Scheme of assessment

Find past papers and mark schemes, and specimen papers for new courses, on our website at aqa.org.uk/pastpapers

This specification is designed to be taken over two years.

This is a linear qualification. In order to achieve the award, students must complete all assessments at the end of the course and in the same series.

GCSE exams and certification for this specification are available for the first time in May/June 2019 and then every May/June for the life of the specification.

All materials are available in English only.

Our GCSE exams in Business include questions that allow students to demonstrate their ability to:

  • draw together their knowledge, skills and understanding from across the full course of study
  • provide extended responses.

Aims and learning outcomes

Courses based on this specification should encourage students to:

  • know and understand business concepts, business terminology, business objectives, the integrated nature of business activity and the impact of business on individuals and wider society
  • apply knowledge and understanding to contemporary business issues and to different types and sizes of businesses in local, national and global contexts
  • develop as enterprising individuals with the ability to think commercially and creatively to demonstrate business acumen, and draw on evidence to make informed business decisions and solve business problems
  • develop as effective and independent students, and as critical and reflective thinkers with enquiring minds
  • use an enquiring, critical approach to make informed judgements
  • investigate and analyse real business opportunities and issues to construct well-argued, well-evidenced, balanced and structured arguments, demonstrating their depth and breadth and understanding of business
  • develop and apply quantitative skills relevant to business, including using and interpreting data.

Assessment objectives

Assessment objectives (AOs) are set by Ofqual and are the same across all GCSE Business specifications and all exam boards.

The exams will measure how students have achieved the following assessment objectives.

  • AO1: Demonstrate knowledge and understanding of business concepts and issues.
  • AO2: Apply knowledge and understanding of business concepts and issues to a variety of contexts.
  • AO3: Analyse and evaluate business information and issues to demonstrate understanding of business activity, make judgements and draw conclusions.

Assessment objective weightings for GCSE Business

Assessment objectives (AOs) Component weightings (approx %) Overall weighting (approx %)
Paper 1 Paper 2
AO1 18 17 35
AO2 17 18 35
AO3 15 15 30
Overall weighting of components 50 50 100

Assessment weightings

The marks awarded on the papers will be scaled to meet the weighting of the components. Students’ final marks will be calculated by adding together the scaled marks for each component. Grade boundaries will be set using this total scaled mark. The scaling and total scaled marks are shown in the table below.

Component Maximum raw mark Scaling factor Maximum scaled mark
Paper 1 90 ×1 90
Paper 2 90 ×1 90
Total scaled mark: 180