February 2023 Business update

You’ve probably heard of ChatGPT, or maybe not . . .

It’s a free, open access advanced AI tool that can do all sorts of things. Most importantly, it will compose original essays for students and provide answers to numerical and text-based questions with explanations and justifications.

The implications for teaching and assessment can’t be overstated.

This free seminar with AI and accounting experts sorts hype from reality.

Read more and register

Three-Day Course For Teachers New To Business A Level

This course is a serious attempt to prepare teachers to deliver Business Studies for the first time. It includes direct instruction on how to teach elasticity, accounts & ratios, investment appraisal, ethics and many other key topics.

Plenty of exam questions and student answers are looked at to establish the right level – A Level.

Delegates receive a memory stick with a wealth of Ian Marcouse’s resources. Now in its 23rd year, it is used regularly by top-performing schools and colleges.

An unsolicited email from a recent delegate “I just wanted to say a massive thank you for the last 3 days, I have learnt so much and look forward to taking everything I have learnt into the class room.” J. Hyland, Northgate School

June 26th – 28th 2023: Cavendish Conferences, Central London or Online (run over 5 days) or Mem stick only.

How to book:

Email: marcouse@btopenworld.com. Price: £399. Memory stick only is £199. All items VAT-free. Full BACS and company details are included on every invoice.

The Summer 2023 support page provides updates and information from Ofqual and the Department for Education (DfE) relating to the summer 2023 exam arrangements for GCSE, AS and A level.

This includes information on

• grade boundaries
• contingency days
• a letter from Ofqual

Visit the Summer 2023 support page

Our May/June 2023 timetables are available on our website.

Take a look at the final timetables

Go to the Business exam times

Whatever your reason for considering becoming an examiner for Pearson Edexcel, a role within a subject assessment team can help develop your subject knowledge to better prepare students for high stakes assessments, improve your own teaching and learning approaches in the classroom, and can give you a chance to network and collaborate with other Business teachers. Over time, there are opportunities to progress into the role of team leader, where you can develop the key skills needed to manage a team.

Business is a very popular subject in UK schools and colleges and we are looking to expand our assessment teams to meet a growing demand. We would therefore welcome existing and newly trained teachers to apply to join Pearson Edexcel as an Assessment Associate (AA).

Key benefits of becoming an AA with Pearson Edexcel include

• Professional Development – Becoming an examiner, team leader, or more senior role within a subject assessment team, will be the best subject specific training you can receive to help you progress up the career ladder within UK and International schools. Our senior examiners are all either subject leaders or part of the senior leadership in their schools.
• Flexibility – as an examiner, standardisation, training and your assessment work will all be completed remotely, allowing you the flexibility to manage your time in a way that works for you.
• Pay – examining for Pearson Edexcel pays not only for the work you complete but also for your time training and standardising. Over time, opportunities can expand to other paid roles relating to support and development of the subject more broadly, including paid resource development, network lead, professional development programmes and paid focus group work, all through our awarding organisation.
  

Please use one of the links below to complete an online application form, and start your journey to becoming an AA with us.

This resource map aims to match your needs as a teacher to a resource which can help tackle this need.  It will tell you what resources are available.

Webinar 1

Paul Gilligan, CEO and co-founder of the Magical Mushroom Company, shares his thoughts about innovation, entrepreneurship and sustainable futures.

Webinar 2

Priscilla Israel, COO and co-founder of STICKY, shares her thoughts about digital technology changing the face of transactions, innovation and
entrepreneurship.

Each webinar has been divided up into short snippets which relate to an aspect of the specification.

New case studies uploaded on Tuesday mornings using the Financial Times as the main source.

There are already ten case studies available.

As announced in July the business contexts for GCSE sections B and C, and A level sections A and B will now be given in a source booklet rather than in the exam paper.

We have reformatted the 2021 and 2022 exam papers to allow learners to see the new paper format which will be used from 2023 and to allow learners  to experience the new style for mock exams.

These booklets offer a basic template for teachers and learners and include:

• specification content
• key terms
• a case study
• exam-style questions
• explanations of command verbs
  

The booklets can be customised by adding images, a school logo, and further questions.  If you look on the qualification page you will see that there are two files for Topic 1.4.1.  One of them has been customised to provide an example of how this can be done.

They really are an excellent resource.

Results Day: 24 August 2023

Understanding assessment and improving delivery in International GCSE Business

In this training delegates will:

- Be introduced to the idea of assessment objectives: what are they and why they are used when writing examination papers.

- Analyse recent question papers and learn which types of question match the different assessment objectives.

- Investigate different assessment objectives, considering how questions that use a levels-based mark scheme have been answered by looking at feedback from previous exam series.

- Discuss strategies for teaching to try and make sure students can access questions targeting different assessment objectives.

Module 1: 07 February 2023 at 13:00 - 15:00 GMT

Register for Module 1

Module 2: 08 February 2023 at 13:00 - 15:00 GMT

Register for Module 2

Results Day: 24 August 2023

We're introducing a regular International GCSE November series, first running in November 2023. This series is being introduced to best meet the needs of students requiring International GCSE exam opportunities outside of the full May/June series and it will include International GCSE Business.

Please take a look at the timeline in the document below.

Pearson's publishing team are asking A Level Business teachers for their thoughts on the current Pearson Edexcel GCE Business textbook from 2015! To have your say, you can fill in a quick survey following the link below:

Webinar 1

Paul Gilligan, CEO and co-founder of the Magical Mushroom Company, shares his thoughts about innovation, entrepreneurship and sustainable futures.

Webinar 2

Priscilla Israel, COO and co-founder of STICKY, shares her thoughts about digital technology changing the face of transactions, innovation and
entrepreneurship.

Each webinar has been divided up into short snippets which relate to an aspect of the specification.

New case studies uploaded on Tuesday mornings using the Financial Times as the main source.

There are already ten case studies available.

As announced in July the business contexts for GCSE sections B and C, and A level sections A and B will now be given in a source booklet rather than in the exam paper.

We have reformatted the 2021 and 2022 exam papers to allow learners to see the new paper format which will be used from 2023 and to allow learners  to experience the new style for mock exams.

From 2023 onwards, the wording of the level-based descriptors for the 8, 10 and 12 mark questions will change to provide transparency in examiners’ marking approach and greater clarity for teachers and students.

These exemplars have been produced, following teacher feedback, to ensure the approach to marking is accessible to both teachers and students in preparation for final course assessment.

The senior team for GCE Business is made up of practising teachers, so we understand how important it can be to share our knowledge, understanding and the practice of marking, especially with respect to answers relating to Levels of Response questions.

Contained in this booklet is a selection of student responses taken from the summer of 2022 series, complete with the level and appropriate marks awarded. After each response is a commentary which should help to explain the level and raw mark awarded.

These selected responses aim to illustrate to teachers and learners the difference between Level 3 and level 4 responses, to clarify examiners’ approach to marking and to help students access the higher mark bands.

This document considers:

• key assessment differences between the specifications
• key content differences between the specifications
  

The Economics Factory now has digital versions of the Anforme A level Business books.

Visit the Economics Factory

Recorded sessions

1. Edexcel AS Theme 1  

The session will focus on 3 things: exam timing, Marketing and People and the key assessment objective: application.

Candidates may have forgotten the detailed content within this Unit, so Ian will explain the key concepts and give a host of practice exercises and tips. Exam technique will focus on 8 and 10-mark questions.

2. Edexcel AS Theme 2  

The session will focus on 3 things: Finance and Resource Management, answering 20-mark questions and evaluation as an assessment objective. The talk will be interspersed with exercises on numerical concepts from break-even to stock control.

To book the AS Paper 1 and 2 recordings, email Ian at marcouse@btopenworld.com

Live online sessions

1. Edexcel A Level Paper 1 Mar 27 12.00 & 3.30; Apr 21 12.00; May 5 10.00

A reminder will be given on exam technique for these 2-hour A Level papers, but far more time will be spent on the Themes 1 and 4, especially the trickier bits of the global context.

2. Edexcel A Level Paper 2 Mar 28th 12.00; Apr 20th 12.00; May 4th 10.00

This session focuses on subject content within Themes 2 and 3, which include the main numerical aspects of the subject content: accounts & ratios, investment decisions, decision trees, critical path and the huge strategic issue of takeovers and mergers, set in the context of organic and inorganic growth

3. Edexcel A Level Paper 3 Mar 30 12.00 & 3.30, Apr 20th 3.30; May 9th 10.00

Ian will provide a tutored reading through the Pre-Released evidence, analysing the written and numerical content. This will provide a different viewpoint, reinforcing some points and introducing others. A full checklist will be provided on topics to revise for the Paper 3 case, bearing in mind Papers 1 and 2.

Price per event: £69 until March 1st 2023; £79 thereafter

Each of these live sessions offers:

• 75 minutes of intensive online tuition, plus follow-up Q&A
• Flat rate of £69* covers as many students and staff as you like

After the first date, each talk available anytime as a recording, so you can schedule in normal class times

To book, please email your requirements to marcouse@btopenworld.com together with a Purchase Order, or book via the website. Ian then emails you details of how to register for the precise event and time you want. NB Each booking is for an ‘Event’. This covers you for all occasions (including the recording), so if some students are unavailable for Session A, they have free access to Session B. Running time: 75 minutes, plus a Q&A.

Results Day: 17 August 2023

This online training is designed for teachers who are new to delivering the International Advanced level Business specification.

Module 1 focuses on teaching the course and will give you an understanding of the content of the qualification and how to cover it, course/lesson planning, understanding the assessment and preparing students for it, and a brief overview of support from Pearson available to teachers.

Module 2 will give you an understanding of how the content is assessed by reviewing the assessment objectives and mark schemes, practise applying the mark schemes using exemplar student work, as well as an understanding of how marks were determined.

Module 1: 23 March 2023 at 08:00 - 10:00 GMT

Register for Module 1

Module 2: 30 March 2023 at 08:00 - 10:00 GMT

Register for Module 2

This online training is designed for teachers who are delivering the International A Level Business specification.

This training will give you an understanding of how assessments are structured for the qualification and how your teaching can be adapted to help your students’ performance on examination papers.

The training is comprised of two 'standalone' modules which are booked separately.

Module 1: 04 April 2023 at 08:00 - 10:00 GMT

Register for Module 1

Module 2: 11 April 2023 at 08:00 - 10:00 GMT

Register for Module 2

Results Day: 17 August 2023