Skills for Life: Community Participation
Community participation is a Pearson Skills for Life unit in which learners get to know their own or the wider community, its groups, services and roles, and plan and take part in a real community activity such as litter picking, a coffee morning or a community meal, with Level 2 learners explaining the value of active citizenship. It is one 20 hour unit that learners combine with others into a Pearson Skills for Life Award, Certificate or Diploma, achieved at one level from Entry 1 to Level 2. Digital demand is low: no criterion needs digital work, and digital skills sit in online research, making posters, planning the activity and online participation.
- 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: list familiar people or places in the community, outline at least four groups, services or places and their purposes, or identify at least three local roles and activities, and take part in a community activity, contributing to its planning at Entry 3. There are no mandatory evidence requirements; the centre sets and marks the assessment and Pearson quality assures it through standards verification. 20 guided learning hours.
- Level 1 and Level 2: One assessment criterion at each of Level 1 and Level 2: describe the importance of at least four community groups or services and how they benefit people (Level 1), or explain the value of active citizenship with examples of community participation (Level 2), and at both levels plan and take part in a community activity. The centre sets and marks the assessment and Pearson quality assures it through standards verification. 20 guided learning hours.
The digital skills in this qualification
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Researching community groups and services online
Learners find out about local groups, services and roles, from listing familiar places at Entry 1 to describing at least four groups or services and their benefits at Level 1. Pearson lists ICT for research as the unit's digital link, but the criteria do not require online research, so the digital part is taught, not assessed.
DCF: Sourcing, searching and planning digital content
Getting pupils ready
- Year 7
- Pupils use the local council website to find three services in their area, such as the library and recycling centre, and note what each does.
- Year 8
- Pupils search for volunteering groups near the school, refine their keywords to find ones open to young people, and bookmark the most useful pages.
- Year 9
- Pupils research four local community groups online, check whether each website is up to date and reliable, and record their sources in a table.
Show the specification wording and the DCF statements
Where it is in the specification: Annexe C, page 160; Unit SfL 4, Essential information for assessment decisions, Entry 2 to Level 1, page 27
“ICT for research and digital materials”
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.
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Making posters and materials to promote a community activity
Level 1 guidance gives producing materials to support the activity as an example of planning, such as posters to encourage people to attend. Pearson lists digital materials as a digital link, but posters are an example and need not be digital, so this is taught, not assessed.
DCF: Creating digital content, Evaluating and improving digital content
Getting pupils ready
- Year 7
- Pupils design a poster in Adobe Express for a class litter pick, with the date, time, place and one clear image.
- Year 8
- Pupils make a poster and a matching social media style post for a school coffee morning, adapting the text and layout for each.
- Year 9
- Pupils design a leaflet for a community event, ask a small group of residents or staff for feedback, and improve it before printing.
Show the specification wording and the DCF statements
Where it is in the specification: Unit SfL 4, Essential information for assessment decisions, Level 1, page 27; Annexe C, page 160
“They could make posters to encourage people to attend the event”
Progression step 3
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.
I can use software tools to enhance the outcomes for specific audiences.
Progression step 4
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.
I can suggest and make improvements that are relevant for audience and purpose, based on feedback and self-evaluation of my digital work.
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Planning and organising the activity with digital tools
From Entry 3 learners contribute to planning a community activity, and at Level 1 they take responsibility for some of the planning, such as allocating roles and organising resources, with Level 2 learners planning independently. Planning is required by the criteria, but using shared documents, calendars or online forms to do it is the centre's choice, so the digital part is taught, not assessed.
DCF: Sourcing, searching and planning digital content, Collaboration
Getting pupils ready
- Year 7
- Pupils add jobs for a class charity event to a shared online checklist and put their name against the one they will do.
- Year 8
- Pupils plan a school garden clean up in a shared document, with a table of roles, equipment and times that each group member edits.
- Year 9
- Pupils use a shared planner and an online sign up form to organise volunteers for a community event, setting edit permissions for the planning team.
Show the specification wording and the DCF statements
Where it is in the specification: Unit SfL 4, assessment criteria Entry 3 to Level 2, page 26; Essential information for assessment decisions, pages 27 to 28
“allocating roles within the group, organising simple resources”
Progression step 3
I can independently create and plan work before beginning a digital task.
I can work with others to create an online collaborative project for a specific purpose, sharing and appropriately setting permissions for other group members, e.g. editing, commenting, viewing.
Progression step 4
I can select and effectively use a variety of planning techniques.
I can independently select and use a range of online collaboration tools to create a project with others in one or more languages, e.g. making use of online technology to share and present ideas to others.
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Taking part in community life online
Pearson's Annexe E says the unit includes online participation and digital citizenship, and the Level 2 examples of active citizenship include lobbying the local council and making conscious consumer choices, which learners could do through council websites, email or online petitions. No assessment criterion mentions online participation, so this is taught, not assessed.
DCF: Health and well-being, Online behaviour and online bullying
Getting pupils ready
- Year 7
- Pupils look at how a local community group uses its website or social media to ask for volunteers and discuss whether it reaches young people.
- Year 8
- Pupils report a real local issue, such as a broken streetlight, through the council's online form with their teacher and record what happens next.
- Year 9
- Pupils draft a polite email to a local councillor about a community issue, check it is respectful and safe to send, and discuss the effect online campaigns can have.
Show the specification wording and the DCF statements
Where it is in the specification: Annexe E, page 171; Unit SfL 4, Essential information for assessment decisions, Level 2, page 28
“includes online participation and digital citizenship”
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 demonstrate appropriate online behaviour and apply a range of strategies to protect myself and others from possible online dangers, bullying and inappropriate behaviour, e.g. turn off comments on digital media, reporting, block users.
Progression step 4
I can act appropriately online, keeping myself safe and behaving in a responsible manner.
I can understand the implications of online actions, including my digital footprint and the legal implications of sharing inappropriate material.
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Acknowledging sources and AI in evidence
Learners must certify that their evidence is their own and reference any sources and any artificial intelligence they used, and using AI tools without acknowledging them is malpractice. This applies at every level and is a requirement of the assessment, not unit content. It matters when learners take information about community services from websites.
DCF: Digital rights, licensing and ownership, Sourcing, searching and planning digital content
Getting pupils ready
- Year 7
- Pupils copy opening times for a local library from its website and write the web address underneath.
- Year 8
- Pupils write a summary of a local charity in their own words and add a reference to the pages they used.
- Year 9
- Pupils use an AI tool to suggest ideas for a community event, then write an acknowledgement saying which ideas came from the AI and how they changed them.
Show the specification wording and the DCF statements
Where it is in the specification: Unit SfL 4, Requirements relating to permitted/prohibited resources, page 29
“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 act responsibly as creator and user of creative work, e.g. exploring decisions that creators make when exercising their creative rights and responsibilities, giving consideration to ethical, real-life issues.
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 4 and the unit summary lists it at 20 GLH (Unit summary, page 5), the same size as the WJEC Community participation unit.
- A unit counts once: "Learners can only achieve each unit once, at a single level, with the exception of" British Sign Language (Rules of Combination, page 6).
- Every level needs a real activity: even Entry 2 learners "take part in a supported community activity, while following instructions" (Essential information for assessment decisions, page 27), so schools need to arrange events such as litter picking or helping at a food bank.
- Evidence format is open: "no mandatory evidence requirements and centres can select the type of evidence" (page 27), and "No resources are explicitly prohibited for the assessment of this unit" (page 29).
- AI must be acknowledged: "A learner will have committed malpractice if they use AI tools without acknowledging them" (Requirements relating to permitted/prohibited resources, page 29).
- 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 27).
- Pearson's Annexe E says the unit "includes online participation and digital citizenship" (page 171), but none of the assessment criteria or guidance in the unit mentions online participation.
- Section 5 says "please refer to Section 6 Glossary" (page 11), but the glossary is section 7.
Links with other qualifications
Compared with the WJEC Community participation unit, which is also 20 GLH, Pearson's version has one assessment criterion per level instead of three or four learning outcomes and has no separate criterion for evaluating the activity; Level 2 instead asks learners to explain the value of active citizenship through their own planning and participation. Digital demand is low in both. Active citizenship and social change link with GCSE Social Studies, and Pearson's examples of climate change and sustainable campaigns link with GCSE Geography. Community roles and services link with the WJEC VCSE in Public Services, and the WJEC Skills Suite units Democracy in Action, Sustainability in Action and Teamwork cover related ground. Making posters links with GCSE Digital Technology.
Source: Pearson Entry Level 1 to Level 2 Skills for Life Award, Certificate and Diploma Qualifications specification, Issue 1, August 2026, Unit SfL 4: Community participation.