Which skills can business competitions practise, and how can students rehearse answers?
Research, judgement, communication and collaboration need repeated practice in concrete tasks. Rehearsals should clarify evidence and respond to changed conditions. Look for improvement in work and successive attempts.
FINGY learning guidance and teaching examples · Sources checked 11 October 2026.
Make skills observable
Competitions can create opportunities to research, compare proposals, decide with a team and present. Participation alone does not demonstrate improvement. Check research through sources, judgement through reasons for rejecting an alternative, and communication through what listeners understand. Examine the work the student actually did.
Explain the decision before polishing the delivery
Organise a short presentation around a recommendation, supporting evidence and conditions still to be checked. Extending a hypothetical stall’s opening hours requires a reason to expect demand, an account of extra costs and a staffing plan. Clarify these relationships before polishing pace and wording.
Listen to the changed condition
When asked what happens if costs rise, identify the change and revisit the assumptions behind the recommendation. Support what is known and explain how to investigate what is uncertain. A student can acknowledge missing data and propose a comparison. Reconsidering the decision is more useful than inventing a number.
Turn feedback into a next attempt
EEF’s teaching guidance emphasises the quality of feedback and warns that feedback does not always help. It is not evidence of competition outcomes. For a rehearsal, FINGY suggests replacing “be clearer” with one actionable task: add the source for a claim, then explain it to a new listener and check understanding.
View sources ↓Keep comparable evidence from a rehearsal
FINGY learning guidance
| Look at | What to do |
|---|---|
| Presentation | Record a 60-second explanation and compare the recommendation with its evidence. |
| Questions | Ask the listener to change one condition and invite a revised judgement. |
| Feedback | Record one point the listener did not understand. |
| Retry | Explain again after revision and check the same issue. |
Use one follow-up question to test understanding
Suppose a student argues that a lower price will increase sales. Ask whether they would choose it if material costs also rose. Have them outline two options and identify missing data. Keep the original answer, revised answer and reasons for revision. Speed and volume are not sufficient measures.
Can a student who dislikes public speaking take part?
Check the specific tasks and available support. Begin with discussion in pairs and short explanations, then gradually add listeners. One high-pressure presentation should not decide whether business learning is suitable.
Sources
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