Statement of purpose - Level 3 Certificate
Qualification objective
The objective of this qualification is:
- preparing learners to progress to a qualification in the same subject area but at a higher level or requiring more specific knowledge, skills and understanding
- meeting relevant programmes of learning
- preparing learners for employment
- giving learners personal growth and engagement in learning
Who is this qualification for?
This qualification is aimed at 16-18 learners who are in full-time Level 3 education and who wish to progress to higher education and/or pursue a career in business and/or business-related subjects (eg management, finance, entrepreneurship). There are no formal entry requirements for this qualification, but, ideally, a learner will typically have four GCSEs at grade C or above including maths and English.
This qualification provides a broad understanding of business knowledge and skills to support progress to higher education and is suitable for learning alongside other Level 3 qualifications, ie A-levels and/or other Level 3 vocational qualifications (such as accounting, sociology, psychology, languages, leisure and tourism, health and social care, retail etc). This qualification can also prepare people to take up employment in business and entrepreneurship, either directly after achieving the qualification or via higher education at university or college.
Studying this qualification will enable learners to develop the fundamental knowledge and skills recognised as most important by higher education and employers. The qualification also offers learners an opportunity to develop transferrable skills, such as teamwork, research and communication as part of their applied learning.
What does this qualification cover?
All of the units in this qualification are mandatory. We have worked with stakeholders in the design of this qualification to ensure that it covers the fundamental business and entrepreneurial knowledge and skills associated with work within a business enterprise.
The learner will undertake a programme of assessment designed to assess not only their knowledge and understanding of business, but also the way in which this knowledge and understanding can be applied to shape their practical skill in thinking and realising their own plans about business.
In the qualification, the learner will cover topics such as:
- the role of finance in planning an enterprise, analysing and making financial decisions
- how business organisations use the human, physical and financial resources at their disposal to achieve their dynamic goals
- the nature of enterprising behaviour and how this can be personally utilised to best exploit entrepreneurial opportunities within specific market conditions.
Each unit is based on four key business themes: people, markets, finance and operational delivery, which ensure that the qualification has a synoptic approach to learning. Each of the qualification's units address aspects of these key themes to ensure that learning content is coherent and joined up.
Unit 3 Entrepreneurial opportunities is the qualification's synoptic assessment unit. Here, through an understanding of their own entrepreneurial personality and the development of their own business idea, the learner is required to apply the business knowledge and skills acquired in Units 1 and 2.
What could this qualification lead to?
This qualification supports entry to a range of business and enterprise associated higher education courses, such as management, finance, entrepreneurship, economics etc, when taken alongside other qualifications and is confirmed by the specific support of a number of universities. In addition, the qualification carries UCAS points ucas.com
Who supports this qualification?
This qualification has been developed in collaboration with higher education and other stakeholders in the business education sector. Because of this, the knowledge and skills gained will provide the best possible opportunity for progress into higher education or employment.
The following institutions and organisations have helped develop and formally support the AQA Level 3 Certificate in Applied Business:
- Leeds Beckett University
- University of Buckingham
- University of Bath
- University of Liverpool
- Birmingham City University
- Staffordshire University
- University of Wales Trinity Saint David
- University of Huddersfield
- University of Wolverhampton
- University of Surrey
- Edge Hill University
- Institute of Enterprise and Entrepreneurs (IOEE)
- Young Enterprise
What are the benefits of this qualification?
To learners
The AQA Level 3 Certificate in Applied Business will give learners the opportunity to learn and understand the fundamental business and entrepreneurial knowledge and skills associated with working within a business enterprise.
The learner will understand the way in which any venture in business (big or small) is a function of the relationship between its people, its marketing, its finance and its ability to deliver operationally upon its commitments.
The learner will undertake a programme of assessment designed to assess not only their business knowledge and understanding, but also the way in which this knowledge and understanding can be applied to shape their practical skill in thinking and realising their own plans about business. For those learners who wish their learning to be practical and active, making use of their own business imagination, then the Certificate in Applied Business is a highly relevant qualification.
The qualification culminates in Unit 3 Entrepreneurial opportunities, which brings together key elements from Units 1 and 2 into a practical, synoptic assessment of the learner's readiness for entrepreneurial activity and opportunity. This practical unit can be used as the seed for further study in the Extended Certificate (via the Business proposal unit) or as the basis for the learner's own initial business venture.
The learner will study the course as a part of a learning programme that will also include other subjects. The learner's choice of subjects (where business–related) will complement study of this qualification and help develop a range of skills and knowledge relevant to the business sector.
To higher education institutions (HEIs)
The development of the AQA Level 3 Certificate in Applied Business has been supported by a wide range of contributing HEIs (see above), ensuring that the qualification is current, relevant and offers the best progression opportunities to higher education.
Each unit is based on four key business themes: people, markets, finance and operational delivery, which ensure that the qualification has a synoptic approach to learning. Each of the qualification's units address aspects of these key themes to ensure that learning content is coherent and joined up.
The learner will undertake a programme of assessment designed to assess not only their business knowledge and understanding, but also the way in which this knowledge and understanding can be applied to shape their practical skill in thinking and realising their own plans about business. The qualification will benefit those learners who require a more practical and autonomous dimension to their study. In this regard, the qualification places an emphasis on active, student-centred learning, where self-reliance, research skills and personal judgment all play a key part in the assessment process. Of course, these are all skills and behaviours that prepare learners for the requirements of higher education.
The qualification culminates in Unit 3 Entrepreneurial opportunities, which brings together key elements from Units 1 and 2 into a practical, synoptic assessment of the learner's readiness for entrepreneurial activity and opportunity. Learners will develop through this unit their first experience of organising their skills and thoughts into the development of their first business idea. Whilst this will stop short of a full business proposal, this will comprise the seed of an idea to be taken further in the Extended Certificate (via the Business proposal unit), or as an idea to be pursued through a business entrepreneurship unit in higher education, or as a business venture in its own right.
As this qualification also contains both examined and assignment-based assessment (both externally and internally-assessed), this should mean that the learner is better prepared to make the adjustment to the learner-centred ethos of study at university.
