Business Studies A Level- how well regarded is it and what can you do with it?

[Bl00mingCactus]

Know nothing about it. Ds thinking of doing it as a third A Level with Maths and Further Maths.

It's useful if you have it together with two 'qualifying' subjects like maths and further maths - it would be useless for university entry if combined with another vocational subject like law or psychology. Woukd he also be interested in economics? The latter seems to be regarded slightly more serious by universities. Maybe go onto the websites of universities and courses your ds is interested in and look at the entry requirements, and in doubt call admissions?

agree it's a good idea to look at uni admission requirements.

Not accurate to say an A level is useless for uni admissions tho; friend of DDs did sociology and film studies, neither of which is in the "facilitating" list and still got offers from RG unis.

Unis have dropped reference to facilitating subjects anyway. Obviously you still need French to study French, or Chemistry for a Chemistry degree, but really you should take subjects you enjoy.

Mate of Ds is doing business tho and finds it hard, with a lot of reading.

Economics might be better if it’s available. At lots of schools business studies is taken by DC who find economics more difficult due to maths content. (My DD took it for this reason). This wouldn’t be an issue with your DC, so Economics is a significantly better choice.

If business studies is taken with other academic subjects such as Geography, Maths, History, MFL, Sciences etc no university would be against it at all! As long as the subjects are what is required for the course.

Universities might have dropped reference to facilitating subjects but they still like the right subjects for the right courses. Economics wasn’t facilitating either!

I wouldn't have said business studies itself is hugely regarded as a difficult subject which universities and employers think shows intelligence but maths and further maths are so it more than cancels that out. It doesn't open any doors to certain courses in the same way a science (on the other hand don't do a science unless you get a 7 in it) does but otherwise it's fine.

It really depends on what your child wants to do at uni.

If you have absolutely no idea then it might be better to keep options open and do at least 2 subjects that are common requirements for specific degree course such as maths, a science or English Lit.

But for example my ds knows he wants to study music. A lot of music degrees have business elements to them. A levels in Music, Business Studies and one other are just as likely to gain admission as any other combination as long as A level music is included.

If your ds thinks he might like to study a science in the future than Maths, FM and Business are likely to be restricting and Maths, Physics, BS or Maths, FM, & Physics would be better. If he is interested in a degree such as Economics then Maths, FM, & Business would be fine.

I think he should look at Economics before deciding. Also, there may be coursework in Business but there won't be in Economics (this could be a plus or a minus obviously, depending on your DS).

If your child has the academic ability to take Maths and Further Maths at A-level, they should deffo do so. I'm currently studying Biology, Chemistry and Economics and wished I had taken Maths and/or further maths instead of one of the sciences.

Many degrees require mathematical ability, and if your child has the academic ability to take Maths and Further Maths, I doubt that they'll go to any university that isn't top 20 (provided they put the effort in). Economics at degree level, for example, requires A-level Maths at most 'good' unis.

If your child would like to study an English-based subject at university I would recommend Maths, Further Maths and English Lit. Likewise with something like Physics or Chemistry, they should be taken as the third subject.

Economics is more maths-based than business-studies true, but even Oxbridge do not require you to have studies Economics at a-level for you to apply to their BSc in it.

Tl;Dr is that Maths and Further Maths typically have more clout than tany othersubjects at A-level -good mathematical ability is regarded very highly. As mentioned by another user in this thread, make sure your child is doing subjects that they enjoy. I'm not enjoying chemistry and it pains me to bring myself do to any chemistry revision or homework. Oh, and make sure you are not forcing your children to take any A-level they don't specifically want to, only encourage them to do what you believe is best.

However, to directly answer the question, business studies is typically essay-based, and is an interesting subject to take -however that is subjective. Most unis don't really look at the subjects you have taken, only that it is from a broad list of 'preferred subjects', and are more interested in you meeting their grade requirements for any specific course.

Ask your child to consider what career they would like to go into, and what they would like to study at uni. If they don't know, they can basically pick anything as their third with Maths and Further Maths and they will most likely be able to get into most degree courses.

Another vote for Economics as a more highly regarded subject- if not by university but by employers. A lot of Economics is maths based, but does have short essays. Most numerate based grad schemes would take Economics over Business Studies.

My daughter is studying Business A Level together with Fine Art and Drama\Theatre A Levels as initially wanted to pursue a career in Creative Arts. She has since changed her mind as enjoying Business so much and within a week of applying has received all 5 Uni offers including Loughborough, Lancaster and Birmingham for Business Management & Marketing.

Therefore not that useless for university entry!

Crikey, Economics does not have 'short essays'. It has long ones! If there's any chance of wanting to study it later, it is good to do the A-level to avoid an expensive mistake. Plus there are Econ modules in Business degrees.

I did Business Studies A Level, Maths and French, then an Economics degree and I'm now a professional economist. I found I struggled less at university doing economics than those who didn't have A level maths but had done Economics.

People will say Economics is more well regarded A level but actually I don't think it would make that big a difference. Let them do what they're interested in.

There is no coursework in Business A Level.

I noticed recently that some Unis will only accept FM as a 4th not a 3rd. May be worth checking that also....