Subject · GCSE and A level
Business Studies
Which schools in England make Business Studies a big part of the curriculum, and where results are strongest. Entries and grades from the 2025 performance tables.
What the data says
Business Studies GCSE was taken in 2,313 schools in England in 2025, with 127,289 entries — about 18% of the Year 11 cohort.
Nationally 20% of entries achieved grade 7 or above. The tables below show the schools where the largest share of pupils take the subject, and where grades are highest (schools with at least 20 entries).
At De Salis Studio College (Hillingdon) 98% of the year group took Business Studies.
At A level, Business Studies was offered in 1,700 schools and colleges, with 39,505 entries — roughly 13% of A level students.
GCSE: schools with the highest share of grades 7–9
Schools with at least 20 entries. England: 20% of entries graded 7–9. High grades often reflect who is admitted (selective and independent schools) as much as teaching.
| # | School | Local authority | Entries | Cohort | Share | Grades 7–9 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Wilson's School | Sutton | 162 | 186 | 87% | 97% |
| 2 | Pate's Grammar School | Gloucestershire | 98 | 151 | 65% | 92% |
| 3 | Kendrick School | Reading | 106 | 128 | 83% | 92% |
| 4 | Sir Thomas Rich's School | Gloucestershire | 66 | 156 | 42% | 91% |
| 5 | Redmaids' High School | Bristol, City of | 44 | 112 | 39% | 89% |
| 6 | City of London Freemen's School | Surrey | 61 | 109 | 56% | 89% |
| 7 | The King's School | Cheshire West and Chester | 32 | 106 | 30% | 88% |
| 8 | Altrincham Grammar School for Girls | Trafford | 38 | 208 | 18% | 87% |
| 9 | Heckmondwike Grammar School | Kirklees | 143 | 206 | 69% | 85% |
| 10 | Royal Latin School | Buckinghamshire | 94 | 174 | 54% | 84% |
| 11 | Dartford Grammar School for Girls | Kent | 70 | 176 | 40% | 83% |
| 12 | Sheffield High School GDST | Sheffield | 23 | 97 | 24% | 83% |
| 13 | Stratford Girls' Grammar School | Warwickshire | 52 | 120 | 43% | 81% |
| 14 | Sutton Coldfield Grammar School for Girls | Birmingham | 98 | 179 | 55% | 81% |
| 15 | Putney High School GDST | Wandsworth | 24 | 107 | 22% | 79% |
| 16 | Beaconsfield High School | Buckinghamshire | 71 | 179 | 40% | 79% |
| 17 | Sale Grammar School | Trafford | 98 | 192 | 51% | 79% |
| 18 | Stroud High School | Gloucestershire | 51 | 160 | 32% | 78% |
| 19 | Devonport High School for Girls | Plymouth | 56 | 123 | 46% | 77% |
| 20 | Langley Grammar School | Slough | 119 | 177 | 67% | 76% |
| 21 | Colyton Grammar School | Devon | 80 | 152 | 53% | 76% |
| 22 | St Bernard's Catholic Grammar School | Slough | 125 | 158 | 79% | 75% |
| 23 | The Blue Coat School | Liverpool | 133 | 176 | 76% | 75% |
| 24 | Aylesbury Grammar School | Buckinghamshire | 124 | 186 | 67% | 75% |
| 25 | The Latymer School | Enfield | 51 | 191 | 27% | 75% |
| 26 | Southend High School for Girls | Southend-on-Sea | 61 | 176 | 35% | 74% |
| 27 | Badminton School | Bristol, City of | 26 | 61 | 43% | 73% |
| 28 | Westcliff High School for Girls | Southend-on-Sea | 96 | 184 | 52% | 73% |
| 29 | Hazel Grove High School | Stockport | 48 | 260 | 18% | 73% |
| 30 | Nishkam School West London | Hounslow | 28 | 108 | 26% | 71% |
| 31 | Fort Pitt Grammar School | Medway | 21 | 147 | 14% | 71% |
| 32 | Queen Mary's Grammar School | Walsall | 109 | 179 | 61% | 71% |
| 33 | The Grange School | Cheshire West and Chester | 78 | 130 | 60% | 71% |
| 34 | St Dunstan's College | Lewisham | 44 | 115 | 38% | 70% |
| 35 | Bournemouth School | Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole | 97 | 174 | 56% | 70% |
| 36 | The Rochester Grammar School | Medway | 60 | 225 | 27% | 70% |
| 37 | Hymers College | Kingston upon Hull, City of | 94 | 126 | 75% | 69% |
| 38 | The Harrodian School | Richmond upon Thames | 41 | 96 | 43% | 68% |
| 39 | Southend High School for Boys | Southend-on-Sea | 44 | 178 | 25% | 68% |
| 40 | Highworth Grammar School | Kent | 50 | 214 | 23% | 68% |
A level: schools and colleges where the largest share of students take Business Studies
Entries as a share of A level students (at least 30 A level students and 10 entries). England: 13% of A level students.
What pupils learn in Business Studies, stage by stage
England has no national year-by-year syllabus: exam boards and schools set the order within each stage. These are the statutory blocks from the Department for Education, so a parent can see what a child meets in Years 7–9, what every GCSE candidate must cover, and what waits in the sixth form.
Years 7–9Key Stage 3
not offered as a separate subjectYears 10–11GCSE
51learning outcomes · statutory GCSE subject content; Higher-tier-only outcomes are markedYear 12A level, typically first year
28learning outcomes · content also examined at ASYear 13A level, second year
18learning outcomes · A level-only contentWhat GCSE Business Studies teaches · Years 10–11
51 learning outcomes from the Department for Education’s statutory subject content, grouped by topic. Each outcome belongs to one of twelve fields of knowledge used across startfrom.today: Business & Administration (37), Mathematics & Statistics (11), Social & Cultural Skills (1), Green & Sustainability (1) and others. Exam boards add detail on top of these; the outcomes themselves are the same whichever board a school uses.
Business decision making2
- evaluate business decisions using quantitative and qualitative data — business decisions, qualitative data, quantitative data
- explain how business context affects business decisions — business context, business decisions
Business activity9
- explain the purpose of business activity and the role of enterprise — business activity, enterprise, entrepreneurship
- analyse the impact of competition, risk and reward on business activity — competition, reward, risk
- explain the purpose and importance of a business plan — business plan
- analyse factors influencing business location — business location, labour, material, proximity to market
- describe types of business ownership including limited liability — business ownership, limited liability
- explain business aims and objectives and why they change over time — business aims, business objectives
- compare methods of business growth including organic and external growth — external growth, organic growth
- analyse how business stakeholders affect and are affected by business activity — stakeholders
- explain the interdependence of business operations, finance, marketing and HR — business operations, finance, human resources, marketing
Influences on business6
- explain how technology, including e-commerce, influences business activity — digital communication, e-commerce, technology
- explain the impact of ethical considerations on business behaviour — business ethics
- explain the impact of environmental considerations and sustainability on business — environmental impact, sustainability
- explain the impact of the economic climate on businesses — consumer income, economic climate, unemployment
- explain the impact of globalisation on businesses — globalisation, international competition
- explain the impact of legislation on businesses — consumer law, employment law
Business operations4
- explain the impact of production processes on business activity — production processes
- explain the role of procurement and the impact of logistics and supply decisions — logistics, procurement, supply decisions
- explain the concept of quality in goods and services — quality
- explain the importance of customer service in the sales process — customer service, sales process
Finance3
- explain sources of business finance and their suitability for businesses — sources of finance
- explain the concepts of revenue, costs, profit and loss — cost, loss, profit, revenue
- explain the difference between cash and profit and the purpose of cash-flow forecasting — cash flow, cash-flow forecasting, profit
Marketing6
- explain the purpose of marketing and its role in business — marketing
- explain the importance of identifying and understanding customers — customer needs
- explain how businesses use segmentation to target customers — market segmentation
- explain the purpose and methods of market research — market research
- identify the elements of the marketing mix — marketing mix
- explain how the marketing mix is used to inform business decisions — business decisions, marketing mix
Human resources5
- explain how and why businesses have different organisational structures — organisational structure
- explain job roles, responsibilities and ways of working in a business — job roles, ways of working
- explain how businesses recruit employees to meet business needs — recruitment
- explain how businesses retain and motivate employees — employee retention, financial methods, motivation, non-financial methods
- explain how and why businesses train and develop employees — employee development, training
Business skills5
- use business terminology to explain business activity — business terminology
- apply business concepts to familiar and unfamiliar contexts — business concepts
- apply problem-solving and decision-making skills to business issues — decision making, problem solving
- evaluate business opportunities and issues — business issues, business opportunities
- justify business decisions using qualitative and quantitative data — qualitative data, quantitative data
Quantitative skills: calculation6
- calculate percentages and percentage changes in a business context — percentage, percentage change
- calculate averages in a business context — average
- calculate revenue, costs and profit — cost, profit, revenue
- calculate gross and net profit margin ratios — gross profit margin, net profit margin
- calculate average rate of return — average rate of return
- calculate cash-flow forecasts including total costs and total revenue — cash-flow forecast, net cash flow, total costs, total revenue
Quantitative skills: interpretation5
- interpret information from graphs and charts in a business context — chart, graph
- interpret profitability ratios — gross profit margin, net profit margin
- interpret financial data including profit and loss and cash-flow forecasts — average rate of return, cash-flow forecast, profit and loss
- interpret marketing data including market research data — marketing data, market research
- interpret market data including market share, costs and prices — cost, market share, prices
Source: DfE GCSE business subject content (2015), Open Government Licence v3.0. Outcomes are split into single actions and rewritten only where the original bundled several; wording otherwise follows the DfE text. Methodology.
What A level Business Studies teaches · Years 12–13
46 learning outcomes from the Department for Education’s statutory subject content, grouped by topic. Each outcome belongs to one of twelve fields of knowledge used across startfrom.today: Business & Administration (29), Mathematics & Statistics (14), Social & Cultural Skills (1), Law & Public Administration (1) and others. Exam boards add detail on top of these; the outcomes themselves are the same whichever board a school uses.
Business skills7
- identify business opportunities and problemsYear 12 · AS — business opportunities, business problems
- analyse and evaluate business opportunities and problemsYear 12 · AS — business opportunities, business problems
- make justified business decisions using qualitative and quantitative methodsYear 12 · AS — qualitative method, quantitative method
- explain how businesses adapt to operate in a dynamic environmentYear 12 · AS — adaptability, business environment
- apply increasingly complex business concepts and techniques to wider contextsYear 13 — business concepts, business techniques
- analyse and evaluate complex business informationYear 13 — business information
- evaluate business opportunities and problems from a strategic perspectiveYear 13 — business strategy
External influences6
- explain how the market and competition affect business behaviourYear 12 · AS — competition, market
- evaluate the impact of the global context on businessYear 13 — global context
- analyse the impact of political, social, economic and technological factors on businessYear 13 — economic factors, political factors, social factors, technological factors
- evaluate ethical issues facing businessYear 13 — business ethics
- evaluate legal issues facing businessYear 13 — business law
- evaluate environmental issues facing businessYear 13 — environmental impact
Marketing3
- explain how businesses identify and anticipate customer needsYear 12 · AS — customer needs
- explain how businesses apply the marketing mixYear 12 · AS — marketing mix
- explain how a product's life cycle affects marketing decisionsYear 12 · AS — product life cycle
Accounting and finance4
- calculate and interpret a budgetYear 12 · AS — budgeting
- construct and interpret a cash-flow forecastYear 12 · AS — cash-flow forecast
- calculate and interpret break-even analysisYear 12 · AS — break-even analysis
- calculate and interpret financial ratiosYear 12 · AS — ratio analysis
People in organisations4
- explain how businesses motivate employeesYear 12 · AS — motivation
- explain leadership styles in business organisationsYear 12 · AS — leadership
- explain how businesses design organisational structuresYear 12 · AS — organisation design
- explain employer and employee relationships in businessYear 12 · AS — employer-employee relationships
Operations management3
- explain the importance of quality in business operationsYear 12 · AS — quality
- explain how businesses measure and improve productivityYear 12 · AS — productivity
- explain how business operations add valueYear 12 · AS — added value
Quantitative skills in business9
- calculate ratios, averages and fractions in a business contextYear 12 · AS — average, fraction, ratio
- calculate percentages and percentage changes in a business contextYear 12 · AS — percentage, percentage change
- construct and interpret standard graphical forms in businessYear 12 · AS — graph
- interpret index numbers in a business contextYear 12 · AS — index number
- calculate cost, revenue, profit and break-evenYear 12 · AS — break-even, cost, profit, revenue
- calculate and interpret investment appraisal outcomesYear 12 · AS — investment appraisal
- interpret price and income elasticity of demandYear 12 · AS — income elasticity of demand, price elasticity of demand
- use quantitative and qualitative information to make business decisionsYear 12 · AS — qualitative information, quantitative information
- interpret business information in written, graphical and numerical formsYear 12 · AS — business information
Business objectives and strategy3
- explain how stakeholder objectives shape business strategyYear 13 — business strategy, stakeholder objectives
- evaluate the implementation of business strategyYear 13 — strategy implementation
- evaluate business decisions made under risk and uncertaintyYear 13 — risk, uncertainty
Business analysis5
- forecast future business performance using dataYear 13 — business forecasting
- analyse business data to inform decisionsYear 13 — data analysis
- analyse markets to inform business decisionsYear 13 — market analysis
- evaluate business decisions using quantitative and qualitative informationYear 13 — business decision making
- evaluate business performance using financial and non-financial measuresYear 13 — financial performance, non-financial performance
Change2
- analyse the causes and effects of change in businessYear 13 — organisational change
- evaluate how businesses manage changeYear 13 — change management
Source: DfE GCE AS and A level business subject content (2014), Open Government Licence v3.0. Outcomes are split into single actions and rewritten only where the original bundled several; wording otherwise follows the DfE text. Methodology.