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2. Syllabus aims and assessment objectives
2.1 Syllabus aims
The syllabus aims to enable candidates to: • understand and appreciate the nature and scope of business, and the role of business in society,
internationally and within each candidate’s own country • develop critical understanding of organisations, the markets they serve and the process of adding value
• evaluate business behaviour from the perspective of a range of stakeholders including owner shareholder, manager, employee, customer, supplier, lender and government
• develop an awareness of the political, economic, social, technological, legal, environmental and ethical issues associated with business activity
• develop quantitative, problem-solving, decision-making and communication skills.
2.2 Assessment objectives
AO1 Knowledge and understanding Demonstrate knowledge and understanding.
AO2 Application Apply knowledge and understanding to problems and issues in a variety of familiar and unfamiliar business
situations and contexts.
AO3 Analysis Analyse business problems, issues and situations by:
• using appropriate methods and techniques to make sense of qualitative and quantitative business information
• interpreting and unpacking complex issues and situations to their constituent parts and searching for causes, impact and consequences
• distinguishing between factual evidence and opinion or value judgement • drawing valid inferences and making valid generalisations.
AO4 Evaluation Evaluate business evidence, explanation, argument, discussion and analysis in order to make reasoned
judgements, present measured conclusions and, where appropriate, make recommendations for action and implementation.
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2.3 Relationship between assessment objectives and components
The approximate weightings allocated to each of the assessment objectives are summarised below. The table shows the assessment objectives AO as a percentage of each component.
Component AO1
AO2 AO3
AO4 Paper 1
50 15
20 15
Paper 2
30 30
20 20
Paper 3
20 20
30 30
2.4 Relationship between assessment objectives and
qualifications
The approximate weightings allocated to each of the assessment objectives are summarised below. The table shows the assessment objectives AO as a percentage of each qualification.
Assessment objective
Weighting in AS Level Weighting in A Level
AO1
40 30
AO2
20 20
AO3
20 25
AO4
20 25
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3. Syllabus content