Skills for Life: International Language: Communicating Personal Information (Written)
International language (written): communicating personal information is a 10 hour Skills for Life unit, from Entry 1 to Level 2, offered in French, German, Italian, Japanese, Mandarin and Spanish. Learners read short texts about people and write about themselves, from single words at Entry 1 to written facts, opinions, answers and requests at Level 2. It is one unit that learners combine with others into a Skills for Life, or Skills for Life and Work, Award, Certificate or Diploma. Digital demand is low. No assessment criterion asks for digital work; digital skills sit in suggested emails, CVs, online quizzes and dictionaries, and photographed evidence.
- Awarding body
- WJEC
- Level
- Entry Level 1 to Level 2
- Guided learning hours
- 10
- First taught
- September 2027
- Amount of digital work
- Low
How this unit is assessed
- Entry Level (Entry 1, Entry 2, Entry 3): Two learning outcomes (understand material relating to communicating personal information, write about personal information), 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. 10 guided learning hours.
- Level 1 and Level 2: Two learning outcomes (understand key facts and information in texts relating to personal information, produce texts about personal information), 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. 10 guided learning hours.
Skills that use Communication
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Writing emails in the target language
The Level 2 amplification lists expressing thanks for an email and letter writing conventions, and suggested activities include completing a gap-fill email and writing an email to a pupil in a partner school at Levels 1 and 2. A letter or email is a listed source of evidence for the writing criteria, but no assessment criterion requires the writing to be an email.
DCF: Communication, Creating digital content
Getting pupils ready
- Year 7
- Pupils fill the gaps in a short email in the language they are learning with their name, age and town, using a word bank on screen.
- Year 8
- Pupils write a short email to a made-up penfriend about their family and hobbies, with a greeting, a subject line and a sign-off in the language.
- Year 9
- Pupils reply to an email from a partner school pupil, thanking them, answering their questions and asking two of their own, then attach a photo of their school.
Show the specification wording and the DCF statements
Where it is in the specification: Amplification, Level 2, page 10; Suggested activities, Development Activities, page 13; Sources of evidence, page 14
“write an email to a pupil or student in a partner school”
Progression step 3
I can exchange online communications, making use of a growing range of available features, e.g. add attachments or hyperlinks, change formatting.
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.
Progression step 4
I can select and use different online communication tools for specific purposes with higher levels of competence, e.g. set up and manage an address book, organise contacts, use advanced features of e-mail provider (signature, auto reply, read receipt, widgets).
I can explore and develop a range of formal text document structures for different audiences and purposes.
Good to know
- There is one unit for each language. The title is "available in French, German, Italian, Japanese, Mandarin and Spanish", and for unit codes the pack says "Please refer to the Skills for Life and Work qualifications specification." (Unit overview, page 3), where every code is still listed as TBC (section 3.1, page 13).
- Specialist staff are expected: "assessors should have subject-specific expertise in language teaching and assessment" (Resources required for assessment, page 16). Devices help but are optional: "it would be beneficial to have access to computers, tablets, or mobile devices for digital activities and research" (page 14).
- Evidence can be paper or digital. Sources include "annotated photographic evidence of matching or sorting activity", a "completed profile", a "CV" and a "letter or email" (Sources of evidence, page 14), and a portfolio "is not limited to paper-based materials" (Skills for Life and Work specification, section 4.1, page 18).
- Sampling is remote: "all evidence submitted for sampling must be provided digitally by the centre" (Skills for Life and Work specification, section 5.2, page 23).
- Suggested assessment tasks are optional: "These tasks are not mandatory." (Skills for Life and Work specification, section 4.1, page 18). Every digital tool named in the pack, such as Blooket, Quizlet and Kahoot, appears only in suggested activities.
- AI use must be acknowledged. Properly referenced AI use "can be acceptable", but "Failing to acknowledge use of AI tools when they have been used as a source of information" is malpractice (Skills for Life and Work specification, section 4.6, page 21).
- The pack carries a note that "The UK Government has announced plans to restrict social media use by children under 16" (page 2), which matters for any online contact with a partner school.
- The unit starts from scratch: the units "assume that learners have no previous experience of the language being learnt" (Planning courses, page 7), with Entry Level pitched at CEFR pre-A1 to A1 and Levels 1 and 2 at A2 to B1 (page 8).
Links with other qualifications
The pack names VCSE Travel and Tourism and GCSE Business as qualifications the international language units can complement, and writing about nationality, where people live and work, and future plans fits both. Learners already taking GCSE French, GCSE German or GCSE Spanish are pointed towards a new language rather than the same one. Within the Skills Suite the unit pairs with International language (spoken): communicating personal information, the Social activities units and the Skills for Work Education and employment units, which share vocabulary for school, work and hobbies. Translating sentences into English or Cymraeg draws on GCSE English Language and Literature, GCSE Cymraeg Language and Literature and GCSE Core Cymraeg, and writing a basic CV or covering letter echoes the job applications in the Applying for jobs unit.
Source: WJEC International language (written) - communicating personal information 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).