Welcome to the Department
Welcome to the Department. It may be a small Department but it has a major input into the curriculum for years 10, 11, 12 and 13.

To the years 12 and 13 the Department offers AS and A2 Economics whilst to year 10 and 11 students can opt for GCSE Business and Communication Systems.
OCR AS/A2 ECONOMICS
Economics makes you THINK about what is happening in the UK economy and how it is affecting US.

You will find out about:
• Why is the Government thinking of raising road tax on 4-wheel drives?
• Why do we pay income tax?
• Why do people in some European countries pay less tax on their earnings than we do in the UK?
• Why do I have to pay tuition fees to go to University?
• Why are there NHS waiting lists?
Economics is about finding answers to the fundamental problems that face all societies:
• WHAT goods and services should we produce given our resources of workers, raw materials and capital equipment
• HOW are we going to produce goods and service? Do we use a labour intensive method of production? Remember, workers are expensive in the UK
• WHO are we producing goods and services for? Is it for children, the retired or students?
AS/A2 seeks to find the solutions to the problems that all economies face.
The AS course consists of 3 modules:
• The Market System
• Market Failure
• The National and International Economy
Each of which have a one-hour examination during year 1.

For A2 Economics, you will undertake 3 further modules:
• Transport Economics
• The UK Economy
• Economics in a European Context
For the last paper, Economics in a European Context, you are given a pre-released case study which assists you in answering, in-depth, the questions being asked. These is no coursework for either AS or A2 Economics.

So if you have an enquiring mind, are interested in current affairs, prepared to read, watch, listen to the news and want to know what goes on in the UK and world economies, then AS/A2 Economics is for you!
To years 10 and 11 the Department offers:
AQA GCSE Business and Communication Systems
This 2 year course offers students the opportunity to gain a GCSE which combines many elements of both business studies and information technology.

It enhances your ICT skills through developing a more advanced knowledge and practical application of word processing, database, spreadsheets, desktop publishing and presentation software packages.

You will also learn about the business world, with particular emphasis on:
• The workplace and how it affects employees (ergonomics); health and safety at work, data protection.
• Human resources where you learn about all aspects of the staff recruitment process from identifying a job vacancy, creating a job advertisement, filling in application forms, letter of application, curriculum vitae, short listing candidates for interview, interview techniques; equal opportunities for all employees; training and wages and salaries.
• Communication in the workplace where you will learn about the importance of the communication process and the forms of communication: written, verbal, visual and electronic. Time will be spent developing the practical communication skills needed in business ie business letters, memorandum, notices, reports, agendas and minutes, organisation charts, mail-merge and itineraries.
• A knowledge of how a computer system works. Thus you will learn about input devices, processing information and output devices; the use of the internet and the intranet.
Assessment
There is no course work.
You will have 2 final examinations
Paper 1 Practical ICT paper which covers tasks which will demonstrate your skills in word processing, database, spreadsheets and other software applications.

The practical paper is 2 hours in length.

67% of your final grade.
Paper 2 Theory paper with a series of question and written responses.

The theory paper is one hour in length.

33% of your final grade.
 
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