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Skills for Life: Art and Crafts

Arts and crafts is a 20 hour Skills for Life unit, offered from Entry 1 to Level 2, in which learners explore what art and craft is, express ideas or feelings through their work, and choose and use materials, tools and techniques safely to make a finished piece. It is one unit that learners combine with others into a Skills for Life or Skills for Life and Work Award, Certificate or Diploma. No assessment criterion requires digital work. Digital skills sit in researching artists online, photographing work in progress, presenting work with apps such as Canva or Adobe Express, and acknowledging any AI use in the portfolio.

Awarding body
WJEC
Level
Entry Level 1 to Level 2
Guided learning hours
20
First taught
September 2027
Amount of digital work
Low
Unit pack
Open the unit delivery and assessment pack
How this unit is assessed
  • Entry Level (Entry 1, Entry 2, Entry 3): Three learning outcomes (know what art and craft is, express simple ideas or feelings through art and craft, use basic materials and tools to create a simple piece of work), with evidence compiled into a portfolio, internally assessed by the centre and externally quality assured by WJEC, 20 guided learning hours, unit codes S601E1, S601E2 and S601E3
  • Level 1 and Level 2: Three learning outcomes (know the key characteristics of art and craft, develop and express ideas or feelings through art and craft, select and use suitable materials, tools and techniques to create a piece of work), with evidence compiled into a portfolio, internally assessed by the centre and externally quality assured by WJEC, 20 guided learning hours, unit codes S601L1 and S601L2

Skills that use Storing and sharing

  1. Photographing and recording work for the portfolio

    Assessed: Taught, but not assessed

    Possible sources of evidence include photographs or digital records of work in progress and finished pieces, which learners at every level can capture and save into their portfolio. The portfolio is not limited to paper, so photos of sketches, technique samples and finished items are a natural way to evidence Learning outcome 3. Taking the photos is a suggested way of collecting evidence, not something the criteria require.

    DCF: Storing and sharing, Creating digital content

    Getting pupils ready

    Year 7
    Pupils photograph their clay pinch pot at three stages on a tablet and save the photos with clear names in a project folder.
    Year 8
    Pupils crop and label photos of their printmaking samples, upload them to an online folder and sort them into tests and final prints.
    Year 9
    Pupils keep a dated photo log of a mixed media piece from idea to finish, using version history to keep earlier edits of their captions.
    Show the specification wording and the DCF statements

    Where it is in the specification: Sources of evidence, page 11; Specification section 4.1, page 18

    “photographs or digital records of work in progress and finished pieces”
    Progression step 3

    • I can manage files and folders locally or online, e.g. move files to a folder.

    • I can upload files from a local drive to online storage.

    • 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.
    Progression step 4

    • I can use appropriate advanced file management techniques, e.g. version history, restore previous version, tagging, compression.

    • 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.

Good to know

Links with other qualifications

The pack names GCSE Art and Design, the VCSE in Creative and Media Production and Technology, and the Foundation qualifications in Expressive Arts, Design and Technology, and Creative and Media Production and Technology as related WJEC qualifications. Learners who photograph, edit and present their work digitally build skills also used in GCSE Digital Media and Film. Within the Skills Suite, the pack suggests delivering it alongside Digital film and media, Equality, diversity and inclusion, Ethical choices, Community participation and Sustainability in action, with Career creativity and Exploring career pathways linking to creative careers.

Source: WJEC Arts and crafts unit delivery and assessment pack, read with the WJEC Entry 1 to Level 2 Skills for Life and Skills for Work specification, approved by Qualifications Wales, teaching from September 2027 (© WJEC CBAC Ltd 2026).