Skills for Life: Healthy Relationships
Healthy Relationships is an Open Awards Skills for Life unit in which learners explore what makes relationships positive, how to communicate feelings, set boundaries and handle disagreement, and how relationships support wellbeing and the community, ending at Level 2 with researching and presenting a support service. Each level is 20 GLH and is assessed through provider-set tasks collected in a portfolio. Digital demand is low: no criterion requires digital work, and the digital links are online boundaries such as not sharing passwords, comparing online and face-to-face relationships, and optional online research.
- Awarding body
- Open Awards
- 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 1 (CBM091), 2 credits, 20 GLH: Three learning outcomes: state positive things people do for each other and one way to be kind and friendly, list own relationships and identify positive ones, recognise own feelings, state how to tell someone else and one calm thing to do when upset. Suggested tasks are matching, picture selection, supported role play and simple verbal responses, set and marked by the provider.
- Entry Level 2 (CBM092), 2 credits, 20 GLH: List what makes a positive relationship, state qualities that build trust, give an example of a positive relationship, identify types of relationship, state a difference between home and school relationships, recognise why boundaries matter, give examples of people working together, state how this feels and how to respond calmly to a disagreement. Tasks include listing, scenario and role play tasks.
- Entry Level 3 (CBM093), 2 credits, 20 GLH: Explain features of positive relationships, describe ways of showing respect and give examples of trust, give examples of relationships in different settings and explain how home and school relationships differ, describe ways to communicate, explain how to express feelings respectfully and how own feelings affect others, and recognise how others' actions affect own feelings. Tasks include written or verbal, comparison, role play and reflection tasks.
- Level 1 (CBM094), 2 credits, 20 GLH: Four learning outcomes: describe a positive relationship and qualities that build trust, analyse own relationships, describe, evaluate and compare types of relationship, describe boundaries, demonstrate communicating feelings and responding respectfully to disagreement, give examples of effective communication, describe the benefits of positive relationships for wellbeing and the community, and identify local support services. Tasks include structured writing, role play, evaluation and a research task.
- Level 2 (CBM095), 2 credits, 20 GLH: Describe features of positive relationships, evaluate and reflect on own relationships, explain how environment affects relationships, evaluate the importance of different relationships and analyse how they differ across settings, evaluate boundaries and effective communication, evaluate the benefits of positive relationships for wellbeing and the community, research one support service and present the findings. Tasks include analytical, case study, research, presentation and reflective tasks.
Skills that use Communication
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Comparing online and face-to-face relationships
At Level 2 learners analyse how relationships differ across settings, and Open Awards suggests online and face-to-face as one pair, considering how expectations, boundaries and behaviours change. The Level 2 Digital theme also says learners may analyse how relationships differ online. The comparison across settings is assessed, but choosing online as a setting is optional, so this is taught, not assessed.
DCF: Communication, Identity, image and reputation, Health and well-being
Getting pupils ready
- Year 7
- Pupils list how they talk to a friend in person and in a group chat, and spot one thing that is easier to misunderstand online.
- Year 8
- Pupils compare a message sent by text with the same message said face-to-face and explain how tone and emojis change the meaning.
- Year 9
- Pupils write a short comparison of an online friendship and a face-to-face one, covering trust, boundaries and how each can go wrong.
Show the specification wording and the DCF statements
Where it is in the specification: Level 2 AC 2.3, Indicative Content, page 24; Relevant Cross-Cutting Themes, page 26
“or online and face-to-face”
Progression step 3
I can show an understanding of the advantages and disadvantages of different forms of communication and when it is appropriate to use each, e.g. explain when video conferencing may be more appropriate than e-mail, and vice versa; explain the pros and cons of using instant messaging in social contexts; talk about purpose and audience.
I can think critically about information shared online, e.g. the impact of sharing images and videos, metadata of images and videos.
Progression step 4
I can discuss the benefits and risks of presenting myself in different ways online.
I can reflect on the role of digital media in my life and habits.
Good to know
- Every level is 2 credits and 20 GLH, with unit codes CBM091 (Entry 1) to CBM095 (Level 2) (Unit Content, pages 10, 13, 16, 19 and 23), matching the Level 1 Qualification Guide (Qualification Units, page 17).
- Only one level counts towards a qualification: "with the exception of British Sign Language (BSL), units with the same title at different levels are barred for completion within the same qualification" (Qualification Guide, Qualification Units, page 16).
- Assessment is set by the school and every criterion must be met: the suite is "assessed through assessment tasks and activities designed by the provider" and "No partial award can be made if any assessment criteria is not met" (Assessment Approach, page 7).
- Evidence goes in a portfolio that "can be presented digitally (e.g., through an e-portfolio system) or as paper-based", and "Wherever possible, e-portfolios are encouraged" (Assessment Approach, page 7). Tasks need pre-course verification and are checked by internal and then Open Awards external quality assurance.
- Neither the unit specification nor the Level 1 Qualification Guide says anything about AI tools, so the school's own malpractice and authentication rules apply.
- Delivery staff must "be able to facilitate discussion of sensitive topics (e.g., relationships, feelings, conflict) in a safe and supportive manner" and understand safeguarding requirements (Staffing Resources, page 5).
- Resources include "access to a computer or laptop for digital resources" and role play materials such as prompt cards and feeling cards (Physical Resources, page 6). No criterion requires a device.
- The Digital cross-cutting theme says "Boundaries include safe online behaviours" at Level 1 (page 22), and at Level 2 "Boundaries explicitly include digital safety (e.g., not sharing passwords, online privacy)" (page 26). These are themes and examples, not separate criteria.
- The Entry Level 3 indicative content labels two criteria "AC 2.1" (page 17), and the second one is the criterion on home and school relationships, AC 2.2.
Links with other qualifications
The Pearson Healthy relationships unit is 10 GLH and adds consent explicitly at Level 1 and Level 2, while the Open Awards unit is 20 GLH at every level and adds the wellbeing and community benefits of relationships and a researched support service. Both have low digital demand. The unit supports the Health and Well-being Area, which Open Awards maps it to, and the Relationships and Sexuality Education code, and the online boundaries and privacy work links to the Digital Competence Framework strand on online behaviour and to Open Awards units such as Equality, Diversity and Inclusion and any online safety unit a school offers.
Source: Open Awards Skills for Life Unit Specification, Healthy Relationships, Entry Level 1 to Level 2.