Skills for Life: Digital Film and Media
Digital film and media is a Skills for Life unit in which learners plan, shoot and edit a short film of their own, from a simple image sequence with a text title at Entry 1 to a researched, storyboarded film of three to four minutes at Level 2. 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. Assessment is internal. Digital demand is high: every level requires learners to take their own images or footage and make a film with editing software, adding titles, audio and effects, and to keep a process log of planning and production.
- Awarding body
- Pearson
- Level
- Entry Level 1 to Level 2
- Guided learning hours
- 20
- First taught
- September 2027
- Amount of digital work
- High
- 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: demonstrate digital media skills and techniques to make a short film on a topic set by the teacher, from 8 to 10 of the learner's own images at Entry 1 to 18 to 20 images with a storyline, audio track and effects at Entry 3, with a simple process log. Evidence is internally assessed by the centre, with Pearson standards verification. Graded Pass or Fail. 20 guided learning hours.
- Level 1 and Level 2: One assessment criterion at each of Level 1 and Level 2: develop digital media skills and techniques (and at Level 2 digital media conventions) to produce a short film on a chosen subject, one to two minutes from a storyboard or shot list at Level 1, and three to four minutes with more than 10 of the learner's own shots, researched and planned, at Level 2, with a process log. Evidence is internally assessed by the centre, with Pearson standards verification. Graded Pass or Fail. 20 guided learning hours.
Skills that use Sourcing, searching and planning digital content
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Planning with a storyline, storyboard or shot list
Entry 3 learners prepare a simple storyline to guide filming, Level 1 learners prepare a simple storyboard or shot list, and Level 2 learners research a chosen topic and use it to create a detailed storyboard or shot list and plan a film of three to four minutes. Entry 1 and Entry 2 do not require planning documents. This is required from Entry 3.
DCF: Sourcing, searching and planning digital content
Getting pupils ready
- Year 7
- Pupils sketch a six box storyboard for a short advert for a school club, with a caption under each picture.
- Year 8
- Pupils write a shot list for a one minute film, naming each shot type, location and what the camera shows.
- Year 9
- Pupils build a digital storyboard in slides for a two minute film, with shot types, timings and planned audio for each frame.
Show the specification wording and the DCF statements
Where it is in the specification: Unit SfL 6, Essential information for assessment decisions, Entry 3 and Level 1, page 35, Level 2, page 36
“create a detailed storyboard or shot list and plan a short digital film”
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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Researching a chosen subject for the film
Level 2 learners research a chosen topic and use what they find to plan the film, and the process log must show the research. Level 1 learners choose their own subject but research is not specified. This is required at Level 2.
DCF: Sourcing, searching and planning digital content
Getting pupils ready
- Year 7
- Pupils search for three facts about a local landmark they want to film and save the web pages as bookmarks.
- Year 8
- Pupils research a local community group online, refine their search terms, and note the facts they will use in a short film.
- Year 9
- Pupils research a local issue from at least three websites, note the sources, and turn the key points into a plan for a documentary film.
Show the specification wording and the DCF statements
Where it is in the specification: Unit SfL 6, Essential information for assessment decisions, Level 2, page 36
“Learners should research a chosen topic and use this information”
Progression step 3
I can adjust keywords and search techniques to find relevant information.
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.
Good to know
- The unit is "Unit SfL 6: Digital film and media" with 20 guided learning hours (Unit summary, page 5).
- A unit counts once: "Learners can only achieve each unit once, at a single level" (Assessment of units, page 9).
- All footage must be the learner's own: at Level 2 the film needs more than 10 shots, "all of which must have been taken by the learner" (Essential information for assessment decisions, page 36).
- Software is flexible: Entry levels use "easy-to-use software", and at Level 2 "Any software which is appropriate to the experience of the learners can be used" (Essential information, pages 35 and 36). Centres need cameras or devices and editing software, though "No resources are explicitly prohibited" (page 37).
- Effects are not needed at every level: at Entry 1, Entry 2 and Level 1 "Audio-visual effects may be used but are not essential for assessment purposes" or similar, while Entry 3 requires some effects (Essential information, page 35).
- Teachers set the topic at Entry levels; at Level 1 and Level 2 learners choose their own subject (Assessment criteria, page 34).
- AI may be used only if acknowledged: "A learner will have committed malpractice if they use AI tools without acknowledging them" (page 37).
- The unit page says cross-cutting theme evidence is "mapped and can be found in Annexe E" (page 37), but Annexe E has no row for SfL 6, jumping from SfL 5 to SfL 18 (Annexe E, page 172).
Links with other qualifications
Digital film and media links most closely with GCSE Digital Media and Film, which goes much further into media analysis and production, and with the WJEC VCSE and Foundation in Creative and Media Production, and Technology. Planning and editing also connect with GCSE Digital Technology, and the creative aim with GCSE Art and Design and GCSE Drama. The WJEC Digital film and media unit is also 20 hours but has four learning outcomes, including analysing how media products communicate messages and evaluating the finished product with feedback; the Pearson unit has one criterion per level focused on making a film to set image counts or running times, with a process log and no separate media analysis or evaluation outcome.
Source: Pearson Entry Level 1 to Level 2 Skills for Life Award, Certificate and Diploma Qualifications Specification, Issue 1, August 2026, Unit SfL 6: Digital film and media.