BTEC Business Level 3 Extended Certificate
About the course
“If you really look closely, most overnight business successes took a long time.” – Steve Jobs
The BTEC National Extended Certificate in Business is designed to equip individuals with the skills, knowledge and understanding required for a range of roles in organisations within the business sector including administration, finance/accounts, marketing, management, human resources and law.
We aim to develop students’ initiative, ideas, independence of mind, ability to examine problems, and investigative skills to fully understand the perseverance required in managing successful organisations.
These aims are met through:
- A variety of teaching and learning styles;
- Industrial visits and speakers;
- Building up reference notes from those supplied and from your own resources;
- Working individually, in groups and taking part in class discussions;
- Using a variety of research methods to keep up to date with business news.
Curriculum Intent
To equip students with the knowledge and skills to achieve success in the ever-changing world of work.
What you will study
BTEC Business teaches students about all functional areas of organisation and will research the differences between contrasting businesses.
Stakeholder relationships are emphasised in unit 1, whereby students chose two different organisations to research and analyse the impact of stakeholders in depth. Students also study how businesses both thrive and take calculated risks through innovation.
Students will learn about all elements of a successful marketing campaign and develop their own design of marketing campaign within their unit 2 controlled assessment for a business case study.
Students will learn about personal finance for their unit 3 external exam, including where to go to seek financial advice and manage their money. They will also learn about the financial accounts of businesses to be confident to complete financial documents such as cash flow forecasts and statements of income.
Finally, students continue to gain employability skills in unit 8, in which they research and carry out an entire recruitment process for a large business including taking part in mock interviews and assessing what makes a successful job application.
How the course is assessed
The course is split into four units for the Pearson exam board. Three core units and an additional unit.
Core Units
- Unit 1: Exploring Business (Coursework assignment)
- Unit 2: Developing a Marketing Campaign (Controlled assessment)
- Unit 3: Personal and Business Finance (External written exam)
Additional Unit
- Unit 8: Recruitment and Selection Process (Coursework assignment)
Entry requirements
Five subjects at grade 4 or above including English and maths,
Why study BTEC Business at Windsor Sixth Form?
- Specialist teaching - The Business Department at Windsor is extremely well resourced with experienced teachers in a variety of specialisms.
- Employability skills - Studying business gives you an insight into the world of work and increases your employability skills and economic understanding.
- Real life learning - The course is applicable to real life, researching and learning about UK based businesses of your choice with exposure to employers where possible.
- Dedicated teachers - The Business Department is a KS4 and KS5 focused department, passionate about their subject and committed to supporting their students.
Other courses that go well with BTEC Business
This vocational course offers a balance of coursework, controlled assessments and examination which can complement exam-based only courses to aid organisation of workload. Furthermore, as BTEC Business involves a number of disciplines due to the functional nature of business departments including finance, marketing, human resources and operations it goes well with a wide range of other subjects including BTEC IT, computing, geography, law, mathematics, statistics, languages, psychology and sociology.
What you can do after the course
After BTEC National Extended Certificate in Business, Business courses can be studied at University as a subject on its own or in combination with associated subjects such as:
- Accounting
- Banking
- Economics
- Law
- Marketing
- Management and Personnel
Good problem-solving and analytical skills developed by studying business lend themselves to a variety of different career possibilities such as banking, accountancy, finance, insurance, marketing, personnel, management and sales.
Where do our students progress to after the course?
Students studying BTEC Business often continue to university taking either a general business course or a business course specialising in a particular area such as finance or marketing. Students who have studied BTEC Business also move onto full-time apprenticeships often in finance, marketing or law with commercial knowledge gained in their BTEC course acting as a key advantage to their employability.
Student success stories
- In 2021, 33% of students who studied BTEC Business went to university to continue studying Business and 25% went on to study law.
- One student who achieved a Distinction* went onto a full time apprenticeship in accounting and finance.