Foundation Hospitality and Catering
VTCT Skills Foundation Hospitality and Catering is an Entry Level and Level 1 qualification for learners aged 14 to 16, taught over Years 10 and 11 and graded from Entry 1 Pass to Level 1 Pass. Unit 1 covers the industry, food safety and hygiene, nutrition and customer care, and Unit 2 is practical: learners plan, prepare, cook and serve a simple dish, give table service and reflect on their performance. Both units are VTCT-set assignments marked in the centre and moderated by VTCT Skills. Digital demand is low because no software is required: the digital work sits in written or visual plans, ordering the steps of a dish, optional digital reflection and Unit 1 internet research.
- Awarding body
- VTCT Skills
- Level
- Entry Level and Level 1
- First taught
- September 2027
- Amount of digital work
- Low
- Specification
- Open the specification
- Next step up
- VCSE Hospitality and Catering, Level 1 and Level 2
How this qualification is assessed
- UWHC3 (Unit 1): Foundations of the Hospitality and Catering industry: Non-examined assessment set by VTCT Skills (a new assignment brief each year, released in December of Year 10 and submitted in April), completed by each learner under supervision within a maximum of 6 hours 30 minutes, four tasks of 8 marks each, marked in the centre with a VTCT level-based mark scheme, internally quality assured and externally moderated by VTCT Skills, 30% of the qualification grade (75 UMS), 40 guided learning hours, one resit allowed in the following year for a fee
- UWHC4 (Unit 2): Develop skills to plan, prepare and serve a simple dish (also titled Introduction to Hospitality and Catering techniques based on a theme): Non-examined assessment set by VTCT Skills, including practical skills (brief released to learners in December of Year 11 and submitted in April), completed by each learner under supervision within a maximum of 8 hours 30 minutes, three tasks of 12, 16 and 12 marks, marked in the centre with a VTCT level-based mark scheme, internally quality assured and externally moderated by VTCT Skills, 70% of the qualification grade (175 UMS), 100 guided learning hours, no resit
Skills that use Evaluating and improving digital content
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Writing a dish plan in a template
Assessment criterion 2.5 asks learners to produce a written or visual plan for making a simple dish, with the dish name, ingredients list, equipment list, step-by-step method, safety points and time needed. The plan can be a worksheet template, a picture plan or a simple written plan depending on ability, and the Curriculum for Wales mapping links it to digital tools for planning, so using software is a choice rather than a requirement.
DCF: Creating digital content, Evaluating and improving digital content
Getting pupils ready
- Year 7
- Pupils type a plan for a fruit salad into a Word table with rows for ingredients, equipment, method and safety points, using bold headings.
- Year 8
- Pupils build a reusable recipe plan template in Word or Google Docs with a numbered method, a safety column and a time for each step, then fill it in for cheese on toast.
- Year 9
- Pupils produce a one page plan for a pasta dish in a template they designed, adding photos of the equipment, and check that a partner could follow it without asking questions.
Show the specification wording and the DCF statements
Where it is in the specification: Unit 2 (UWHC4), LO2 content 2.5, page 61; Unit 2 assessment criterion 2.5, page 78; Section 11.1, page 81
“Learners should create a written or visual plan.”
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 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 explore and develop a range of formal text document structures for different audiences and purposes.
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Making a visual plan for serving a dish
Criterion 2.7 asks for a written or visual plan for serving the dish that shows what it is placed on, the presentation method, any finishing methods and the utensils needed to eat it. Learners can build this from pictures, and the Curriculum for Wales mapping links criteria 2.5 to 2.7 to digital tools for visual aids, though no software is required.
DCF: Creating digital content, Evaluating and improving digital content
Getting pupils ready
- Year 7
- Pupils find images of a soup bowl, a soup spoon and a herb garnish and arrange them on a slide labelled with how a bowl of soup is served.
- Year 8
- Pupils make a labelled serving plan for a fruit salad in PowerPoint, using their own photo of the dish and text boxes for the dessert bowl, garnish and spoon.
- Year 9
- Pupils design a serving plan for a baked potato with fillings, choosing the layout, photos and labels for a kitchen assistant, and explain why they chose that layout.
Show the specification wording and the DCF statements
Where it is in the specification: Unit 2 (UWHC4), LO2 content 2.6 and 2.7, pages 61 to 64; Unit 2 assessment criterion 2.7, page 78; Section 11.1, page 81
“LO2.5-2.7 (digital tools for planning/visual aids)”
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 use software tools to enhance the outcomes for specific audiences.
I can explain reasons for layout and content of my own work and the work of others.
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.
Good to know
- Codes: qualification number "C00/5369/1" and product code "HC1W1" (Qualification at a glance, page 5); Unit 1 is UWHC3 and Unit 2 is UWHC4 (Section 4, page 13). The qualification is graded "NYA, E1P, E2P, E3P, L1P" (page 5), from the combined UMS of both units.
- Unlike the WJEC Foundation, where teachers set the portfolio tasks, VTCT Skills sets both assignments and "VTCT Skills will change the NEA assignment brief on an annual basis" (Section 5.1, page 15). Unit 1 counts for 30% and Unit 2 for 70% (Section 5.2.1, page 17), and the 140 guided learning hours (40 plus 100) are more than the WJEC Foundation's 120.
- Unit 2 cannot be retaken: "There is no resit opportunity for the Non-Examined Assessment (NEA) UWHC4 (Unit 2)." (Section 5.4.4, page 21). Unit 1 has one resit in the following year and "A resit fee will be charged." (Section 5.3.4, page 19).
- Unit 1 can be taught in a classroom with "computers/access to internet" and "IT facilities" (Section 7.2, page 26), and Unit 2 needs a teaching kitchen with access to systems for "Food safety recording (temperatures, cleaning)" (page 27). No software or device is named.
- The specification does not say learner evidence must be digital, unlike the WJEC Foundation. The centre submits the evidence and raw marks for moderation "using VTCT Skills e-testing platform" (Section 8.2.1, page 30).
- AI use is not mentioned. Learners sign a "Declaration of Authenticity Form" (Section 5.4.8, page 22), supervision ensures "Plagiarism, collusion or cheating is prevented" (Section 5.4.6, page 22), the assessment "does not permit collaboration or discussion between learners" (Appendix 1, page 85), and malpractice falls under the VTCT Skills Sanctions Policy (Section 8.1, page 30).
- The Curriculum for Wales mapping links digital competence only to Unit 1 "LO4.3 (service procedures may include digital systems)" and to Unit 2 "LO2.5-2.7 (digital tools for planning/visual aids)" and "LO5.1-5.4 (digital reflection or recording where appropriate)" (Section 11.1, page 81). None of these is required by a criterion.
- The document gives Unit 2 two titles: "Introduction to Hospitality and Catering techniques based on a theme" in Sections 3.5, 4 and 7.2 (pages 10, 13 and 27) and "Develop skills to plan, prepare and serve a simple dish" in Section 3.2, the unit specification and Section 11.1 (pages 8, 53 and 80).
- Other errors: task marking is called high control in Section 5.1 (pages 15 and 16) but medium control in Appendix 1 (page 85), and Sections 7.4 and 8.2 refer to the "VCSE NEA Teacher/Assessor Guidance and Marking Criteria" and to "VTCT Skills VCSE Non-Examined Assessments" (pages 28 and 30), wording apparently left over from a VCSE specification.
Links with other qualifications
This is VTCT Skills' alternative to the WJEC Foundation Hospitality and Catering, and both lead on to a VCSE: VTCT names its own VTCT Skills Level 1/2 VCSE Hospitality and Catering, also on this page, while the WJEC Foundation leads to the WJEC VCSE Hospitality and Catering. The two Foundations share food safety and hygiene, the industry and its job roles, preparing, cooking and presenting food, customer service and reflection, but they are assessed differently. The WJEC version is two teacher-set portfolios (36 and 84 guided learning hours) with all evidence submitted digitally and practical work photographed. VTCT sets a new assignment each year, taken under timed, supervised conditions (40 and 100 guided learning hours, weighted 30% and 70%), puts nutrition in Unit 1, centres Unit 2 on one simple dish and table service, and says nothing about digital evidence. Both are low in digital demand. The specification names the Skills for Work topics Customer Service and Working in Wales and the Skills for Life topics Teamwork and Understanding Self and Others, all available as WJEC Skills Suite units, and the WJEC Food Planning and Preparation unit overlaps with planning a dish in Unit 2. Food groups, balanced meals and cooking methods link with GCSE Food and Nutrition, although the specification lists Science, Business, Design Technology, Art and Design and Geography as the complementary GCSEs.
Source: VTCT Skills Entry Level/Level 1 Foundation Hospitality and Catering Qualification Specification, HC1W1, qualification number C00/5369/1, version P1, first published 01/09/2026.