Skills for Life: Looking After Others
Looking after others is a 20 hour Skills for Life unit, running from Entry 1 to Level 2, on caring for other people: understanding their physical, emotional and social needs, hygiene and safety, building positive relationships and looking after yourself while caring. 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. No assessment criterion needs a computer. Digital work sits in optional research using online care and safety resources, making posters or presentations as group evidence, and capturing practical care tasks on photo or video for the portfolio.
- 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 assessment criteria at Entry 1, Entry 2 and Entry 3 (needs of others, safety and hygiene, positive relationships, self-care). Evidence goes in a portfolio, internally assessed by the centre and externally quality assured by WJEC. 20 guided learning hours, unit codes S617E1, S617E2 and S617E3.
- Level 1 and Level 2: Four learning outcomes with assessment criteria at Level 1 and Level 2 (needs of others and ways to support them, hygiene and safety, positive and appropriate relationships, managing own self-care and wellbeing). Evidence goes in a portfolio, internally assessed by the centre and externally quality assured by WJEC. 20 guided learning hours, unit codes S617L1 and S617L2.
Skills that use Identity, image and reputation
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Recording practical care tasks on photo and video with permission
Practical tasks such as handwashing, a safe snack preparation or a role-play of positive communication can be evidenced with photographs, audio or video recordings and checklists. Photographs are only taken where permitted, so learners need to think about consent and dignity when filming care tasks. Recording is a suggested source of evidence; the assessment criteria ask for the task to be shown, not for the recording.
DCF: Identity, image and reputation, Storing and sharing, Online behaviour and online bullying, Creating digital content
Getting pupils ready
- Year 7
- Pupils take turns to photograph each other completing a handwashing routine on a school tablet, asking permission first, and save the photos in a named folder.
- Year 8
- Pupils film a short role-play of greeting and helping a visitor, check with everyone in the clip that they are happy for it to be kept, and store it in the class shared drive.
- Year 9
- Pupils record a short video of themselves explaining a hygiene routine, trim it to under two minutes and decide what must not appear in the shot to protect other people's privacy.
Show the specification wording and the DCF statements
Where it is in the specification: Sources of evidence, page 10; specification section 4.1, page 18
“Photographs of learners completing practical activities (where permitted)”
Progression step 3
I can think critically about information shared online, e.g. the impact of sharing images and videos, metadata of images and videos.
I can manage files and folders locally or online, e.g. move files to a folder.
Progression step 4
I can understand that photographs, locations and tags can be tracked and can make informed decisions accordingly.
I can select and use a variety of appropriate software, tools and techniques to create, modify and combine multimedia components for a range of audiences and purposes, such as:
- text and images, e.g. explore and use effectively image manipulation techniques; explore and use appropriately the many aspects of document layout; use animation, video and audio effects such as echo, tempo, envelope, layering, frame rate, key frames
- presentation, e.g. use design tools; adapt themes and colours to suit the purpose; create master templates.
Good to know
- The unit has five unit codes, one per level: "Unit Codes S617E1" to S617L2, and it is a 20 guided learning hour Skills for Life unit (Unit overview, page 3).
- No special kit is needed: "Assessment of this unit should not require any specific resources" (Resources required for assessment, page 11). Delivery uses standard classrooms with access to practical spaces for demonstrations (page 10).
- Evidence does not have to be written. The pack lists photographs, checklists and "Short written accounts or audio/video recordings of learning" (Sources of evidence, page 10), and the specification says a portfolio "is not limited to paper-based materials" (section 4.1, page 18).
- Suggested activities and assessment tasks are optional: "These tasks are not mandatory" (specification section 4.1, page 18).
- AI tools may be used only if acknowledged: "When properly referenced, this can be acceptable", but copying AI content or failing to acknowledge AI is malpractice (specification section 4.6, page 21).
- Appendix A of the specification maps this unit to all seven integral skills, including Digital Competence (page 28), but the pack only says the unit "fosters Digital competence if learners use online resources for research or reflection" (page 4).
Links with other qualifications
The pack names GCSE Health and Social Care and Childcare as a linked WJEC qualification, and the work on physical, emotional and social needs, care settings, hygiene and safe working practice is a direct lead in to it, and to the WJEC Foundation Health and Social Care, and Childcare. The hygiene and safe food preparation content links with GCSE Food and Nutrition and VCSE Hospitality and Catering, where food hygiene and safety are also taught. Within the Skills Suite, the pack lists Basic first aid, Food planning and preparation, Healthy lifestyle, Healthy relationships, Mental health and wellbeing, Personal safety, Teamwork, Understanding self and others and Wellbeing and work among the closely related units.
Source: WJEC Looking after others 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).