Foundation Humanities
WJEC Entry Level/Level 1 Foundation Humanities is a two year, 120 hour course for learners aged 14 to 16, assessed entirely by portfolio. Learners take two of five subject units (Business, Geography, History, Religious Studies and Social Studies) and the mandatory Unit 6, which links the subjects through sustainability in Wales. Digital work is light and mostly optional: the aims mention enquiry using digital technology where appropriate, and the content touches digital advertising and websites in Business, online rights, digital exclusion and social media campaigns in Social Studies, and climate data in Geography. Online research, judging sources and working honestly are the digital skills most learners will use, whichever units they take.
- Awarding body
- WJEC
- Level
- Entry Level and Level 1
- First taught
- September 2027
- Amount of digital work
- Low
- Specification
- Open the specification
How this qualification is assessed
- Unit 1: Business (optional): Portfolio of six tasks (non-examination assessment), suggested timing approximately 8 hours, 35%, 60 marks, set by WJEC, marked by the centre and moderated by WJEC
- Unit 2: Geography (optional): Portfolio of six tasks (non-examination assessment), suggested timing approximately 8 hours, 35%, 60 marks, set by WJEC, marked by the centre and moderated by WJEC
- Unit 3: History (optional): Portfolio of six tasks (non-examination assessment), suggested timing approximately 8 hours, 35%, 60 marks, set by WJEC, marked by the centre and moderated by WJEC
- Unit 4: Religious Studies (optional): Portfolio of six tasks (non-examination assessment), suggested timing approximately 8 hours, 35%, 60 marks, set by WJEC, marked by the centre and moderated by WJEC
- Unit 5: Social Studies (optional): Portfolio of six tasks (non-examination assessment), suggested timing approximately 8 hours, 35%, 60 marks, set by WJEC, marked by the centre and moderated by WJEC
- Unit 6: Creating sustainable communities in Wales (mandatory): Portfolio of six tasks (non-examination assessment), suggested timing approximately 7 hours, 30%, 50 marks, set by WJEC, marked by the centre and moderated by WJEC. Learners take two of Units 1 to 5 plus Unit 6, ideally in the final year
Skills that use Sourcing, searching and planning digital content
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Researching humanities topics online and judging sources
Learners develop investigative and enquiry skills, using digital technology where appropriate, and portfolio tasks allow local or self-selected examples, such as a campaign in Wales in Unit 5 or a specific business and a local sustainability initiative in Unit 6. Finding these examples online means choosing search terms, checking that a source is reliable and noting where information came from.
DCF: Sourcing, searching and planning digital content
Getting pupils ready
- Year 7
- Pupils search for three facts about a local park or beach clean scheme using keywords their teacher gives them, and write down the web address of each fact.
- Year 8
- Pupils compare two websites about the Black Death or a Welsh charity campaign, say which is more reliable and why, and change their search terms to find a better source.
- Year 9
- Pupils research a local sustainability initiative online, using advanced search options and the initiative's own website, judge the reliability of three sources and list them as references.
Show the specification wording and the DCF statements
Where it is in the specification: Section 1.1, page 8; Section 3.2, page 28; Unit 5, Section 5.2.2, page 22; Unit 6, Sections 6.3.2 and 6.3.3, page 25
“develop investigative and enquiry skills, using digital technology where appropriate”
Progression step 3
I can adjust keywords and search techniques to find relevant information.
I can begin to reference sources used in my work, and consider if content is reliable.
Progression step 4
I can search a variety of sources using relevant search techniques with increased complexity.
I can evaluate the reliability of sources of information, justify my opinions and reasons for choices, and reference using appropriate methods.
Good to know
- Digital technology is encouraged but not required. The aims say learners develop enquiry skills "using digital technology where appropriate" (Section 1.1, page 8), and the learning experiences, including to "make appropriate use of digital technology when completing the qualification", "will not be directly assessed" (page 26).
- Every unit is a portfolio: "Each learner's portfolio will include six completed tasks." The tasks are set by WJEC for the lifetime of the qualification, with "opportunities to use local or other self-selected examples" (Section 3.2, page 28).
- No software, equipment or digital submission format is named. "Any specific resource requirements will be outlined in the assessment pack." (Section 3.4, page 28).
- Work is supervised and teachers "must not provide feedback on the evidence being produced" (Section 3.4, page 28). All NEA follows JCQ's "Instructions for Conducting Non-Examination Assessments (Vocational and Technical Qualifications)" (page 28); the specification itself has no separate rule on AI.
- Collaborative digital work is limited: "Group work is permitted only where specified." (Section 3.4, page 29).
- Social media content may change. The cover notes that plans to restrict social media use by children under 16 "may impact some of our qualifications" (page 1), which matters for the social media campaign methods in Unit 5.
- Appendix A (pages 35 to 37) maps Digital Competence Citizenship, Interacting and Collaborating and Producing to all six units, and Data and Computational Thinking to Units 2 to 6 but not Unit 1 Business.
Links with other qualifications
The specification describes the qualification as "a broad basis for progression onto GCSEs in the Humanities area" (page 9), and each optional unit leads towards the matching GCSE: Business, Geography, History, Religious Studies or Social Studies. The digital skills here are the starting point for those courses. GCSE Geography steps the climate data work up to GIS, digital maps and spreadsheet analysis of fieldwork data; GCSE Social Studies and GCSE Business add online questionnaires, spreadsheet statistics and financial modelling; GCSE History and GCSE Religious Studies ask learners to judge online sources and archives more critically. Unit 6 draws on sustainability ideas also met in GCSE Geography and GCSE Religious Studies.
Source: WJEC Entry Level/Level 1 Foundation Humanities specification, approved by Qualifications Wales, teaching from September 2027, for award from 2029 (© WJEC CBAC Ltd 2026).