The ‘decisions’ approach to business studies in sixth forms

Abstract

In recent years there has been growing unease with the narrowness of the A level dominated curriculum of the sixth form. Recent research and the examination of available statistics of the courses followed by sixth formers suggests that A level courses are not appropriate for many of them. Nearly a third of sixth formers who embark on A level courses will probably fail or get no more than a single pass, although four‐fifths of them aim for three or more, while a significant proportion will drop out without ever sitting the exams. At the same time there is evidence of an increasing demand among sixth formers for the study of subjects of greater ‘relevance’ and ‘significance’ to the everyday lives which they will lead on leaving school, or further or higher education. At the present time it tends to be through General Studies as described by John Graddon in the February issue, that this balancing element is provided. It is in General Studies, also, that the various ability groups in the ‘new sixth form’ come together: the ‘traditional’ A‐level students, the post O‐level, but non‐A‐level students and the ‘new’ sixth formers who stay on but follow no exam courses at all. It is in this context that many new developments are going on which a few years ago would have seemed strangely alien to the traditional academic ethos of a sixth form. The study of sociology, psychology, business studies and ecology (not to mention more esoteric subjects) is becoming common, and a strong argument can be made for them.

Citation

Atthill, C. (1973), "The ‘decisions’ approach to business studies in sixth forms", Industrial and Commercial Training, Vol. 5 No. 5, pp. 216-223. https://doi.org/10.1108/eb003311