An independent day and boarding school for girls, 3-18, Nr Guildford and Godalming
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Business
Have you ever wondered how Urban Outfitters has managed to increase prices whilst maintaining busy shops and cash tills? Or what has driven Apple’s phenomenal growth and brand loyalty? Or why Elon Musk is one of the richest people in the world? From here, how will the current economic and political environment shape business strategy, plans and finance?
Why study Business?
A Level Business is a useful and pragmatic subject that gives a thorough understanding of the way in which businesses in the world today are run. You will gain an understanding of business in a range of contexts and will develop a critical understanding of organisations and their ability to meet society’s needs and wants. You will build a range of future ready skills including decision-making, problem-solving, innovation & creativity, flexibility and critical thinking through how the course is taught and structured. Alongside our St Catherine’s Enterprise programme, our students can study and implement learning in real-life situations co-currently.
In February 2025 Business students visited a local clothes boutques to learn more about all things business.
Mrs Cathy Williams - Head of Department
email: cathy.williams@stcatherines.info
As a Cambridge Economics graduate, Cathy spent the first decade of her career working in HM Treasury, offering her a fascinating insight into the working of government and decision making. Since then Cathy has worked in a number of fields and has taught economics for well over a decade. Prior to joining St Catherine’s in 2022, Cathy was Head of Economics, Head of Careers and Assistant Head (Compliance) at Tormead School in Guildford. Cathy also enjoys writing academic articles about Economics and producing a wide range of lively and engaging academic resources. Along with teachers from other leading schools, Cathy presents live online subject and revision sessions for students all around the country and beyond. In her spare time (of which there is very little) you will find Cathy with her beloved dogs, still trying to educate them in the finer points of Economics!
Mrs Sophie Bowers - Business Teacher
email: sophie.bowers@stcatherines.info
Holding a First Class BSc degree in Management Sciences from the University of Warwick, Sophie has worked in large-, mid- and small-cap public and privately owned multi-national businesses for 15 years, culminating at global Brand Executive level. Sophie combines this high-level industry experience and strong academic ability in the classroom to deliver innovation and engagement. She enjoys yoga and skiing in her spare time, having represented England and Team GB at alpine skiing between 1988-1995, and coached at this level from 1995-1998. Sophie’s key interest is Future Ready teaching: delivering the course content in a manner which both ensures top A-level results outcomes and develops the skills required by Industry.
It can be very tricky to understand a new subject. Use this link to gain a better understanding of the subject and how the Edexcel specification (which we follow at St Cat's) is organised.
A very common question is how Business is different to Economics. One of the best explanations we have seen is given by the first part of the video below - just watch up to 4 minutes 30 seconds. This video is from 2015 but it is still great in terms of this part of the explanation. In essence, as the name suggests, the focus of Business is much more around business organisations and their behaviour. Economics does this too but uses models in its analysis much more and generally has a wider focus.
Initial books to spark an interest in Business:
There are lots of insightful TV programmes. We recommend:
BBC Dragon’s Den: Programme about entrepreneurs presenting their business ideas to gain funding from the Dragons (Venture Capitalists)
BBC Inside the Factory: A fun insight into the foods we eat and how they are made. An opportunity to learn the different production methods used.
We recommend the following films:
Up in the Air with George Clooney (2010). A story centred on corporate “downsizer” Ryan Bingham and his travels. Business Reference: Human Resources & Retrenchment.
Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room (2005). Examines the collapse of the Enron Corporation which resulted in criminal trials for several of the company’s top execs. It shows the involvement of the Enron traders in the California electricity crisis. Business Reference: Profit, Public Limited Companies, Stock market, insider trading.
Recommended websites:
Tutor2U: Excellent business website with everything you need to learn for Business A-level.
Taking the Biz on youtube: Excellent business website with everything you need to learn for Business A-level.
London Stock Exchange: Excellent website with everything you need to learn about share prices and market capitalisation.
Financial Times: Excellent website for researching the UK economy at a glance. You can access free - speak to the librarian.
