Skills for Life: British Sign Language
British Sign Language is a Pearson Skills for Life unit in which learners learn fingerspelling, greetings, Wh- questions, numbers, time, dates and directions in BSL, and learn about Deaf awareness, Deaf culture in Wales and Deaf inclusion. It is one 20 hour unit that learners combine with others into a Pearson Skills for Life or Skills for Work Award, Certificate or Diploma, from Entry 1 to Level 2, assessed internally by the centre. Digital demand is low because no assessment criterion asks for digital work. Digital skills sit in learning signs from online BSL dictionaries, apps and video clips, researching Deaf culture, capturing signed evidence and referencing sources and AI.
- Awarding body
- Pearson
- 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): One assessment criterion at each of Entry 1, Entry 2 and Entry 3, moving from stating the role of BSL in the Deaf community and using basic fingerspelling and signs, to outlining Deaf awareness and short exchanges, to identifying aspects of Deaf culture and short conversations. Evidence is internally assessed by the centre, which sets and marks the assessment, and quality assured by Pearson through standards verification. 20 guided learning hours. Graded Pass or Fail.
- Level 1 and Level 2: One assessment criterion at each of Level 1 and Level 2: describing aspects of Deaf communication and using BSL in everyday conversation, then explaining aspects of inclusive Deaf communication and using more detailed BSL. Evidence is internally assessed by the centre, which sets and marks the assessment, and quality assured by Pearson through standards verification. 20 guided learning hours. Graded Pass or Fail.
Skills that use Digital rights, licensing and ownership
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Referencing sources and acknowledging AI
At every level learners must certify that their evidence is their own and reference any sources and any AI tools they used, for example websites about Deaf culture. Using AI without acknowledging it is malpractice, so this is a requirement of every submission.
DCF: Digital rights, licensing and ownership, Sourcing, searching and planning digital content
Getting pupils ready
- Year 7
- Pupils add a simple list of the websites they used to the end of a fact sheet about BSL, with the page title and address for each.
- Year 8
- Pupils discuss when using an AI chatbot to explain Deaf awareness would be plagiarism, and write one sentence acknowledging any AI help in their work.
- Year 9
- Pupils reference every source in a short report on Deaf inclusion using a set format, and add a note stating exactly how any AI tool was used.
Show the specification wording and the DCF statements
Where it is in the specification: Unit SfL 3, Requirements relating to permitted/prohibited resources, page 24
“they have clearly referenced any sources and any artificial intelligence used”
Progression step 3
I can understand that copying the work of others and presenting it as my own is plagiarism.
I can cite sources when researching and explain the importance of this, e.g. create simple lists for the referencing of digital and offline sources.
Progression step 4
I can evaluate the reliability of sources of information, justify my opinions and reasons for choices, and reference using appropriate methods.
Good to know
- The unit is Unit SfL 3, listed in the unit summary as "SfL 3 British Sign Language (BSL) 20" guided learning hours (Unit summary, page 5).
- Unlike every other Pearson unit, BSL "can be retaken at multiple levels in order to achieve a higher level", but "GLH will only contribute to the overall qualification claim once" (Rules of Combination, page 6; Assessment of units, page 9). This differs from the WJEC unit, where each level achieved counts towards the qualification GLH.
- The unit content is not printed in the specification: it "can be found in the Teaching and Learning Support document for this unit" (Unit content, page 22), so centres need that document to plan teaching.
- Evidence is flexible: "there are no mandatory evidence requirements and centres can select the type of evidence" (Essential information for assessment decisions, page 22), and evidence can include "observation records, witness testimony, and products of learners' work" (Internal assessment, page 9).
- The Authorised Assignment Brief is optional, but if it is used, "Task 2 on the AAB is summative and can only be attempted when the course content has been covered" (Unit content, page 22). The same paragraph refers to "the A1 component" without defining it anywhere in the specification.
- AI tools must be acknowledged: "A learner will have committed malpractice if they use AI tools without acknowledging them" (Requirements relating to permitted/prohibited resources, page 24).
- Level 1 and Level 2 require knowledge of Deaf culture in Wales, at least three examples at Level 2 (Essential information for assessment decisions, page 23). The Level 1 guidance contains a typing slip, "mouthing. lip-reading" (page 23).
Links with other qualifications
The closest comparison is the WJEC Skills for Life unit British Sign Language, which is also 20 hours. The WJEC unit is organised into six learning outcomes (meeting people, fingerspelling, numbers, weather, transport and directions) and each level achieved adds GLH, while Pearson has a single criterion per level, puts more weight on Deaf awareness, Deaf culture in Wales and inclusion, and counts the GLH only once however many levels are taken. The Deaf inclusion, allyship and interpreter content links to the WJEC GCSE in Health and Social Care, and Childcare and to Social Studies, and Pearson's own mapping links the communication skills to careers in education, health and social care.
Source: Pearson Entry Level 1 to Level 2 Skills for Life Award, Certificate and Diploma Qualifications specification, Issue 1, August 2026, Unit SfL 3: British Sign Language (BSL).