Improving Profitability

Overview

Duration: 30 minutes
Class size: 22 students (including 1 SEND pupil and 1 pupil requiring pre-taught resources)
Target grades: A* to B
Subject: Business
Curriculum: National Curriculum for England, KS5 (A Level Business Studies)

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National Curriculum Links

This lesson aligns with the following elements from the National Curriculum for Business at A Level (Year 12):

• Knowledge and Understanding:

  • Profitability and its importance within business performance. (A Level Business, Year 12 content: Unit 2 - Finance and Accounts)
  • Methods to improve profitability, including revenue enhancement and cost reduction strategies.

• Skills:

  • Analyse financial information linked to profit improvement.
  • Evaluate the effectiveness of different strategies to improve profitability.
  • Critical thinking and application of business theory to real-world scenarios.
  • Communication skills through discussion and structured responses.

• Assessment objectives:

  • AO1: Demonstrate knowledge and understanding of business concepts.
  • AO2: Apply business concepts to analyse business scenarios.
  • AO3: Evaluate business scenarios and justify decisions using relevant data.

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Learning Objectives

By the end of this lesson, students will be able to:

1. Define profitability and explain why it is critical for business survival and growth.
2. Identify at least three practical ways businesses can improve profitability.
3. Analyse how changes in revenue and costs impact profitability using simple profit calculations.
4. Evaluate the pros and cons of different approaches to improve profitability.

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Resources

• Pre-prepared handouts with key terminology and profit formula for the pupil requiring support.
• Whiteboard or smartboard for input and modelling calculations.
• Mini-case study: a fictional business scenario focused on poor profitability.
• Calculators for simple profit calculations.
• Question prompt sheet tailored for the SEND pupil with sentence starters and visuals.

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Lesson Structure

Starter (5 mins)

Activity:

• Use a quick-fire questioning round to activate prior knowledge:
  • What is profit?
  • Why is profit important for businesses?
• Write key terms on the board: Revenue, Costs, Profit, Profitability.
• Display the basic profit formula: Profit = Revenue − Costs.

SEND considerations:

• Provide the SEND pupil with a prompt sheet and visuals showing the formula and definitions prior to the lesson.

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Main Teaching (15 mins)

Part 1: Concept Explanation (5 mins)

• Deliver a clear explanation of profitability: focusing on how profit margin, gross profit, and net profit relate to business decisions.
• Introduce three main strategies to improve profitability:
  1. Increase prices (revenue-focused)
  2. Increase sales volume (revenue-focused)
  3. Reduce costs (cost-focused)

Part 2: Application & Analysis (10 mins)

• Present a mini-case study of a café struggling with low profits. Provide relevant revenue and cost data.
• In pairs, students calculate current profit and suggest two ways to improve profitability from the three strategies introduced.

SEND and prep pupil:

• Pair SEND pupil with a confident peer.
• Provide the prepared handout to the pupil needing support.
• Use visual prompts to assist understanding.

Differentiation:

• Target A* students will be challenged to evaluate the impact of each strategy on customer satisfaction and long-term sustainability.

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Plenary (5 mins)

Activity:

• Rapid-fire Q&A round where students justify which profitability improvement strategy is most effective for the café.
• Teacher models a concise evaluative response showcasing reasoning and use of profit data.

Assessment:

• Informal verbal assessment through questioning to check understanding (AO1, AO2, AO3).
• Teacher notes responses for individual progress and ability to connect data to business decisions.

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SEND & Inclusion Strategies

• Provide key vocabulary and profit formula in advance for the SEND pupil and the pupil requiring support.
• Use visual aids and sentence starters during activities.
• Partner SEND pupil with a supportive peer for paired work.
• Allow additional processing time for responses.

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Extension Ideas (If time permits or for homework)

• Research a real business case of profitability improvement and prepare a brief presentation.
• Create a profit and loss statement with varying revenue and cost scenarios.

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Teacher Reflection

• Did students demonstrate understanding of profitability concepts?
• Were students able to analyse and evaluate strategies effectively?
• How well did SEND adaptations support all learners?
• Could the lesson pace or resources be improved for even greater engagement?

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This lesson plan focuses on deepening Year 12 students' understanding of practical and evaluative approaches to improving profitability, aligned with the National Curriculum for England and accessible for all learners.