Skills for Life: Home Management and Maintenance
Home management and maintenance is a 20 hour Skills for Life unit, offered from Entry 1 to Level 2, about household routines, simple home maintenance done safely, hygiene and cleaning, and sustainable habits such as recycling and saving energy. It is one unit that learners combine with others into a Skills for Life or Skills for Work Award, Certificate or Diploma. Digital demand is low because the unit is practical. Digital work sits in planning routines with planners or apps, following instructional videos and online guides, comparing products online, tracking energy and water use, and presenting improvements at Level 2. Only the planning and presenting are assessed, and neither has to be digital.
- Awarding body
- WJEC
- Level
- Entry Level 1 to Level 2
- Guided learning hours
- 20
- First taught
- September 2027
- Amount of digital work
- Low
How this unit is assessed
- Entry Level (Entry 1, Entry 2, Entry 3): Four learning outcomes, with separate assessment criteria at Entry 1, Entry 2 and Entry 3. Evidence goes in a portfolio, internally assessed by the centre and externally quality assured by WJEC. 20 guided learning hours.
- Level 1 and Level 2: Four learning outcomes, with separate assessment criteria at Level 1 and Level 2. Evidence goes in a portfolio, internally assessed by the centre and externally quality assured by WJEC. 20 guided learning hours.
Skills that use Data and information literacy
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Recording energy and water use
A suggested Level 1 and Level 2 activity is to monitor and reduce household energy and water usage, which suits a simple digital table or spreadsheet with a chart. Level 2 learners then evaluate the environmental impact of household routines. The monitoring is suggested; the evaluation is required but does not have to use data tools.
DCF: Data and information literacy
Getting pupils ready
- Year 7
- Pupils tally how many lights are left on in empty classrooms over a week and type the totals into a table.
- Year 8
- Pupils record how long their showers take for a week in a spreadsheet and use SUM and AVERAGE to work out the totals.
- Year 9
- Pupils track daily electricity meter readings at home or school in a spreadsheet, chart them, and compare a normal week with a week of energy-saving changes.
Show the specification wording and the DCF statements
Where it is in the specification: Suggested activities, page 12; Level 1 and Level 2, learning outcome 4, assessment criterion 4.2 (Level 2), page 8
“monitor and reduce household energy and water usage through practical activities”
Progression step 3
I can construct, refine and interrogate data sets within tables, charts, spreadsheets and databases to test or support an investigation.
I can use a range of spreadsheet formulae, e.g. + - / x, sum, average, max, min.
Progression step 4
I can perform analysis on simple data sets including grouping data as appropriate.
Good to know
- The unit has five codes, one for each level, from "S616E1" to "S616L2" (Unit overview, page 3). Only the highest level achieved counts, because "only the highest level of the unit achieved will count towards the GLH" (Skills for Life and Work specification, section 2.2, page 10).
- This is a practical unit and needs equipment: "Centres delivering this unit should have access to a range of household equipment, materials, and environments", including cleaning products, basic maintenance tools, household appliances and recycling facilities, plus "gloves and protective clothing" (Resources required for delivery, page 13).
- Photos and video are expected evidence for practical work: the pack lists "photographic evidence of completed household tasks or maintenance activities" and "video evidence demonstrating practical skills (where appropriate)" (Sources of evidence, page 12). The portfolio "is not limited to paper-based materials" (specification, section 4.1, page 18).
- Spelling and presentation are not judged: "Assessor judgements should focus on meeting the standard, not spelling or presentation unless specifically assessed" (Sources of evidence, page 12).
- The suggested activities and tasks are optional. The specification says suggested assessment tasks "are not mandatory" and teachers "may choose to use these suggestions, adapt them, or develop their own alternatives" (section 4.1, page 18).
- AI tools are only acceptable "When properly referenced", and learners "cannot be credited for any work they produce for assessment which is not their own". Misuse includes "Failing to acknowledge use of AI tools when they have been used as a source of information" (specification, section 4.6, page 21). A weekly plan or routine generated by an AI tool would not count as the learner's own.
- Where a criterion uses a plural without a number, "a plural reference within assessment criterion refers to a minimum of two" (pages 6 and 8).
Links with other qualifications
The pack names links with "GCSE Design and Technology and VCSE Built Environment": safe use of hand tools, assembling flat-pack items and fixing loose fittings overlap with workshop practice in Design and Technology, and identifying when to repair, replace or call a professional connects with the building maintenance side of Built Environment. Within the Skills Suite it suggests delivering this unit alongside Basic first aid, Financial literacy, Food planning and preparation, Healthy lifestyle, Healthy relationships, Looking after others, Practical gardening and Teamwork. Financial literacy is the natural partner for the budgeting and cost comparison the pack mentions, and Food planning and preparation shares the hygiene and safe cleaning content.
Source: WJEC Home management and maintenance unit delivery and assessment pack, read with the WJEC Entry 1 to Level 2 Skills for Life and Skills for Work specification, approved by Qualifications Wales, teaching from September 2027 (© WJEC CBAC Ltd 2026).