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Business A Level and Cambridge Technical

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Getting Ahead

Business A Level and Cambridge Technical at Alton Campus

Are you studying Business A Level or Cambridge Technical at Alton Campus in September? If so, you’re in the right place!

One of the ways to maximise your grade in Business is to know lots of businesses to use as examples. So try downloading the free BBC News app and when you have a spare moment, have a read of some business stories.

Did you know? Jim Ratcliffe remains one of Britain’s richest people worth around £20bn – his wealth comes from Ineos, a chemicals-based business. He grew up on a council estate in Manchester.

two people having a meeting with laptops and notebooks

During the first week at college, we will be doing an activity based on the Watercress Line in Alton. This is a heritage steam railway that runs regular promotional events and special weekends. In preparation for that, we’d like you to do some research on other tourist attractions in the area that the Watercress Line could get new marketing ideas from.

Research Areas 

  1. It’s a marketing activity so watch a video on the Marketing Mix (4Ps) on the Two Teachers YouTube channel. Have a look at other marketing videos if you want more detail. You can also read about it on Tutor2u.net 
  2. Research some other tourist venues for what events they run, how they have pricing to encourage return visits or how they promote their venue. Three websites are below but there are many more.

3. Research other heritage railways. Two local ones are the Bluebell Line (Sussex) and Didcot (Oxfordshire). You can get some ideas from these websites which they could use at the Watercress Line. Note there are loads more railways if you wanted to check out more – 182 in total! (heritage-railways.com)

Complete the table below with three ideas you have taken from Bluebell Line, Didcot or other heritage railways/tourist attractions:

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This is the textbook we use extensively on the course. The cost is around £45 (some used ones are available if you are quick!) but it covers the two years. Not a substitute but also useful is a revision guide (around £22). Make sure it’s the AQA version – ISBN numbers below.

images of the front cover of the two business a level textbooks

  • AQA Business for A Level (Surridge & Gillespie) 2019. ISBN 978-1510453340
  • CGP Revision Guide for exams in 2025 & 2026 (covers both years) – ISBN 978-1837741328

If you’d like to do some more activities, then have a go at this Aldi Case Study which has been specially written for Year 11s moving into Year 12 by the Time2 Resources website.

Resources

Meet your Teachers

  • business lecturer duncan llewelyn

    Duncan Llewelyn

We look forward to seeing you soon!

Your Learning Space

*This is a representation of your learning space and may not be the exact room you will be using

I overcame a couple of barriers by working really hard to get the top grades. My experience was really good, with the course and the lecturers, the residentials and activities, together it was all really good. I had really great teaching support, I could always go to the lecturers and speak to them if I needed to.

David Stenning, Public Services student

There are lots of people at the college, each studying a diverse range of courses, people from all different areas come to study here, it creates a sense of community, there is a huge social aspect to college life across all courses.

Lee Backhouse, BTEC student

My time at the college was definitely life changing, I have learnt a lot of new skills, and obviously it’s a completely new experience. The support was great, there was always people there to help and try make it as easy as they can for you. The college is really fantastic, it has helped me on the way to get to what I want to achieve within my career goals.

Erin Morgan, BTEC student