Business Studies - Hurstpierpoint College

Business Studies

The Business department at Hurst is an engaging environment where students can learn about the latest developments in the world of commerce. Real world business features heavily in the news and opportunities for finding out how trading activity, the changing performance of companies and issues regarding products can affect us are frequent and diverse. Any future career will demand an understanding of how organisations operate and succeed, making study of this area universally useful.

Students come with a variety of interests, ranging from a desire to start their own business, gaining an understanding of how companies compete for customers and having strong knowledge of business operations to climbing the ladder in an established company.

In the Sixth Form, A-level Business students learn how companies carry out their various functions including marketing, finance, people and operations management. They look at how external factors affect businesses (such as competition, consumer demand, the activities of pressure groups and ethical issues) and how businesses react to them. The course also draws together business functions and the external environment to study the objectives and strategies that businesses adopt, and allows students to relate to their experiences with Young Enterprise and other extra-curricular activities.

Co-curricular opportunities

There are two academic clinics every week for students to refresh their knowledge and ask extending questions that go beyond the scope of their current course. A trip is run in the Upper Sixth to a real-world business, and periodically guests speakers are invited to talk about their business. Hurst also has a very successful Young Enterprise programme.

Higher Education and career opportunities

A-level Business provides an excellent foundation for a wide range of university courses and careers. It is one of the fastest growing subjects at degree level, with many courses combining Business or Management Studies with other subjects, including a modern foreign language.

Business can lead to career opportunities in both the private and public sectors, inside and outside the UK. It also prepares students for working in a range of environments and provides confidence and an understanding about the workplace at all levels, or even their own enterprise.