Skills for Life: Exercise For All
Exercise for all is a Skills for Life unit in which learners take part in a range of exercise activities, learn the physical and mental wellbeing benefits of exercise and, from Entry 3 upwards, follow, plan or design a one week exercise schedule and reflect on it. It is one 20 hour unit that learners combine with others into a Pearson Skills for Life Award, Certificate or Diploma, from Entry 1 to Level 2, and it is assessed internally by the centre. Digital demand is low: no assessment criterion is digital. Pearson's mapping suggests online resources and videos and possible digital tracking or logs, and learners must acknowledge any sources and AI tools they use.
- 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 Entry level: learners state (Entry 1), outline (Entry 2) or identify (Entry 3) the physical and mental wellbeing benefits of exercise through taking part in simple exercise activities, and at Entry 3 also follow a basic exercise schedule. Evidence is assessed internally by the centre through a centre-devised assignment, which can be based on Pearson's Authorised Assignment Brief, and is quality assured by Pearson standards verification. 20 guided learning hours.
- Level 1 and Level 2: One assessment criterion at each level: at Level 1 learners plan and take part in a simple one week exercise schedule and describe its physical and mental wellbeing benefits, and at Level 2 they design and take part in a balanced schedule, explain its benefits and reflect on how to improve it. Evidence is assessed internally by the centre and quality assured by Pearson standards verification. 20 guided learning hours.
Skills that use Sourcing, searching and planning digital content
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Using online videos and resources to find and follow exercises
Pearson's cross-curricular mapping suggests learners use online resources and videos when learning about types of exercise and planning their schedule. This is only suggested; the assessment criteria do not require online research, and the centre decides the resources.
DCF: Sourcing, searching and planning digital content
Getting pupils ready
- Year 7
- Pupils search for a beginner stretching video, try two different sets of keywords, and note which search gave the most suitable result.
- Year 8
- Pupils find three online home workout videos and record who made each one and whether the presenter looks qualified to give advice.
- Year 9
- Pupils compare exercise advice from an NHS page, a fitness influencer and a sports brand website, judge which is most reliable, and reference each source.
Show the specification wording and the DCF statements
Where it is in the specification: Annexe C, SfL 10 Digital Links, page 162; Unit SfL 10, Requirements relating to permitted/prohibited resources, page 54
“Use online resources/ videos; possible digital tracking/logs”
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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Acknowledging sources and AI tools
Learners at every level must certify that the evidence is their own, reference any sources they used and acknowledge any AI tools, and the final submission must be in their own words. Using AI without acknowledging it is malpractice, so this applies to every assessment for the unit.
DCF: Digital rights, licensing and ownership, Sourcing, searching and planning digital content
Getting pupils ready
- Year 7
- Pupils add a simple source list to a fact sheet on the benefits of exercise, giving the website name and date for each fact they used.
- Year 8
- Pupils discuss example pieces of homework, decide which ones are plagiarised or copied from an AI chatbot, and write a class rule for acknowledging help.
- Year 9
- Pupils write a short report on exercise and mood, reference each source properly, and add a note saying whether and how they used an AI tool.
Show the specification wording and the DCF statements
Where it is in the specification: Unit SfL 10, Requirements relating to permitted/prohibited resources, page 54
“If learners use AI tools, they must acknowledge them clearly.”
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 listed as "SfL 10 Exercise for all 20", so it is 20 guided learning hours (Unit summary, page 5); the qualifications themselves have numbers such as "C00/5444/4" for the Level 1 Award (Qualification titles, page 4).
- A unit can be passed only once: "Learners can only achieve each unit once, at a single level" (Rules of Combination, page 6), so a school cannot enter a learner at Level 1 and later at Level 2 for the same unit.
- There is only one assessment criterion per level, and evidence is flexible: "there are no mandatory evidence requirements and centres can select the type of evidence" (Essential information for assessment decisions, page 52).
- The teaching content is not in the specification: it "can be found in the Teaching and Learning Support document for this unit" (Unit content, page 52), and the assessment duration "is given in the AAB document" (Assessment arrangements, page 53).
- Centres set and mark the assessment: "centres set and mark the final summative assessment for each unit", subject to Pearson standards verification (Internal assessment, page 8).
- AI may be used but must be acknowledged: "A learner will have committed malpractice if they use AI tools without acknowledging them" (Requirements relating to permitted/prohibited resources, page 54).
- The unit page says its cross-cutting themes "mapped and can be found in Annexe E" (page 54), but the SfL 10 row in Annexe D (page 167) has no themes ticked and Annexe E has no SfL 10 row, so the document is inconsistent here.
- Unlike the WJEC unit, Pearson's criteria do not require working with others or setting fitness goals; the aim mentions activities done "both individually and collaboratively" (Purpose and Aim, page 51) but the criteria focus on benefits and an exercise schedule.
Links with other qualifications
The closest WJEC qualifications are GCSE Physical Education and Health, which goes much further into training principles, fitness testing and heart rate, and the VCSE and Foundation in Sport and Leisure, which include planning and leading activities and training programmes. The mental wellbeing benefits link to the WJEC Skills Suite unit Mental health and wellbeing. Compared with the WJEC Exercise for all unit, which is also 20 guided learning hours, the Pearson unit has a single criterion per level built around the benefits of exercise and a one week exercise schedule, while the WJEC unit has four learning outcomes including taking part safely, working cooperatively with others and setting and reviewing fitness goals. Pearson maps the unit to Health and Well-being only.
Source: Pearson Entry Level 1 to Level 2 Skills for Life Award, Certificate and Diploma Qualifications specification, Issue 1, August 2026, Unit SfL 10: Exercise for all.