Cambridge designs the syllabus for about 180 guided learning hours at AS Level. AS students study topics 1.1 to 5.5, examined in Paper 1 (Business Concepts 1) and Paper 2 (Business Concepts 2). This scheme of work and pacing guide gives the AS year 30 teaching weeks at about six hours a week. Every row links to the unit its lessons come from. The second year of the course has its own guide: Cambridge A Level Business 9609 scheme of work and pacing guide. For the topic list and how each paper is weighted, see the 9609 syllabus guide.
Each row is one lesson from the 9609 AS course unless it says “continued”. Where one of the quantitative skills lessons fits, the Lessons column says so, and the table after the notes lists its learning objectives. 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 | 1.1 | Enterprise: nature of business activity, entrepreneurs and intrapreneurs | Unit 1 lessons |
| 2 | 1.2 | Business structure | Unit 1 lessons |
| 3 | 1.3 | Size of business | Unit 1 lessons |
| 4 | 1.4 | Business objectives | Unit 1 lessons |
| 5 | 1.5 | Stakeholders in a business | Unit 1 lessons |
| 6 | Topic 1 | Review and Paper 1 Section A practice | Unit 1 lessons Quantitative skills lesson 1 |
| 7 | 2.1 | Human resource management | Unit 2 lessons Quantitative skills lesson 5 (labour turnover) |
| 8 | 2.2 | Motivation | Unit 2 lessons |
| 9 | 2.3 | Management | Unit 2 lessons |
| 10 | Topic 2 | Review and Paper 1 Section B essay practice | Unit 2 lessons |
| 11 | 3.1 | The nature of marketing | Unit 3 lessons Quantitative skills lesson 3 (market size, growth and share) |
| 12 | 3.2 | Market research | Unit 3 lessons |
| 13 | 3.3 | The marketing mix: product and price | Unit 3 lessons |
| 14 | 3.3 | The marketing mix continued: place and promotion | Unit 3 lessons |
| 15 | Topic 3 | Review and Paper 2 data response practice | Unit 3 lessons |
| 16 | 4.1 | The nature of operations | Unit 4 lessons Quantitative skills lesson 5 (labour productivity) |
| 17 | 4.2 | Inventory management | Unit 4 lessons |
| 18 | 4.3 | Capacity utilisation and outsourcing | Unit 4 lessons Quantitative skills lesson 4 (capacity utilisation) |
| 19 | Topic 4 | Review | Unit 4 lessons |
| 20 | 5.1 | Business finance | Unit 5 lessons |
| 21 | 5.2 | Sources of finance | Unit 5 lessons |
| 22 | 5.3 | Forecasting and managing cash flows | Unit 5 lessons Quantitative skills lesson 2.3 (cash flow forecasts) |
| 23 | 5.4 | Costs | Unit 5 lessons Quantitative skills lesson 2.1 |
| 24 | 5.5 | Budgets | Unit 5 lessons Quantitative skills lesson 2.3 (budgets and variances) |
| 25 | Topic 5 | Review and calculation practice | Unit 5 lessons Quantitative skills lesson 2.2 |
| 26 | 1.1 to 5.5 | Mock exam: Paper 1 and Paper 2 under timed conditions, using the Cambridge specimen papers; mark against the specimen mark schemes and feed back the following week | Complete bundle |
| 27 to 30 | 1.1 to 5.5 | Revision by weakness from the mock: Paper 1 practice (four five-mark questions and one 20-mark essay from two) and Paper 2 practice (two 30-mark data questions) | Complete bundle |
Notes on the order
The order follows the syllabus. Unit 5 comes last because costs, cash flow and budgets draw on everything before them, and the calculation practice in week 25 sets students up for the data questions in Paper 2.
Lesson list and unit links: Cambridge AS Level Business 9609. Complete course: AS Complete Bundle, 19 lessons.
Quantitative skills lessons in this scheme
The nine quantitative skills lessons are a separate set from the AS course lessons. Each is an editable PowerPoint with a formula slide for each concept, worked examples, guided and practice questions, a case study and an exit ticket, plus a Word answer key. This table shows where each one fits in the 30 weeks and which of its learning objectives, taken from the lesson itself, are AS content. Where a lesson also carries A Level content, that part is scheduled in the A Level scheme.
| Week | Lesson | Syllabus | Learning objectives |
|---|---|---|---|
| 6 | Lesson 1: Key mathematical skills | Topic 1 review; underpins 2.1, 3.1, 3.2 and 5 |
Taught in the review week so the arithmetic is in place before the first calculations arrive in topic 2. The reading-data objective covers 3.2.4, interpretation of information presented in tables, charts and graphs. |
| 7 | Lesson 5: Human resources | 2.1.2 measurement of labour turnover |
Labour productivity is 4.1.2, so return to that section of the lesson in week 16. |
| 11 | Lesson 3: Marketing | 3.1.3 measurement of market share and market growth; 3.2.1 market size |
The rest of the lesson (elasticity, moving averages, extrapolation, correlation) is A Level 8.1 and sits in week 13 of the A Level scheme. |
| 16 | Lesson 5: Human resources | 4.1.2 measurement of labour productivity | Return to the labour productivity and labour cost per unit section of lesson 5, taught in week 7. |
| 18 | Lesson 4: Operations | 4.3.1 the measurement of capacity utilisation |
Decision trees (6.2.1) and critical path analysis (9.3.5) are A Level and sit in weeks 4 and 20 of the A Level scheme. |
| 22 | Lesson 2.3: Budgets, variances and cash flow | 5.3.1 cash flow forecasts: calculating opening and closing balances; methods of improving cash flow |
The budgets and variances section of the same lesson comes in week 24. |
| 23 | Lesson 2.1: Costs, revenue and profit | 5.4.1 cost information; 5.4.3 uses of cost information, including using cost information to calculate profits |
Margins return at A Level in 10.2.2. |
| 24 | Lesson 2.3: Budgets, variances and cash flow | 5.5.1 the meaning and purpose of budgets; 5.5.2 calculation and interpretation of variances |
|
| 25 | Lesson 2.2: Contribution and break-even (free) | 5.4.2 contribution costing; 5.4.4 calculation and interpretation of break-even level of output, contribution, margin of safety and level of profit |
Free with its answer key, so a department can try the format in the calculation practice week before buying the set. |
The inventory control chart in 4.2.1 is the one AS diagram the set does not cover.
All nine lessons, the free break-even lesson and what is in each one: Quantitative skills for Cambridge Business 9609. The set on TES: Cambridge AS and A Level Business 9609 Quantitative Skills.
Related
Cambridge AS Level Business 9609 lessons. A Level 9609 scheme of work for the second year. Preparing students for the 9609 exams.