Foundation Creative and Media Production, and Technology
Foundation Creative and Media Production, and Technology is a two-year Entry Level and Level 1 course for learners in Years 10 and 11 who learn best through practical work, graded from Entry 1 Pass to Level 1 Pass. Unit 1 looks at Welsh creative media companies, audiences, job roles, regulators and ethics, and learners usually show this through digital posters, presentations, quizzes or podcasts. Unit 2, which carries most of the points, is digital almost throughout: learners plan, make and edit one media product in audio-visual, audio, interactive media or graphic design and publishing form, using cameras, smartphones, microphones and editing software, then save and export it. All evidence is submitted digitally. Key Stage 3 should build confident filming, recording, image editing and exporting for a named audience.
- Awarding body
- WJEC
- Level
- Entry Level and Level 1
- First taught
- September 2027
- Amount of digital work
- High
- Specification
- Open the specification
- Next step up
- VCSE Creative and Media Production, and Technology, Level 1 and Level 2
How this qualification is assessed
- Unit 1: Introduction to Welsh creative media industries: Centre marked non-examination assessment, a portfolio of evidence from teacher-set activities, maximum assessment time of 9 hours (typically 7 to 9 hours), 40 of the 112 qualification points, assessed in centre and moderated by WJEC; 36 guided learning hours, intended to be taught first and available from summer 2028
- Unit 2: Creative and media production tools and processes: Centre marked non-examination assessment, a portfolio of evidence from teacher-set activities, maximum assessment time of 38 hours (typically 25 to 38 hours), 72 of the 112 qualification points, assessed in centre and moderated by WJEC; 84 guided learning hours, available from summer 2029
Skills that use Evaluating and improving digital content
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Building an interactive webpage from templates
Learners who choose interactive media in Unit 2 create multimedia products with still and moving images and interactive elements such as menus, a navigation bar and scrolling. They do not have to write code such as HTML and may use web design software or templates, but they are responsible for the content and design, and they test and fix the product through user testing and correcting errors.
DCF: Creating digital content, Storing and sharing, Evaluating and improving digital content
Getting pupils ready
- Year 7
- Pupils make a three slide interactive presentation about a hobby, using action buttons and hyperlinks so a viewer can move between a menu and two pages.
- Year 8
- Pupils build a two page site in a template-based website builder with a navigation bar, their own images and a short embedded video, then check every link works.
- Year 9
- Pupils build a small website promoting a Welsh place for young visitors, ask two classmates to test it, and fix the broken links, typing errors and hard to read text they report.
Show the specification wording and the DCF statements
Where it is in the specification: Unit 2, LO2.4 and LO2.5, pages 25 and 26
“It is acceptable for learners to use web design software or templates for this option”
Progression step 3
I can use a range of software to select, produce and edit a range of multimedia components for a purpose, such as:
- text and images, e.g. format text (bold, underline, italics, highlight); insert and edit text boxes; columns; use refine tools (spellchecker, find and replace); word wrap; crop; alter size and shape; alter images; add effects; trim and split sound and video clips; transitions; onion skin
- presentation, e.g. page orientation; animations; transitions; remove and alter images; use background; use action buttons to create hyperlink; embed objects.
I can create and share hyperlinks to local, network and online files.
Progression step 4
I can select and use a variety of appropriate software, tools and techniques to create, modify and combine multimedia components for a range of audiences and purposes, such as:
- text and images, e.g. explore and use effectively image manipulation techniques; explore and use appropriately the many aspects of document layout; use animation, video and audio effects such as echo, tempo, envelope, layering, frame rate, key frames
- presentation, e.g. use design tools; adapt themes and colours to suit the purpose; create master templates.
I can suggest and make improvements that are relevant for audience and purpose, based on feedback and self-evaluation of my digital work.
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Using creative techniques to appeal to an audience
In Unit 2 learners use creative techniques in their own product to appeal to the target audience, such as content of images, pace of editing and slogans in a TV advert, or layout, images and graphics on a webpage. Level 1 learners use a range of techniques and explain two ways the complete product would appeal to its target audience.
DCF: Creating digital content, Evaluating and improving digital content
Getting pupils ready
- Year 7
- Pupils make two versions of a digital poster for the same club, one for parents and one for Year 7, changing font, colours and images.
- Year 8
- Pupils edit a 30 second advert twice, once with fast cuts and upbeat music and once with slow cuts, and say which suits a teenage audience better.
- Year 9
- Pupils produce a short promotional product for a set audience and annotate it to explain how the images, pace, typography and slogan were chosen to appeal.
Show the specification wording and the DCF statements
Where it is in the specification: Unit 2, LO2.6, page 27; Assessment criteria 2.6.1 and 2.6.2, page 32
“Use creative techniques to appeal to an audience in a media”
Progression step 3
I can use software tools to enhance the outcomes for specific audiences.
I can ensure my output is appropriate for specific purposes.
Progression step 4
I can select and use a variety of appropriate software, tools and techniques to create, modify and combine multimedia components for a range of audiences and purposes, such as:
- text and images, e.g. explore and use effectively image manipulation techniques; explore and use appropriately the many aspects of document layout; use animation, video and audio effects such as echo, tempo, envelope, layering, frame rate, key frames
- presentation, e.g. use design tools; adapt themes and colours to suit the purpose; create master templates.
I can justify the reasons for choices and explain the advantages and disadvantages of the different digital outputs I create.
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Gathering feedback, including from AI tools, and improving the work
In Unit 2 learners find out where feedback comes from, including teachers, classmates, self-reflection and AI tools, pick out areas for improvement and change their plans, for example by changing colours, layout or text or re-recording clips. Level 1 learners review feedback from at least two separate sources and refine their pre-production work, explaining how the changes improve it.
DCF: Evaluating and improving digital content
Getting pupils ready
- Year 7
- Pupils share a digital poster with a partner, who adds two comments in the shared document, and pupils make one change in response.
- Year 8
- Pupils ask an AI tool for feedback on a storyboard, compare it with comments from a classmate and decide which two suggestions to act on.
- Year 9
- Pupils collect feedback on a draft video from a teacher, peers and an AI tool, make changes, and show the before and after versions with a reason for each change.
Show the specification wording and the DCF statements
Where it is in the specification: Unit 2, LO2.3, pages 24 and 25; Assessment criteria 2.3.1 to 2.3.3, page 30; Examples of tasks, page 35
“use prompts to ask AI tools for simple feedback on creative media work”
Progression step 3
I can invite feedback/responses from others, e.g. use 'comment' in online platforms, asking questions or adding suggestions.
I can explain reasons for layout and content of my own work and the work of others.
Progression step 4
I can suggest and make improvements that are relevant for audience and purpose, based on feedback and self-evaluation of my digital work.
Good to know
- All evidence for both units is submitted online: "All evidence must be submitted digitally." Paper work and physical evidence must be scanned, photographed or filmed (Section 3.3, page 40).
- Learners make one product in one media form: "a creative media product in one of the following media forms", audio-visual, audio, interactive media or graphic design and publishing (Unit 2, page 23).
- Equipment depends on that choice: "Depending on the media form chosen by the learner", centres may need video and audio recording equipment, software such as Adobe Creative Suite, and audio and audio-visual editing software (Unit 2, page 22).
- Coding is not required for websites: "learners are not required to create websites through programming languages such as HTML", and web design software or templates are acceptable (Unit 2, page 26).
- AI is part of the taught content: learners use prompts "in AI tools to generate initial ideas" (page 23), AI tools are a source of feedback (page 24), and the "use of AI" is an ethical consideration (Unit 1, page 14).
- Tasks are set by the centre: "Teachers have the flexibility to design assessment tasks" (Section 3.1, page 39), and "Learners must be supervised by a teacher while completing assessment activities." (Section 3.5, page 41).
- The cover warns that "The UK Government has announced plans to restrict social media use by children under 16, which may impact some of our qualifications." (cover page), which may matter for social media examples.
- Appendix A (page 48) maps Digital Competence Producing to every learning outcome in both units, Citizenship to LO1.2, LO1.4, LO2.2 and LO2.5, Interacting and collaborating to LO2.3, and Data and computational thinking to none.
Links with other qualifications
The specification names the WJEC VCSE Creative and Media Production, and Technology as the next step after a Level 1 Pass. The VCSE shares the same skills: pre-production planning with storyboards and schedules, filming, recording, photography, editing, copyright, regulation, AI and appeal to a target audience. It steps them up from one teacher-set product in a single media form to WJEC-set briefs, a separate pre-production NEA and a multi-modal promotional campaign that combines an audio-visual or audio element with an interactive or graphic design element, with a production journal and a one hour sector test. Filming, editing and media regulation also link with GCSE Digital Media and Film, and image editing and web design link with GCSE Digital Technology.
Source: WJEC Entry Level/Level 1 Foundation Creative and Media Production, and Technology specification, approved by Qualifications Wales, teaching from September 2027, for award from 2029 (© WJEC CBAC Ltd 2026).