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Economics v Business studies a-level

Joey952

just want your opinion on the subjects.....

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Reply 1

Enoch.

Wrong place to post this thread, however, I can tell you - Economics > Business Studies.

Reply 2

username445084

Business is a lot easier, however Economics is looked upon much greater by universities.

All Business really comes down to is learning key words, equations and how to go about structuring the essays. Economics on the other hand, I find much harder. If anyone says to you; "Economics is just a harder version of Business" They are completely wrong and just ignore them, this was the reason I chose it. Don't get me wrong, I quite enjoy Economics but there are areas within the subject that can cause difficulty/hard to get your head round.

If you're looking to go to the more 'prestigious' universities then pick Economics as it is referred as a more 'traditional' subject. Don't make that deter you from picking Business though, I really enjoy it, more so than Economics but the fact of the matter is and what im getting at is that the better uni's don't particularly rate it. :biggrin:

(edited 13 years ago)

Reply 3

Joey952

btw did u do GCSE business

Reply 4

username445084

Original post by soufyaan

btw did u do GCSE business

I did, which could influence the fact that I find it easier, but i still think for a new student to both subjects (if you are) Business would seem the easier option.

Reply 5

Chelle-belle

Economics is generally more reputable than Business Studies, and since you seem to be able to pick (your school offers both) I would suggest going for the former. It probably won't matter so much unless you want to enter an Economics course at university. If your school didn't offer Economics, they would have accepted Business Studies, but otherwise not really.

Reply 6

Joey952

thank you for the advice ..

Reply 7

Kim-x

I've done both at A Level, but the Business A Level that my school did was applied. The normal A Level has more of an overlap with Economics apparently so they didn't do it. Business is definitely easier but Economics is more useful as you understand more of what's going on with the banks etc. Economics is generally more highly regraded by unis but it can depend on what they're looking for; applied is two thirds coursework and some like the time management skills that come from it. I prefer Economics A Level I think, I liked the challenge and I didn't find the Business A Level as interesting as the GCSE.

Reply 8

Joey952

Original post by Kim-x

you just bought the next question i was thinking off, applied business or business studies, clearly you got into uni but did they require specific business A-levels :s-smilie:

Reply 9

Samantha_Kay

I do both Business and Economics for Alevel. I also did business at GCSE and got an A*. Personally i find Business easier but i find economics more rewarding and enjoy it more. People who say that economics and business are the same are wrong! Yes you can use business theory in economics but the syllabus's are completely different and definitly not the same.

Reply 10

Joey952

did you have to do economics...

Reply 11

Chelle-belle

Original post by Samantha_Kay

This may be true but many universities consider them too similar to be treated as two separate subjects at A level - particularly for entry into Economics.

Reply 12

Joey952

Original post by Chelle-belle

This may be true but many universities consider them too similar to be treated as two separate subjects at A level - particularly for entry into Economics.

yes, that does seem true when looking at the entry requirments..,but i don't see my self doing economics at university

Reply 13

Firaila

Economics is better regarded by universities :borat:

The subject matter is different, so don't think Eco is just a harder version of business studies...

Reply 14

Joey952

Original post by Firaila

Economics is better regarded by universities :borat:

The subject matter is different, so don't think Eco is just a harder version of business studies...

yeh that seems to be the case with everyone i ask

Reply 15

cmack17

They are quite similar, however economics is definitely more interesting and therefore easier to do well in.

Reply 16

Kim-x

Original post by soufyaan

you just bought the next question i was thinking off, applied business or business studies, clearly you got into uni but did they require specific business A-levels :s-smilie:

I'm pretty sure there are people on my course with the normal A Level and Economics, but some unis don't accept this, such as Exeter; and will only count one of them. I was told that Applied Business and Economics overlap less and so unis should have a better regard for those two together rather than Economics and the normal business, but then some unis have a lower regard for applied because it's 4 courseworks and 2 exams and they see this as easier. It's mainly down to the individual perspective of the uni, because as I said, some think that the time management that goes into applied and the experience of writing lengthy assignments is more valuable than the traditional A Level. You'd be best of looking into the unis that you're interested in and asking what their take on Economics and Business is.

Reply 17

Kim-x

Original post by Firaila

Economics is better regarded by universities :borat:

The subject matter is different, so don't think Eco is just a harder version of business studies...

That seems to be a common opinion of it from people who haven't studied it, and once I did say that to someone when trying to explain the difference in layman's terms and one sentence.

Economics is more specific and rather than doing simple demand and supply diagrams, looks at the determinants of them and predicts the effects of changes. It looks at all firms instead of one firm, and in a way it's like doing a really detailed PEST analysis; you study inflation, interest rates, government policy and intervention, international trade etc. Also OP, don't think that you should take Business purely because it's easier for you to do well in considering that you haven't done Business before. There were 6 people in my Economics class at A2 and we had 2A's, 2B's, a D and an E. One of the A's was someone that didn't do Business at GCSE.