Business Education

The Business Education Department offers GCSE Economics or Business Studies in Years 10 and 11, and A Levels in Economics, Business Studies and Accounting in the Sixth Form. We focus as a department on current business issues and up-to-date economic data. All A Level courses are modular, with both GCSE and A Level Courses assessed through external exams.

We use a wide variety of teaching methods and material including group work, rôle plays, DVD clips, newspaper articles and case studies. Students can access PowerPoint presentations, notes, reading material and exercises on the School's Learning Resources area. Weekly revision clinics are offered to Year 11 pupils in the Spring Term to help prepare them for their GCSEs. A Level students are supported on an individual basis.

The department enters the most able students for the Advanced Extension Award in Economics and Business Studies. To help Oxbridge candidates for Economics degrees, we provide accompanied visits to Oxbridge colleges, practice interviews with staff and visits to lEA (Institute of Economic Affairs) seminars.

The department offers a particularly extensive range of activities outside of lessons. Boys taking GCSE Business Studies can visit Coca-Cola, while for those studying GCSE Economics there are trips to the Bank of England and the Stock Exchange. A Level Business Studies visit van manufacturer IBC Motors and are also offered a European study trip in the Summer Term of Year 12. Previous destinations include Barcelona and Prague. Year 12 and 13 students attend A Level revision conferences, which feature presentations by MPs, economists and business leaders.

QE has achieved considerable success in the national Young Enterprise competition, which gives boys invaluable experience of running a business. In fact, even before students become involved in GCSE courses, they have the opportunity to get a taste of business as part of their form's team in the department's internal Mini-Enterprise competition.

All pupils in Years 10-13 can enter ProShare, a national competition sponsored by ifs (formerly the Institute of Financial Services) that involves teams of four trading shares worth £100,000 in a simulated environment. ProShare attracts a large number of entries from Queen Elizabeth's School. We also enter a team of Year 12 students into the national Shares4Schools competition.

Year 10 Business Studies pupils enter the Young DMA Awards, a relatively new competition sponsored by the Direct Marketing Association, in which teams have to design a piece of marketing material for a charity. Year 10 Business Studies students also enter the Patent Office Competition, in which QE is a past national winner. This involves learning about product development and intellectual property rights. Year 13 Economics students enter the Bank of England's annual Target 2.0 Competition, acting as the Monetary Policy Committee and setting the interest rate for the economy.

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