Skills for Life: Basic First Aid
Basic First Aid is one of 30 Skills for Life units in Agored Cymru's Skills Suite, offered at Entry 1, Entry 2, Entry 3, Level 1 and Level 2, each a separate 20 hour unit that learners combine with others into a Skills for Life, or Skills for Life and Work, Award, Certificate or Diploma. Learners carry out a primary survey, respond to an unresponsive casualty, use the recovery position, call for help, treat wounds, nosebleeds and burns and, at Level 1 and Level 2, recognise the signs of acute illnesses such as a stroke, anaphylaxis and a cardiac arrest. Practical work is shown in role play, recorded on video or annotated photographs with an assessor observation statement, and the centre marks the task within Agored Cymru's mandatory Summative Assessment Package. Digital demand is low: no criterion asks for digital work, and the digital links are recording and submitting the prescribed video or photographic evidence, checking current first aid guidance online, using apps for emergency readiness, and the ban on AI in the summative task.
- Awarding body
- Agored Cymru
- Level
- Entry Level 1 to Level 2
- Guided learning hours
- 20
- First taught
- September 2027
- Amount of digital work
- Low
- Specification
- Open the specification
How this unit is assessed
- Entry Level (Entry 1, Entry 2, Entry 3): Three learning outcomes at each Entry level: know the steps to providing first aid, be able to respond when an individual is unresponsive, and be able to respond to injuries. Entry 1 (Unit ID CDR883, Unit Code PV3E1CY002) learners identify situations such as cuts, grazes, burns and scalds, list ways to get help, indicate how to help place someone in the recovery position, give an example of what to tell those helping, and demonstrate washing hands, helping to apply a dressing and helping someone with a nosebleed. Entry 2 (CDR882, PV3E2CY002) learners also list the checks before giving first aid, including environment, airway, breathing, circulation and consent, indicate how to call 999, and demonstrate the recovery position, applying a dressing and helping with a nose bleed. Entry 3 (CDR881, PV3E3CY002) learners give examples of when first aid is needed, outline checks including medication, outline how to respond to an unresponsive person according to current accepted guidelines, and demonstrate the recovery position, calling for help, hygienic dressing of a wound and treating minor burns. At every Entry level the prescribed method is role play recorded on video and/or annotated photographs with an assessor observation statement for LO2 and LO3. The centre devises the task within Agored Cymru's mandatory Summative Assessment Package, marks it internally, and Agored Cymru moderates it. 20 guided learning hours and 2 credits at each level, graded Pass or Fail.
- Level 1 and Level 2: Four learning outcomes at each level: the primary survey, responding when an individual is unresponsive, responding to external bleeding and wounds, and the signs of acute illnesses. Level 1 (Unit ID CDR880, Unit Code PV31CY003) learners outline the six steps of a primary survey, demonstrate checks on an unresponsive casualty, the recovery position, controlling bleeding including nosebleeds and applying wound dressings, outline the treatment of burns and how to respond to head injuries, and outline the signs of 6 acute illnesses from an asthma attack to a cardiac arrest. Level 2 (CDR879, PV32CY001) learners describe the six steps, demonstrate the checks and recovery position including when an individual is unconscious or having a seizure, describe precautions with wounds, demonstrate controlling a nosebleed and applying and checking dressings, describe treating grazes, minor cuts, bruises and minor burns, and describe the signs of 8 acute illnesses, including mild and severe choking in adults. The prescribed method is role play recorded on video and/or annotated photographs with an assessor observation statement, for LO2 and LO3 at Level 1 and for LO2 and AC 3.2 and 3.4 at Level 2. The centre devises the task within the mandatory Summative Assessment Package, marks it internally, and Agored Cymru moderates it. 20 guided learning hours and 2 credits at each level, graded Pass or Fail.
Skills that use Health and well-being
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Using phones and apps to get help and stay ready
Entry 2 learners indicate how to call for help by dialling 999, giving their location, explaining the situation and answering questions, and the unit's map says it encourages the use of apps and online learning for emergency readiness. Knowing how a phone can share a location in an emergency, and when sharing a location is a risk, supports this. No criterion asks learners to use an app, so this is taught, not assessed.
DCF: Health and well-being, Identity, image and reputation, Online behaviour and online bullying
Getting pupils ready
- Year 7
- Pupils list ways a mobile phone can help in an emergency, such as calling 999 or using the emergency contacts on a locked screen.
- Year 8
- Pupils discuss the benefits of sharing a phone's location with the emergency services and the risks of sharing it on social media.
- Year 9
- Pupils review a free first aid app, judge whether its advice is clear and trustworthy, and present a short recommendation to the class.
Show the specification wording and the DCF statements
Where it is in the specification: Basic First Aid, Entry 2, AC 2.3, page 25; Cross curricular map, Digital Competence, page 29
“Encourages use of apps and online learning for emergency”
Progression step 3
I can identify the wider positive and negative influences of technology, e.g. on my life, on society, on the environment.
I can identify the benefits and risks of mobile devices broadcasting the location of the user/device.
Progression step 4
I can understand that photographs, locations and tags can be tracked and can make informed decisions accordingly.
I can reflect on the role of digital media in my life and habits.
Good to know
- Each level is a separate unit with its own Unit ID, from CDR879 at Level 2 to CDR883 at Entry 1, and each has "GLH 20" and "Credit: 2" (Basic First Aid, pages 17, 20, 22, 24 and 26).
- A learner can count the unit once only: "multiple levels of the same unit title are not permitted" (Unit aggregation, page 9), and "Each unit is graded as Pass / Fail." (Section Five, page 97).
- The practical evidence is prescribed: "Role-play - video and/or annotated photographic evidence with assessor observation" is required for LO2 and LO3 at Entry 1 to Level 1 and for LO2 and AC 3.2 and 3.4 at Level 2 (pages 18, 21, 23, 25 and 27).
- Centres need equipment: there are minimum resource requirements, "including a typical first aid kit" with bandages, dressings and material to control a nosebleed (pages 19, 21, 23, 25 and 27).
- Learners need devices: they must have digital technology able to "record video content" (if applicable) and to do basic internet research (Resource Requirements, page 7).
- AI is banned in the summative task: "AI tools must not be used at all." and "Learners must produce their own reference materials" (Appendix A, page 106).
- Evidence formats are fixed: digital or written documents, audio, video, or "E-portfolio, through online submission." (Appendix A, page 106), and "20 GLH incorporates assessment time of no more than 60 minutes." (page 106).
- There is one attempt: "There are no resubmission opportunities available for these qualifications." (Resubmissions, page 99), and "Drafting and redrafting are not permitted in this summative task." (Appendix A, page 106).
- Practical evidence can come from outside school: "a qualified person could sign off/authenticate the observational evidence" for learners who attend a first aid volunteer group, by arrangement with Agored Cymru's Quality Team (Section Five, page 97).
- The unit text points to a missing reference: assessors should "use this link as reference" but no link is printed at any level (pages 19, 21, 23, 25 and 27), and the Entry 3 amplification ends "help arrives. (Link)" with no link (page 22).
Links with other qualifications
Agored Cymru places Basic First Aid in the Health and Well-being Area of Learning and Experience and maps it to Relationships and Sexuality Education, Human Rights, Diversity, and Careers and Work-related Experiences, naming first aid roles in health, emergency and community services. It sits well beside GCSE Health and Social Care, and Childcare, the VCSEs in Public Services and Sport and Leisure, and the matching Foundations, and within the Skills Suite beside Personal Safety, Looking After Others, Mental Health and Wellbeing and Healthy Lifestyle. Its digital work is light compared with GCSE Digital Technology. Compared with the WJEC Basic first aid unit, which has four learning outcomes at every level and a portfolio, and the Pearson unit, which has one criterion per level and asks for CPR from Entry 2 and AED use at Level 1 and Level 2, Agored's version has three learning outcomes at Entry level and four at Level 1 and Level 2, adds the signs of acute illnesses from Level 1, prescribes video or annotated photographic evidence of role play, does not ask for CPR or an AED, and bans AI in the summative task.
Source: Agored Cymru The Skills Suite: Skills for Life and Work Specification, version 1.0, October 2026, Basic First Aid.