Pupils can study Business Management at National 5 and Higher level. The Business Management Course involves:
Understanding Business
Pupils will develop relevant skills, knowledge and understanding by carrying out learning activities relating to the role of business organisations and entrepreneurship in society, using real-life contexts. It introduces pupils to the main activities associated with businesses such as Sectors of Economy, Sectors of Industry, Business Types and Sources of Finance.
Management of People and Finance
Pupils will develop skills, knowledge and understanding relating to the internal financial issues of a business. Pupils will carry out activities that will enable them to grasp theories, concepts and processes relating to human resource management such as recruitment, training, motivation and legislations.
Pupils will also follow basic theories, concepts and processes relating to financial aspects of business in preparing and interpreting financial information such as accounts and accounting ratios in order to solve financial problems facing businesses.
Management of Marketing and Operations
Pupils will gain knowledge and develop their understanding of how marketing, advertising and branding techniques can be used to communicate effectively with consumers, maximise customer satisfaction, and enhance competitiveness.
Pupils will also explore and develop skills, knowledge and understanding relating to the importance of having efficient and effective operations systems. Pupils will learn about the processes and procedures required to produce goods or services to an appropriate standard of quality, investigate stock control procedures in order to expand and improve company reputation.
How will I be assessed?
At National 5 level, pupils will carry out an assignment within class time that is worth 25% of the overall grade. Pupils choose an organisation of their choice to research and deliver recommendations to a problem the company are facing. National 5 pupils also have to sit an external examination worth 75% of the overall grade. This written examination lasts 2 hours.
At Higher level, pupils will research an organisation of their own choice and complete an external assignment (25% of final grade) during class time and an external examination (75% of final grade). The external assessment will consist of a written examination which lasts 2 hours 15 minutes.
What homework will I be expected to do?
Homework will be given regularly throughout the course, usually on a weekly basis. Homework will be issued through ShowMyHomework.
Possible careers after studying Business Management include:
Marketing
Buying
Insurance
Accounting
Manufacturing
Importing/Exporting
Local Government
Procurement
Advertising
Economics
Banking
Entrepreneurship – self-employment
Public Relations
Human Resources
Finance
Credit Control
Administration
Transport and Logistics
Management
Hospitality
Call Centre Work
Retail and Sales
Industrial Relations
Bookkeeping
The links below provide information from the SQA on Business Management including past papers and marking solutions.
SQA Subject Page for National 5 Business Management
SQA Subject Page for Higher Business Management
Pupil Information about studying Business Management
I chose Business Management in S5 as a crash higher as I knew it would help me in my career later in life. I was always told it would be a valuable subject to take if I wanted to go into my family business. To take the subject I needed to show I had good literacy skills, which was shown by my Nat5 English result. There are three main topics in Understanding Business, Management of People and Finance and Management of Marketing and Operations. My favourite of all was definitely management of finance, with the sub unit of employment legislation being a close second. After each of the three topics, there was an assessment which was in majority open book. This subject definitely set my mind on studying accountancy at University. Although the homework can be a heavy workload, the information you learn in class covers it, I found it an enjoyable subject to learn and didn’t find studying a task as it was all relevant and you can add familiar examples to make things easier. There is an assignment which is worth 30% of your final grade, we spent a lot of time and had to put a lot of effort into this during and out of class time, and this was probably the hardest part of the course for me. If you are considering taking Business Management next year make sure you’re ready to put the work in, if you do it will be really enjoyable and beneficial in any career path.
