Foundation Built Environment
WJEC Foundation Built Environment is a two year, 120 hour Entry Level and Level 1 course for learners in Years 10 and 11 who want a practical route into construction, leading on to VCSE Built Environment. Both units are teacher-set portfolios, marked in school and moderated by WJEC. No software is required and no digital skill is assessed for its own sake. The digital work sits in how evidence is gathered and shown: every portfolio must be submitted digitally, so practical work is photographed, filmed or scanned, and the example tasks suggest Google Street View walks, Canva posters and presentations, interactive quizzes, short videos and small case studies of Welsh developments. The most useful thing KS3 can build is clear photo and video recording of practical work, saved and named sensibly.
- Awarding body
- WJEC
- Level
- Entry Level and Level 1
- First taught
- September 2027
- Amount of digital work
- Low
- Specification
- Open the specification
- Next step up
- VCSE Built Environment, Level 1 and Level 2
How this qualification is assessed
- Unit 1: Getting to Know the Built Environment: Centre marked non-examination assessment, portfolio of evidence, maximum assessment time 9 hours (typically 7 to 9 hours), 36 guided learning hours, 60 of the qualification's 132 points, tasks set by the teacher, marked by the centre and moderated by WJEC, available from summer 2028
- Unit 2: Practical Hand Skills: Centre marked non-examination assessment, portfolio of evidence, maximum assessment time 21 hours (typically 19 to 21 hours), 84 guided learning hours, 72 of the qualification's 132 points, tasks set by the teacher, marked by the centre and moderated by WJEC, available from summer 2029
Skills that use Data and information literacy
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Sorting and comparing developments in tables
Land classification in Unit 1 is the one section that Appendix A links to data and computational thinking. Entry level learners sort images of land into brownfield and greenfield, and Level 1 learners could fill in a Top Trump style record for each Welsh development, scoring features such as community value and cost effectiveness, then decide a rank order. Entry 1 tasks may be done digitally.
DCF: Data and information literacy
Getting pupils ready
- Year 7
- Pupils drag photos of local sites into two columns of a shared table, brownfield and greenfield, and add one reason for each choice.
- Year 8
- Pupils enter scores out of five for four local buildings on a spreadsheet, under headings such as cost, appearance and usefulness, and sort the sheet to find the highest total.
- Year 9
- Pupils design a Top Trump style card template in a spreadsheet or form, fill it in for three Welsh developments, then sort and filter the results to justify a final ranking.
Show the specification wording and the DCF statements
Where it is in the specification: Unit 1, Section 1.3.1, page 16; Unit 1, Examples of tasks, LO1.3, pages 25 and 26; Appendix A, page 56
“decide the rank order of each development”
Progression step 3
I can construct, refine and interrogate data sets within tables, charts, spreadsheets and databases to test or support an investigation.
Progression step 4
I can create a data capture form, capture data, search data and create a database and spreadsheet with appropriate data input method.
I can perform analysis on simple data sets including grouping data as appropriate.
Good to know
- Every portfolio goes to WJEC electronically: "All evidence must be submitted digitally." (Section 3.3, page 48), with paper and practical work scanned, photographed or filmed and uploaded through IAMIS. Each portfolio also needs the Learner Assessment Record from the WJEC website.
- No software or device is required. Canva for Education and Google Street View appear only in the example tasks, and the specification states "These tasks are not mandatory." (Section 2.1, page 9).
- Several Entry 1 and Entry 2 task lists end with "NB: these tasks could be done digitally." (Unit 1, pages 23 to 25), so card sorts, matching and quizzes can be on screen or on paper.
- Recorded work counts as evidence: the list includes "recordings of the learner performing a task, giving a presentation, or participating in a discussion" (Section 3.3, page 48).
- Entry 1 learners may use technology for access: support can include "use of symbols, or assistive technology" (Section 3.4, page 49).
- The specification says nothing about artificial intelligence. It does state "Learners must be supervised by a teacher while completing assessment activities." (Section 3.5, page 49), and learners and teachers sign authenticity declarations.
- Appendix A (page 56) maps Interacting and collaborating and Producing to almost every section of both units, Data and computational thinking only to land classification (1.3.1), and leaves Citizenship blank.
Links with other qualifications
The specification names VCSE Built Environment as the next step. Both qualifications rely on photographing and recording practical work as evidence, submitting it digitally and finding out about building projects in Wales. The VCSE steps these up: learners study how apps, digital mapping, GIS, photography and drones support site analysis, may sit an on-screen sector test, work from a case study released on the WJEC Portal, and compare materials and options using data and a project plan with a critical path. Street View walks and land classification also link with GCSE Geography, and tool and material choices with GCSE Design and Technology.
Source: WJEC Entry Level/Level 1 Foundation Built Environment specification, approved by Qualifications Wales, teaching from September 2027, for award from 2029 (© WJEC CBAC Ltd 2026).