Skills for Life: Everyday Law
Everyday law is one 10 hour Pearson unit that learners combine with others into a Pearson Skills for Life or Skills for Work Award, Certificate or Diploma, at any level from Entry 1 to Level 2. Learners learn about human rights, responsibilities, types of law such as criminal and employment law, how laws affect daily life and different people, and what they would do in scenarios to contribute to a just and equitable society. The centre sets and marks the assessment. Digital demand is low: no criterion needs a computer. Digital work sits in researching laws online, using legislation resources that must be current for Wales, optional digital presentations, and acknowledging sources and AI.
- Awarding body
- Pearson
- Level
- Entry Level 1 to Level 2
- Guided learning hours
- 10
- 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: state, outline or identify basic facts and concepts about everyday laws, rights and responsibilities, with set minimum numbers of rights, responsibilities, laws and ways to contribute to a fair society. There are no mandatory evidence requirements. Evidence is internally assessed by the centre, using the Pearson Authorised Assignment Brief or its own assignment, and quality assured through Pearson standards verification. 10 guided learning hours, graded Pass or Fail.
- Level 1 and Level 2: One assessment criterion at each of Level 1 and Level 2: describe (Level 1) or explain (Level 2) how legal concepts affect daily lives and how people can contribute to a just and equitable society, covering at least three rights, responsibilities and types of law, their impact, and decisions in real-life scenarios. There are no mandatory evidence requirements. Evidence is internally assessed by the centre and quality assured through Pearson standards verification. 10 guided learning hours, graded Pass or Fail.
Skills that use Sourcing, searching and planning digital content
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Researching laws and rights online
Entry 3 learners gather information from their research, Level 1 learners research different laws using a limited range of sources, and Level 2 learners manage their own research from a wide range of sources. Annexe C names a device or internet for research and legislation resources as the digital link. Research shapes how learners work, but the criteria judge what they describe and explain, not the search itself.
DCF: Sourcing, searching and planning digital content
Getting pupils ready
- Year 7
- Pupils use a teacher-chosen children's rights website to find three rights in the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child and bookmark the page.
- Year 8
- Pupils search for the age rules on buying a knife, getting a part-time job and voting, refining their keywords until they find an official page for each.
- Year 9
- Pupils use advanced search terms to find the minimum wage rates for young workers on GOV.UK and record the rate for their age and the page they used.
Show the specification wording and the DCF statements
Where it is in the specification: Unit SfL 9, Levels of supervision and support before and during assessment, page 49; Annexe C, SfL 9 row, page 161
“Device/internet for research; use of legislation resources”
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.
I can independently use a range of complex searches, e.g. and/or/+/-/not.
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Checking legal information is current and applies in Wales
Because centres must make sure legislation is current and relates to Wales, learners need to check the date and source of what they find and notice when a page describes English rather than Welsh law, for example on devolved matters. This is a delivery requirement on the centre rather than an assessment criterion, but it directly affects the accuracy of the rights and laws learners describe.
DCF: Sourcing, searching and planning digital content
Getting pupils ready
- Year 7
- Pupils look at two web pages about the same rule and find the date each was last updated, then say which one is more likely to be correct now.
- Year 8
- Pupils check whether three legal facts from a search apply in Wales by finding them on a Welsh Government or GOV.UK page.
- Year 9
- Pupils compare a news article and the official legislation.gov.uk page on one law, check the date and whether it applies in Wales, and justify which source they would rely on.
Show the specification wording and the DCF statements
Where it is in the specification: Section 5 Units, page 11; Unit SfL 9, Essential information for assessment decisions, pages 47 to 48
“centres must ensure that it is current, up to date and relates to the legislative context of Wales”
Progression step 3
I can begin to reference sources used in my work, and consider if content is reliable.
Progression step 4
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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Acknowledging sources and AI use
Learners must certify that their evidence is their own and reference any sources and artificial intelligence they used, which matters in a unit built on research into laws. Using AI tools without acknowledging them is malpractice. This applies to every submission at every level.
DCF: Digital rights, licensing and ownership, Sourcing, searching and planning digital content
Getting pupils ready
- Year 7
- Pupils add the website name and address under each fact on a rights poster.
- Year 8
- Pupils discuss when using an AI chatbot to explain a law is fair, and write an acknowledgement line saying what they asked it and how they checked the answer.
- Year 9
- Pupils keep a research log of every legal website and AI prompt used for a project and turn it into a reference list.
Show the specification wording and the DCF statements
Where it is in the specification: Unit SfL 9, Requirements relating to permitted/prohibited resources, page 49
“A learner will have committed malpractice if they use AI tools without acknowledging them.”
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 9 and the unit summary lists it at "10" guided learning hours, half the 20 hours of the WJEC unit of the same name (Unit summary, page 5).
- Legal content must be current and Welsh: "Where legislation is included in delivery and assessment, centres must ensure that it is current, up to date and relates to the legislative context of Wales" (Units, page 11).
- The criteria set minimum numbers, for example Level 1 learners describe "a range of at least three rights" and at least three responsibilities (Essential information for assessment decisions, page 48).
- A learner achieves the unit once at one level: "Learners can only achieve each unit once, at a single level" (Rules of Combination, page 6).
- AI is allowed only if acknowledged: "A learner will have committed malpractice if they use AI tools without acknowledging them" (Requirements relating to permitted/prohibited resources, page 49).
- The specification gives no unit content: content "can be found in the Teaching and Learning Support document for this unit" (Unit content, page 47), so schools need that separate document.
- The unit page says its cross-cutting themes evidence "can be found in Annexe E" (page 50), but Annexe E has no row for SfL 9; it lists SfL 1 to 5 and then jumps to SfL 18 (Annexe E, pages 170 to 172).
Links with other qualifications
The WJEC Skills Suite has its own Everyday law unit, twice the size at 20 guided learning hours, built around legal terms such as contract and consent, rights at home, at work, in housing and as a consumer, where to get legal advice and how to judge its reliability; the Pearson unit covers human rights, criminal and employment law and contributing to a just and equitable society, and does not require learners to compare sources of advice. Both link with GCSE Social Studies on rights, responsibilities and fairness, and the criminal law content links with VCSE and Foundation Public Services. Within the WJEC Skills Suite the closest units are Rights and responsibilities in the workplace, Democracy in action and Equality, diversity and inclusion. The legislation research builds general search skills used in 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 9: Everyday law.