to experience an Enterprise project in the form of Micro Tyco.  Young people are able to practice and learn fundamental business principles in a safe, 'micro' environment. Teams from schools across the United Kingdom have one month to turn £1 seed capital into as much money as possible. Micro-Tyco has the ability to unleash our young people’s latent talents, fostering essential entrepreneurial thinking, resourcefulness and team work. This project combines all skills taught throughout the broad general course in the form of a final project.

Pupils are assessed throughout the course based on work produced as well as mini assessments which will test their knowledge on the course.

Homework is issued in class by teachers throughout the course and this will complement what is happening in class activities.

The following documents may be helpful – The document(s) can be linked to page if you wish. 

https://www.npfs.org.uk

National 4/5 Business Management

National 4 Business

This course gives pupils an insight into how small businesses are set up and run.  The course will look at how they gain support & finance, how businesses have a huge impact on our economy as well as looking at how they meet customer needs.  

The course will be assessed through unit assessments which pupils will need to pass in order to gain this qualification.  There will also be an added value unit which will take the form of pupils researching into a business of their choice and creating a presentation/mini report.  There is no final exam for this course.

Pupils will develop many skills, including:

• Enterprising
• Team Working
• Communication
• Research
• And much more! 

More information on this course can be found here

National 5 Business Management

This course allows pupils to explore the different types of businesses and the sectors of economy & industry that they can operate in. They will develop their knowledge further by looking at key functional areas including:

• Finance – Looking at how they manage finance, learning key terms used and how they source finance.
• Operations – Looking at how businesses create their products, how they distribute and ensure the quality of products.
• Marketing – Looking at how businesses advertise and promote their goods.
• Human Resources – looking at how businesses recruit and select suitable candidates, how they train and motivate their employees.  

Pupils are assessed through a final exam (90 marks – 75% of overall grade) as well as a coursework assignment (30 marks – 25% of overall grade) 

Pupils will develop many skills, including:

• Enterprising
• Team Working
• Communication
• Research
• And much more!

More information on this course can be found here

National 4 Admin & IT & National 5 Admin & IT 

The Admin & IT course looks at developing key ICT skills using a variety of different software packages including:

• Word Processing (Microsoft Word)
• Spreadsheets (Microsoft Excel)
• Databases (Microsoft Access)
• Presentation (Microsoft Powerpoint)
• Desktop Publishing (Microsoft Publisher)
• Emails (Outlook 365) 

Pupils will also look at how businesses and offices function, the role of an Admin Assistant how they use their skills to plan and co-ordinate their workload.

Pupils at National 4 Level are assessed throughout the course in the form of unit assessments and an added value unit. Pupils will develop problem solving skills and be able to apply their skills to his added value unit. 

Pupils at National 5 level are assessed by an assignment (which lasts 3 hours and is worth 70 marks 58%) and a question paper part of the exam diet (this is worth 50 marks 42%)

For further information, the following link(s) should provide more detailed information:

https://www.npfs.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/nutshells_administrationIT_N4_E.pdf 

https://www.npfs.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/nutshells_administrationIT_N5_E.pdf 
 

Higher Business Management

This course looks at developing a more advanced knowledge of how businesses operate and function.  Pupils will explore and deepen their understanding of how businesses contribute to our economy. Pupils will look at how large multinational companies work and the changing external environment in which they operate in.    Pupils will look at the following areas:

• The role of business organisations, their external environment and their aims and objectives
• How businesses make decisions and how this impacts on interested stakeholders
• Management of people – how leaders manage their staff and empower them as well as laws and legislation governing the workplace.
• Management of marketing – looking at elements of the marketing mix, consumer behaviour and how businesses research information about customers. 
• Management of operations – how stock is managed, ethical and environmental issues to consider as well as methods of ensuring quality.  

This course builds on knowledge learnt in National 5 and knowledge of the National 5 course is assumed. For those pupils wishing to crash this Higher, it is advised that they will need to do some background work in order to keep up with advanced knowledge. 

The course is assessed through a final exam and a coursework assignment.  

More information on this course can be found here
 

Higher Admin & IT 

This course looks at developing and strengthening IT skills from the National 5 course.  The content of assessments/assignments gives a real life context to their skills, by carrying out complex admin tasks.  

The IT packages that pupils look at:

• Word Processing (Microsoft Word) – Creating multipage documents like Reports/newsletters, creating table of contents
• Spreadsheets (Microsoft Excel) – Looking at complex IF statements, V/HLookups, conditional formatting
• Databases (Microsoft Access) – Complex searches, creation of reports/forms, calculations in queries
• Presentation (Microsoft PowerPoint) – creating master slides, advanced animations
• Emails (Outlook 365) – sending urgent emails, organising calendar and events

As well as developing skills, pupils will also develop their knowledge of the workplace by learning about time and task management strategies, legislation that impacts the workplace and the impact of IT on working practices.  

Skills learnt at National 5 level are assumed.  If any pupil wishes to crash this higher, it is expected that they take time during study periods/study support to familiarise themselves with these skills. 

The course is assessed by a final assignment and a final written theory paper. 

More information on this course can be found here

Higher Accounting

The course consists of two areas of study:

Financial Accounting

Candidates develop their understanding of how to prepare routine and complex financial accounting information. They learn about current financial accounting regulations and apply them to a range of business structures. Stakeholders use this information to assess an organisation’s current financial position.

Management Accounting

Candidates develop their understanding of internal accounting procedures. They learn how to prepare information using a range of routine and complex accounting techniques. Management use this information when making decisions about the planning, control and future direction of an organisation.

The course aims to enable students to develop:

• accuracy in the preparation, presentation, interpretation and analysis of relatively complex accounting information and apply a systematic approach to solving financial problems
• knowledge to apply relatively complex accounting concepts and techniques in the preparation of financial information
• an understanding of a range of sources of finance available to organisations and of the circumstances in which these sources might be used
• knowledge of information technology in relatively complex accounting tasks

Pupils will sit a final SQA exam (worth 120 marks) and undertake an assignment (60 marks).

More information on this course can be found here