Skills for Life: Looking After Others
Looking after others is a Pearson Skills for Life unit in which learners identify their own needs and the physical, emotional, social and safety needs of others, then carry out practical caring tasks such as handwashing, helping with dressing, eating and mobility, following hygiene and safety procedures and communicating with respect. 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. Digital demand is low: no assessment criterion needs a device. Annexe C links the unit to online care guidelines and digital records, and learners must reference sources and acknowledge any AI 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 of Entry 1, Entry 2 and Entry 3: state, outline or identify own needs and the needs of others and carry out basic, simple or caring tasks in familiar settings. The essential information for assessment decisions says what learners show at each level. Centres choose the type of evidence and set and mark the assessment, adapting Pearson's Authorised Assignment Brief or devising their own, internally verified and quality assured by Pearson standards verification. 20 guided learning hours.
- Level 1 and Level 2: One assessment criterion at each of Level 1 and Level 2: describe (Level 1) or explain (Level 2) own needs and the needs of others, then independently plan for and carry out caring tasks that promote positive relationships and wellbeing, with Level 2 adapting the plan to changing circumstances and settings. Centres choose the type of evidence and set and mark the assessment, internally verified and quality assured by Pearson standards verification. Graded Pass or Fail. 20 guided learning hours.
Skills that use Digital rights, licensing and ownership
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Referencing sources and acknowledging AI in evidence
Learners at every level must certify that their evidence is their own, reference any sources they used and clearly acknowledge any AI tools, keeping the final work in their own words. This applies to all submitted evidence for the unit, and using AI without acknowledging it is malpractice.
DCF: Digital rights, licensing and ownership, Sourcing, searching and planning digital content
Getting pupils ready
- Year 7
- Pupils add a sources list to the bottom of a short fact sheet about germs, writing the website name and page title for each fact.
- Year 8
- Pupils use a chatbot to suggest ideas for a hygiene poster, then write their own wording and add a note saying what the AI tool was used for.
- Year 9
- Pupils compare a paragraph they wrote with an AI generated one on caring for others, discuss why copying it would be malpractice, and reference their sources in full.
Show the specification wording and the DCF statements
Where it is in the specification: Unit SfL 17, Requirements relating to permitted/prohibited resources, page 85
“they have clearly referenced any sources and any artificial intelligence used”
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 listed as "SfL 17 Looking after others" with a Unit GLH of 20 (Unit summary, page 5). It counts towards the Pearson Skills for Life qualifications, for example C00/5444/4 "Pearson Level 1 Skills for Life Award" (Qualification titles, page 4).
- A unit counts only once: "Learners can only achieve each unit once, at a single level" (Rules of Combination, page 6, and Assessment of units, page 9), so schools should decide which level each learner is working towards.
- The required teaching content is not in the specification: it "can be found in the Teaching and Learning Support document for this unit" (Unit content, page 83), so schools need that separate Pearson document as well as the Authorised Assignment Brief.
- Evidence is flexible: "there are no mandatory evidence requirements and centres can select the type of evidence" (Essential information for assessment decisions, page 83), but "achievement cannot be inferred from performance" (Section 4, page 9), so practical caring tasks need observation records or witness testimony.
- Centres "can adapt the AAB or devise your own assessments" (Authorised Assignment Briefs, page 8), and the unit should be assessed "over a number of sessions" (Assessment arrangements, page 84).
- AI must be acknowledged: "A learner will have committed malpractice if they use AI tools without acknowledging them" (Requirements relating to permitted/prohibited resources, page 85).
- Units and the qualifications are "graded Pass/Fail" (Unit and Qualification Grading, page 7), and learners "can be assessed in Welsh or English" (Language of assessment, page 8).
- The unit says its cross-cutting theme experiences "can be found in Annexe E" (page 86), but Annexe E has no row for SfL 17: the table goes straight from SfL 5 to SfL 18 (page 172), although Annexe D ticks the themes for this unit (page 168).
Links with other qualifications
Looking after others leads most directly into WJEC GCSE Health and Social Care, and Childcare and the WJEC Foundation in Health and Social Care, and Childcare, which build on care needs, hygiene, infection control and respectful communication; the food and hygiene routines also touch GCSE Food and Nutrition and the VCSE in Hospitality and Catering. Within the WJEC Skills Suite it sits next to Basic First Aid, Mental Health and Wellbeing and Healthy Relationships. Compared with the WJEC Looking after others unit, which has four learning outcomes including a separate one on managing self-care, the Pearson unit has a single criterion per level built around planning and carrying out caring tasks for a given individual, with self-care only in the purpose statement. Both are 20 hours and both make little use of digital skills.
Source: Pearson Entry Level 1 to Level 2 Skills for Life Award, Certificate and Diploma Qualifications specification, Issue 1, August 2026, Unit SfL 17: Looking after others.