Edexcel GCSE Business (1BS0): complete guide to the two papers, two themes and exam skills

Pearson Edexcel GCSE Business (specification 1BS0) is a linear course assessed by two written papers at the end of Year 11. There is no coursework grade. This page is the index: below is a map of the two themes, the two-paper exam structure, the calculations you must master, and the application and evaluation skills that run across the whole course.

The two themes

Edexcel organises the specification around two themes that follow a business from its first idea through to its growth. Each theme has five topic areas.

Theme 1: Investigating small business. How and why a small business starts and survives.

1. Enterprise and entrepreneurship. Why and how new business ideas come about, the impact of risk and reward, and the role of enterprise and the entrepreneur.
2. Spotting a business opportunity. Understanding customer needs, market research, market segmentation and the competitive environment.
3. Putting a business idea into practice. Business aims and objectives, revenue, costs and profit, cash and cash flow, and sources of finance.
4. Making the business effective. Business ownership and liability, location, the marketing mix, and the business plan.
5. Understanding external influences on business. Stakeholders, technology, legislation and the economy.

Theme 2: Building a business. The decisions a business makes as it grows.

1. Growing the business. Internal and external growth, changing aims and objectives, globalisation, and ethics and the environment.
2. Making marketing decisions. Product, price, promotion, place, and using an integrated marketing mix.
3. Making operational decisions. Production processes, working with suppliers, managing quality, and the sales process.
4. Making financial decisions. Gross and net profit, profit margins, the average rate of return, and using business data.
5. Making human resource decisions. Organisational structures, recruitment, training and development, and motivation.

Exam structure

Edexcel GCSE Business is assessed by two written papers, both sat at the end of the course. A calculator is allowed in both.

• Paper 1: Investigating small business. Examined on Theme 1. 1 hour 45 minutes, 90 marks, 50%.
• Paper 2: Building a business. Examined on Theme 2. 1 hour 45 minutes, 90 marks, 50%.

Each paper is split into three sections: Section A (35 marks) with multiple choice, calculation and short-answer questions; Section B (30 marks); and Section C (25 marks). Sections B and C are based on business contexts in a Source Booklet and end in extended-response questions (typically a 9-mark justify in Section B and a 12-mark evaluate in Section C). The papers target mathematics at a minimum of Key Stage 3 level.

The calculations you must master

The quantitative marks come from a fixed set of methods. Learn each one and practise interpreting the result.

1. Percentages and percentage change. Including market share and change over time.
2. Averages. Calculating averages from data such as sales or survey results.
3. Revenue, costs and profit. Revenue is price times quantity; total cost is fixed plus variable cost; profit is revenue minus total cost.
4. Break-even and margin of safety. The break-even level of output and the gap between actual and break-even output, read from a break-even diagram.
5. Cash flow. Net cash flow, opening and closing balances in a cash-flow forecast.
6. Profit margins and average rate of return. Gross and net profit margins as a percentage of revenue, and the average rate of return on an investment.

The skills that run across the course

Each topic rewards content knowledge, but the marks come from applying it through a fixed set of command words.

1. Knowledge and definitions. State, give and identify questions test precise recall of key terms (1 to 2 marks).
2. Application to the business. Explain and calculate questions need theory or a method linked to the specific business (typically 2 to 3 marks).
3. Analysis. Discuss and analyse questions need a developed chain of consequences (because, which means, leading to), often 6 marks.
4. Evaluation. The 9-mark (Justify) and 12-mark (Evaluate) questions need a balanced, two-sided argument and a justified conclusion, applied to the Source Booklet business.

The topics, dot point by dot point

Each topic area has an overview guide, dot-point answer pages and a quiz. Browse the full set at /gcse-edexcel/business/syllabus.

For the official specification

Pearson publishes the full specification (1BS0), past papers and mark schemes at qualifications.pearson.com. Always revise from the current specification and Edexcel's own past papers, because question style, command words and the source-booklet format are board-specific.