Cambridge designs the syllabus for about 360 guided learning hours for the full A Level, so the second year adds about 180 hours to the AS year. A Level students add topics 6.1 to 10.4, examined in Paper 3 (Business Decision-Making) and Paper 4 (Business Strategy), with the AS content treated as assumed knowledge. This scheme of work and pacing guide gives the A Level year 30 teaching weeks at about six hours a week. Every row links to the unit its lessons come from. The first year is covered in the Cambridge AS Level Business 9609 scheme of work and pacing guide.
Each row is one lesson from the 9609 A Level course unless it says “continued”. The lessons are editable PowerPoints with embedded video case studies, discussion questions and an exit ticket. They do not contain past paper questions; the review weeks are where you bring in the Cambridge specimen and past papers.
Week by week
| Week | Syllabus | Content | Lessons |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 6.1 | External influences: political and legal | Unit 6 lessons |
| 2 | 6.1 | External influences: economic | Unit 6 lessons |
| 3 | 6.1 | Other external influences: social, technological, competitive, international, environmental | Unit 6 lessons |
| 4 | 6.2.1 | Developing business strategy: SWOT, PEST, Porter, Ansoff, decision trees and the other tools listed in the syllabus | Unit 6 lessons |
| 5 | 6.2.1 | Developing business strategy continued | Unit 6 lessons |
| 6 | 6.2.2 | Corporate planning and implementation | Unit 6 lessons |
| 7 | Topic 6 | Review and Paper 4 essay practice | Unit 6 lessons |
| 8 | 7.1 | Organisational structure | Unit 7 lessons |
| 9 | 7.2 | Business communication | Unit 7 lessons |
| 10 | 7.3 | Leadership | Unit 7 lessons |
| 11 | 7.4 | Human resource management strategy | Unit 7 lessons |
| 12 | Topic 7 | Review | Unit 7 lessons |
| 13 | 8.1 | Marketing analysis: elasticity, product development, sales forecasting | Unit 8 lessons |
| 14 | 8.1 | Marketing analysis continued | Unit 8 lessons |
| 15 | 8.2 | Marketing strategy | Unit 8 lessons |
| 16 | Topic 8 | Review and Paper 3 practice | Unit 8 lessons |
| 17 | 9.1 | Location and scale | Unit 9 lessons |
| 18 | 9.2 | Quality management | Unit 9 lessons |
| 19 | 9.3 | Operations strategy: lean production, ERP | Unit 9 lessons |
| 20 | 9.3 | Operations strategy continued: critical path analysis | Unit 9 lessons |
| 21 | Topic 9 | Review | Unit 9 lessons |
| 22 | 10.1 | Financial statements | Unit 10 lessons |
| 23 | 10.2 | Analysis of published accounts | Unit 10 lessons |
| 24 | 10.3 | Investment appraisal: payback and ARR | Unit 10 lessons |
| 25 | 10.3 | Investment appraisal continued: NPV | Unit 10 lessons |
| 26 | 10.4 | Finance and accounting strategy | Unit 10 lessons |
| 27 | Topic 10 | Review | Unit 10 lessons |
| 28 | 6.1 to 10.4 | Mock exam: Paper 3 and Paper 4 under timed conditions, using the Cambridge specimen papers; mark against the specimen mark schemes and feed back the following week | Complete bundle |
| 29 to 30 | 6.1 to 10.4 | Revision by weakness from the mock: Paper 3 case study practice (five questions, evaluation in the last parts) and Paper 4 practice (two 20-mark essays on a case study) | Complete bundle |
Notes on the order
The order follows the syllabus. Unit 6 opens the year because Paper 4 is two essays on business strategy and students need the 6.2 tools early enough to use them on every later topic. Investment appraisal (10.3) gets two weeks because the syllabus asks for the meaning, calculation and interpretation of three methods (payback, accounting rate of return and net present value) and then a comparison of them.
Lesson list and unit links: Cambridge A Level Business 9609. Complete course: A Level Complete Bundle, 18 lessons.
Related
Cambridge A Level Business 9609 lessons. AS Level 9609 scheme of work for the first year. Preparing students for the 9609 exams.