Personal Project
The WJEC Level 1/Level 2 Personal Project is a 60 guided learning hour qualification in which learners choose their own topic and submit a project plan and a final project. Teachers mark it against 20 learning outcomes grouped under the four integral skills, and the total mark decides whether a learner gets the Level 1 or Level 2 award. No digital tool is required, because the outcome may be written, oral, digital, an artefact, a performance or an event. Digital work sits in searching for sources and judging their reliability, referencing them and acknowledging any AI use, planning and tracking the project, presenting the outcome and acting on feedback.
- Awarding body
- WJEC
- Level
- Level 1 and Level 2
- Guided learning hours
- 60
- First taught
- September 2027
- Amount of digital work
- Medium
- Specification
- Open the specification
How this qualification is assessed
- Planning and organising (LO1 to LO6): Six learning outcomes, each marked out of 4 in four mark bands, 24 marks and 30% of the qualification: planning activities and timelines, determining resources, setting SMART goals and success criteria, managing the plan, monitoring and adapting it, and reflecting on planning and outcomes. Evidence comes from the project plan and final project, internally marked by the centre and externally moderated by WJEC
- Critical thinking and problem solving (LO7 to LO12): Six learning outcomes, each marked out of 4 in four mark bands, 24 marks and 30% of the qualification: assessing information and the reliability of sources, synthesising and referencing sources, explaining issues and barriers, using meaningful questions, developing arguments and proposing solutions. Internally marked by the centre and externally moderated by WJEC
- Creativity and innovation (LO13 to LO16): Four learning outcomes, each marked out of 4 in four mark bands, 16 marks and 20% of the qualification: exploring and generating ideas, connecting ideas between knowledge, experience and skills, sharing ideas and presenting a final outcome, and presenting ideas in a creative and engaging format. Internally marked by the centre and externally moderated by WJEC
- Personal effectiveness (LO17 to LO20): Four learning outcomes, each marked out of 4 in four mark bands, 16 marks and 20% of the qualification: considering and responding to others' views, reflecting on own learning and behaviour, identifying successes and skills developed, and identifying areas for development. Internally marked by the centre and externally moderated by WJEC
Skills that use Sourcing, searching and planning digital content
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Planning and tracking the project
Learners build a project plan with ordered activities, timelines, resources, SMART goals and success criteria, then follow it, monitor progress and adapt it in response to feedback. The plan itself is assessed under LO1 to LO5, with the top band asking for activities that are prioritised and logically sequenced, but a digital planner is optional: the amplification names to do lists, mind maps, checklists and progress reports, which can be on paper or in an app or spreadsheet.
DCF: Sourcing, searching and planning digital content
Getting pupils ready
- Year 7
- Pupils plan a two week homework task in a shared online checklist, listing each step and ticking it off as they finish it.
- Year 8
- Pupils make a simple timeline in a spreadsheet for a class research task, with each activity, a deadline and a column to colour green, amber or red as the weeks pass.
- Year 9
- Pupils plan a four week mini project in a digital planner with milestones, resources and SMART goals, then update it each week and note one change they made and why.
Show the specification wording and the DCF statements
Where it is in the specification: Section 2.1, Planning and Organising Skills amplification, pages 9 and 10; marking grid LO1 to LO5, pages 18 and 19
“how to use monitoring tools and techniques (for example, progress reports, checklists) to identify variances”
Progression step 3
I can independently create and plan work before beginning a digital task.
Progression step 4
I can select and effectively use a variety of planning techniques.
Progression step 5
I can plan my digital work effectively and with increasing complexity.
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Searching for information and judging the reliability of sources
Learners select information and evidence for their project and make judgements about the reliability of their sources, considering author credibility, publication context, bias, inaccuracies and gaps. LO7 assesses this, rising from limited comments on reliability to detailed and effective evaluation of reliability at the top band, so a Level 2 learner needs to search well and justify which sources they trust. The specification does not require online sources, but most learners will research on the internet.
DCF: Sourcing, searching and planning digital content
Getting pupils ready
- Year 7
- Pupils search for facts about a local landmark, bookmark three websites and say who wrote each one and whether it looks trustworthy.
- Year 8
- Pupils change their keywords and use quotation marks and minus signs to narrow a search on plastic pollution, then sort the results into reliable and unreliable using a checklist on author, date and purpose.
- Year 9
- Pupils compare a news site, a charity site and a forum post on the same topic, spot bias or missing information in each and write a short justification of which source they would use and why.
Show the specification wording and the DCF statements
Where it is in the specification: Section 2.2, Critical Thinking and Problem-Solving Skills amplification, page 11; marking grid LO7, page 21
“how to recognise bias, inaccuracies or gaps in information”
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.
I can store search results for future use, e.g. bookmark, add to favourites.
Progression step 4
I can search a variety of sources using relevant search techniques with increased complexity.
I can independently use a range of complex searches, e.g. and/or/+/-/not.
I can evaluate the reliability of sources of information, justify my opinions and reasons for choices, and reference using appropriate methods.
Progression step 5
I can consider the benefits and limitations of digital tools and information sources and of the results I produce and use these results to inform future judgements about the quality of my digital work.
I can search efficiently for information for my digital work and evaluate the reliability of sources of information, justifying opinions and reasons for choices, and I can reference work using appropriate methods.
Good to know
- There are two qualifications with one shared unit: "9011Q0 WJEC Level 1 Personal Project" and "9022Q0 WJEC Level 2 Personal Project" (Qualification Information, page 2), and "Learners must be entered for the Personal Project unit and for both the Level 1 and Level 2 qualification" (Section 5.1, page 31). The total mark decides which award a learner gets.
- The qualification is 60 guided learning hours, and "learners will spend up to 10 hours of independent time on their personal project" (Section 1.4, page 6).
- Learners submit two parts: "The Personal Project should be presented as a two-part final entry. Learners should submit their project plan and their final project." (Section 2.5, page 16).
- No digital outcome is required. The final project may be "written, oral, digital, artefact, performance and/or event" (Section 2.5, page 16), and "Centres may include visual, audio or practical evidence alongside written material" (Section 4.2, page 26), with a suggested word count "of up to 2,000 words" that is guidance only.
- No resources are prescribed: "the use of resources, including the internet, is not tightly prescribed" (Section 4.2, page 27). Sources must be acknowledged, for example "through an appended bibliography using a conventional in-text referencing system or through footnotes" (page 27).
- AI can be used if it is acknowledged: "When properly referenced, this can be acceptable" (Section 4.4, page 30). Misuse includes "failing to acknowledge use of AI tools when they have been used as a source of information" and "incomplete or poor acknowledgement of AI tools" (page 30).
- The topic must be the learner's own. Teachers must not "specify the context for the project" or "produce any form of writing frame for use within assessment activities" (Section 4.2, page 26), and the topic "must be approved by the teacher" before work starts (page 27).
- The specification has no example tasks. The content "is intended to support teachers in developing their teaching and learning programme" and suggested activities are in a separate WJEC document, the "Personal Project: Guidance for teaching and assessment" (Section 2, page 8).
- Submission is digital: moderation "samples must be uploaded to WJEC e-submission platform" (Section 4.3, page 29), "Electronic signatures will be accepted" on the authenticity declaration (page 27), and presentations are recorded with "observation records" (page 28).
Links with other qualifications
The Personal Project sits in the Skills Suite alongside the Skills for Life and Skills for Work units, and the Personal Project Entry Level is the step below it. The Skills for Work unit Personal Development Planning also asks Level 2 learners to set SMART goals and make an action plan with timescales and resources, and Enterprise Venture asks learners to plan a venture, adapt the plan in response to challenges and evaluate it. The research, reliability and referencing work builds on GCSE English Language and Literature and the source evaluation in GCSE History, and learners who choose a digital outcome draw on GCSE Digital Technology or GCSE Digital Media and Film. The specification names the Level 3 Advanced Skills Baccalaureate Wales as the progression route.
Source: WJEC Level 1/Level 2 Personal Project specification, approved by Qualifications Wales, teaching from September 2027, for award from 2029 (© WJEC CBAC Ltd 2026).