Lesson Element
Unit 1: The Business Environment
LO1: Understand different types of businesses
and their objectives
Types of business activity
Instructions and answers for tutors
These instructions cover the learner activity section which can be found on page 5. This
Lesson Element supports Cambridge Technicals Level 3 in Business.
When distributing the activity section to the learners either as a printed copy or as a
Word file you will need to remove the tutor instructions section.
The activity
This is an ‘investigate, discover, and share’ activity with the structured questions below
giving learners the opportunity to answer using appropriate trigger words. Learners should
present their findings as a presentation to deliver to the rest of the class.
Learners could be asked to use ICT, if available, to put each statistical table into graphs or
charts, to make any trends easier to see. A follow-up activity could be for the learners to
discuss their findings and the relative importance of each sector.
The nature of business in the UK has changed significantly over time. The contribution to the
UK economy made by different types of jobs will be investigated.
Suggested timing
Up to 2 hours
ABC – This activity offers an
opportunity for English skills
development.
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123 – This activity offers an
opportunity for maths skills
development.
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WORK – This activity offers
an opportunity for work
experience.
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Activity
Learners should review the tables below. They should familiarise themselves with the terms
primary, secondary and tertiary sectors and GDP to ensure they can interpret the data within
and answer the questions below. There are seven questions. Table 1 shows the number of
UK jobs in each sector of the economy: primary, secondary and tertiary. Table 2 shows the
percentage of UK jobs in each sector of the economy: primary, secondary and tertiary. Table
3 shows the contribution made to GDP by each of the three sectors over a longer period of
time.
Using this information and working in pairs, learners should answer the questions below.
Table 1
Primary
Employment
(000’s)
Secondary
Employment
(000’s)
Tertiary
Employment
(000’s)
June 2015
307
4,111
24,774
June 2014
312
3,951
24,370
June 2013
270
3,868
23,579
June 2012
286
3,919
23,238
June 2011
259
3,934
27,252
June 2010
278
3,980
23,022
Primary
Employment
% workforce
Secondary
Employment
% workforce
Tertiary
Employment
% workforce
June 2015
1.1
14.1
84.8
June 2014
1.1
13.8
86.1
June 2013
1.0
14.0
85.0
June 2012
1.0
14.2
84.8
June 2011
1.0
14.4
84.6
June 2010
1.2
17.1
81.7
Table 2
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Table 3
Primary
Employment
Secondary
Employment
Tertiary
Employment
% share GDP
% share GDP
% share GDP
1973
5
41
54
1990
4
30
66
2009
3
20
77
Source: Office for National Statistics
Questions
1. Define and give examples of primary, secondary and tertiary sectors.
2. What is GDP?
3. According to the tables above which one of the following statements is true?
(This question can be used to get students looking at the data in order to describe
changes/trends for the question that follows.)
a. The percentage of people employed in the UK tertiary sector fell from around 20% to
around 15% between 2010 and 2015.
b. The secondary sector provides the largest proportion of jobs in the UK.
c. Most people in the UK are employed within service industries.
d. The primary sector is becoming increasingly important for UK jobs.
a. FALSE – The percentage of people employed in the tertiary sector increased.
b. FALSE – The tertiary sector is always larger.
c. TRUE – Correct answer.
d. FALSE – The primary sector is clearly the smallest sector.
4. Describe how UK employment in each of the three sectors has changed between
2010 and 2015
Points to note – learners will not necessarily need to give exact figures. If computers are
available, teachers might like to get learners to create graphs. Learners are expected to
be able to see the relative decline of the Primary and Secondary sectors and the growth
of the Tertiary sector.
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5. Why do you think these changes have occurred and what do you think is likely to
happen to employment levels in each of the three sectors over the next ten years?
Research and give examples to back up your explanations.
Points to note – when learners are looking for reasons for these changes, they should
use the internet to investigate examples of how the following things have affected
employment/changed over the last few years in the UK:
 technology
 globalisation
 mechanisation
 increased standards of living
 the state of the UK economy in recent history – recession.
They will be expected to give an opinion based on the tables and predict what might
happen to the figures in the future, based on what has happened in the past.
6. How important is the tertiary sector to the UK economy? Give examples to support
your answer
Points to note – this is an open-ended question looking for learners to give an evaluated
opinion on the relative importance of each sector. Each sector does contribute to the
GDP and employment of the UK but the tertiary sector is the most important in terms of
employment and contribution to GDP. Learners should give examples to support the
answer.
7. Class discussion.
Present and be prepared to discuss your findings with the rest of the group.
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Lesson Element
Unit 1: The Business Environment
LO1: Understand different types of businesses
and their objectives
Learner Activity
Types of business activity
The nature of business in the UK has changed significantly over time. You will be
investigating the contribution to the UK economy made by different types of employment.
You will work in pairs.
Activity
You should review the tables below. You should firstly ensure that you are familiar with the
terms primary secondary and tertiary sectors and GDP, in order to ensure you can interpret
the data within and answer the questions below.
There are then seven questions followed by a group discussion. Table 1 shows the number
of UK jobs in each sector of the economy: primary, secondary and tertiary. Table 2 shows
the percentage of UK jobs in each sector of the economy: primary, secondary and tertiary.
Table 3 shows the contribution made to GDP by each of the three sectors over a longer
period of time.
Use the information they provide to answer the questions below.
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© OCR 2016
Table 1
Primary
Employment
Secondary
Employment
Tertiary
Employment
(000’s)
(000’s)
(000’s)
June 2015
307
4,111
24,774
June 2014
312
3,951
24,370
June 2013
270
3,868
23,579
June 2012
286
3,919
23,238
June 2011
259
3,934
27,252
June 2010
278
3,980
23,022
Primary
Employment
% workforce
Secondary
Employment
% workforce
Tertiary
Employment
% workforce
June 2015
1.1
14.1
84.8
June 2014
1.1
13.8
86.1
June 2013
1.0
14.0
85.0
June 2012
1.0
14.2
84.8
June 2011
1.0
14.4
84.6
June 2010
1.2
17.1
81.7
Primary
Employment
% share GDP
Secondary
Employment
% share GDP
Tertiary
Employment
% share GDP
1973
5
41
54
1990
4
30
66
2009
3
20
77
Table 2
Table 3
Source: Office for National Statistics
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© OCR 2016
You should create a presentation to demonstrate understanding of the terms, the data and
the trends that are identified within the data. If you have ICT available, create one graph/bar
chart for each table, in order to make it easier to see the trends in the above statistics. The
questions below should guide you through this.
Questions
1. Define and give examples of primary, secondary and tertiary sectors.
2. What is GDP?
3. According to the tables above which one of the following statements is true?
(Use this question to help you describe some of the trends that are identified in the
statistics.)
a. The percentage of people employed in the UK tertiary sector fell from around 20% to
around 15% between 2010 and 2015.
b. The secondary sector provides the largest proportion of jobs in the UK.
c. Most people in the UK are employed within service industries.
d. The primary sector is becoming increasingly important for UK jobs.
4. Describe how UK employment in each of the three sectors has changed between
2010 and 2015.
You will not necessarily need to give exact figures. You are expected to be able to see
the relative decline of the primary and secondary sectors and the growth of the tertiary
sector.
5. Why do you think these changes have occurred and what do you think is likely to
happen to employment levels in each of the three sectors over the next ten years?
Research and give examples to back up your explanations.
You should consider things such as:





technology
globalisation
mechanisation
increased standards of living
the state of the UK economy in recent history – recession.
From your research, use images where possible to support your work. You will be
expected to give an opinion based on the tables and predict what might happen to the
figures in the future, based on what has happened in the past.
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© OCR 2016
6. How important is the tertiary sector to the UK economy? Give examples to
support your answer.
This is an open-ended question. You are expected to give an evaluated opinion on the
relative importance of each sector. Each sector does contribute to the GDP and
employment of the UK but the tertiary sector is the most important in terms of
employment and contribution to GDP. Again, you could use images to support your
argument.
7. Class discussion.
Present and be prepared to discuss your findings with others in the group.
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