Syllabus: AQA - GCSE Business
Module: Business in the Real World
Lesson: 3.1.5 Business Locations

Introduction

This article supports the AQA GCSE Business syllabus, focusing on section 3.1.5: Business Location. It’s designed for teachers, SLT, careers leads, and headteachers looking for clarity, curriculum alignment, and real-world relevance. Business location decisions are a staple of enterprise thinking—students learn how strategic choices about where a business sets up can make or break its success. This topic links directly to employability skills and gives students the practical tools to analyse real business cases.

Key Concepts

From the AQA specification (3.1.5), students need to understand:

• Factors influencing location: proximity to market, labour, materials, and competitors.

• Nature of the business: online vs physical, product vs service-based, small vs large.

• Impact of technology: especially ecommerce and remote working.

• Costs and decision-making: weighing fixed and variable location-related costs.

• Legal and environmental influences: zoning laws, planning permission, and environmental impact.

These concepts form a key bridge between theory and practical business decision-making.

Real-World Relevance

Think about Amazon’s fulfilment centres across the UK—strategically located near transport hubs and urban centres to reduce delivery times and labour costs. Or look at Greggs, which chooses high-footfall areas like city centres and retail parks. By contrast, startups like Notonthehighstreet.com rely on virtual presence, showing how digital businesses prioritise different location factors. Students can explore local examples too: why does a coffee shop thrive near a sixth form, while another fails tucked away in an industrial estate?

How It’s Assessed

AQA tends to test this topic through:

• Short-answer questions: explaining reasons for choosing a location (e.g. 3-4 marks).

• Case study/application questions: applying knowledge to a scenario (6-9 marks).

• Extended responses: justifying a location decision based on given data (up to 12 marks).

Command words to teach include “explain”, “analyse”, and “justify”—each requiring a step-up in reasoning and structure. Students should practise building chains of reasoning and weighing options.

Enterprise Skills Integration

This topic is ideal for embedding decision-making, problem-solving, and analysis:

• Decision-making: weighing pros and cons of different sites using business data.

• Problem-solving: adapting location plans when constraints (budget, space) change.

• Numeracy: calculating and comparing location-related costs (e.g. rent, transport, staff).

Our MarketScope AI tool can simulate different location scenarios based on fictional business profiles, helping students practise these skills in a hands-on, low-prep way.

Careers Links

This unit supports:

• Gatsby Benchmark 4 (linking curriculum learning to careers) by showing how real estate agents, operations managers, urban planners, and logistics specialists use location data daily.

• Gatsby Benchmark 5 (encounters with employers) through potential visits from local business owners or virtual case study interviews.

• Careers relevance: roles in retail, logistics, site management, and business consultancy all involve location strategy.

Teaching Notes

Tips:

• Use local business maps or Google Earth to explore real-world locations.

• Integrate numeracy by setting tasks comparing location costs.

• Use past paper questions early, not just for revision.

Common pitfalls:

• Students confuse proximity to suppliers with customers—highlight the difference clearly.

• Some struggle to apply to digital businesses—ensure examples include ecommerce.

Extension ideas:

• Run a “Dragons’ Den” style pitch where students must justify their chosen location to ‘investors’.

• Create group debates on urban vs rural location benefits.

Supports mixed ability:

• Scaffolded decision grids for early learners.

• Challenge tasks using cost-benefit analysis for high achievers.