Did you know? A screenshot is a way to record information, not automatically a primary source. G1 Elements of Business Skills tuition can help your child identify how evidence was obtained, distinguish first-hand investigation from existing published material, and explain what each source can actually support.
Try sorting three separate practice items: the child’s own dated observation notes, responses to a survey they conducted, and a business’s published website. Ask “How did you obtain this information?” before asking whether it looks convincing. The origin of the evidence matters more than whether it is on paper or on a screen.
For the 2027 SEC, G1 Elements of Business Skills is K129. Check the school’s actual offering and examination year. G1 is a subject level rather than a Posting Group, and assessed Business Investigation must remain the student’s own work within the school’s permitted-support rules.
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Start with the diagnostic, try the original practice example, then check independent progress. Confirm the school’s subject, level, year and permitted support before choosing tuition.
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A learner may classify anything photographed personally as primary and anything typed as secondary. This confuses the storage format with the method of obtaining information. A photo of a published brochure still records an existing source; typed notes can record the student’s own first-hand observation.
Ask the child to narrate the origin of each item. Did they ask a question and collect a response? Did they observe a situation? Did they read information already published by someone else? Then identify the exact claim they want to support.
Keep this classification within the Business Investigation context. Source categories can be used differently in other disciplines, such as History. For K129, use the school’s conventions and the official examples rather than transferring a rule from another subject without checking.
Imagine a fictional stationery shop called Paper Lane. A published website states that it sells notebooks and folders. In K129’s Business Investigation framework, a website is an example of a secondary source. It supports a claim about what the business advertises, not a claim that every customer is satisfied.
Now imagine the student conducts a practice survey of six consenting participants and records which product information they found useful. Those collected responses are primary evidence from the investigation. They report those participants’ answers; they do not establish the views of every shopper.
Finally, the learner observes a permitted practice interaction and writes a dated note describing what was visible. The note can support the observed event. It should not claim to know an employee’s intention or a customer’s private feelings.
These are invented teaching examples, not real research findings. The distinction is useful because the same sentence can become stronger or weaker depending on what evidence sits beneath it.
Use a simple log with four prompts: source or method, date, recorded information, and claim it may support. Add a fifth prompt for limits. The student then sees that identifying a source is only the beginning of using it responsibly.
A tutor can provide a separate practice pack and ask the learner to match each item to one possible claim. Include a tempting unsupported claim, such as “customers dislike the shop”, beside a single observation of a queue. The student should explain why the available evidence does not establish that conclusion.
Do not teach that primary evidence is always more accurate. A leading survey question or a brief observation can have limits. Equally, a published source may be relevant but outdated or promotional. The useful question is whether the information is suitable for the particular claim.
Once the log is secure, the learner writes a short finding in their own words and identifies its basis. This connects collection, interpretation and recommendation. A pile of screenshots cannot replace those links.
If G1 EBS is offered in a 3-pax group, one learner can describe a practice source, another propose a claim and a third test whether the claim goes beyond the evidence. Rotate roles, then ask each child to make an independent evidence log for a fresh fictional case.
A tutor may teach neutral question wording, observation recording and source attribution on separate practice materials. For assessed work, the student should choose and gather evidence, interpret findings and make recommendations within the school’s rules. Adults should not generate responses, manufacture observations or write the final analysis.
Follow school guidance for contacting businesses, surveying people and using photographs. Respect consent and privacy, and do not pressure employees or customers to participate. A parent can help the child plan an appropriate visit without conducting the investigation for them.
Bring a permitted example of the child’s source classification to a consultation and ask where the reasoning breaks. If the student can already classify and use unfamiliar evidence accurately, tuition may be better spent on another identified skill.
The 2027 K129 document lists surveys, observations and interviews as examples of primary sources, and websites, newspapers and brochures as examples of secondary sources. It asks students to analyse information and report findings in their own words.
Paper 2 is Business Investigation coursework. The document assigns 20 hours of curriculum computer-laboratory time for secondary-source gathering, organising and responding to tasks, with primary-source gathering outside those hours. Follow the school’s supervision and permitted-help instructions for the actual task.
The source examples are part of an assessed learning process, not a suggestion that any convenient item will meet the task. Use the exact year-specific document and the chosen business context supplied or approved through school.
Give your child an unfamiliar practice item: a screenshot of a newspaper story, their own interview notes, or a published business brochure. Ask for the method, the source category in this EBS context, one supportable claim and one limitation.
Then offer a claim that is too broad. A secure learner can reduce “all customers prefer this” to a statement that matches the actual responses collected. This restraint is progress; a longer or more confident answer is not automatically better.
Review again after a few days without the completed model log. The aim is for the child to preserve the connection between origin, evidence and claim independently. Confirm a provider’s actual G1 EBS provision before arranging specialist support.
Useful next reading
Official requirements checked on 12 October 2026. The teaching examples above are original practice activities; use the school’s current instructions for assessed work.
