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 Sourcing, searching and planning digital content
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Researching care, hygiene and safety information online
Learners can use online resources, such as the Social Care Wales, RoSPA and Age UK pages listed in the pack, to find out about people's needs, hygiene routines and home safety before describing them for learning outcomes 1 and 2. The pack says digital competence is only fostered if learners choose to research online, so this is suggested, not required by the assessment criteria.
DCF: Sourcing, searching and planning digital content
Getting pupils ready
- Year 7
- Pupils search a teacher-chosen list of websites, such as the NHS handwashing page, and copy three hygiene tips into a document with the web address under each one.
- Year 8
- Pupils change their search words to find home safety advice for older people, compare what two sites say about trips and falls, and note which site they trust more and why.
- Year 9
- Pupils research the needs of a young child, an older adult and a person recovering from illness, judge the reliability of each source they use and list the sources in a simple reference list.
Show the specification wording and the DCF statements
Where it is in the specification: Unit overview, Curriculum for Wales, page 4; Resources available to support delivery, page 11
“fosters Digital competence if learners use online resources for research or reflection”
Progression step 3
I can adjust keywords and search techniques to find relevant information.
I can begin to reference sources used in my work, and consider if content is reliable.
Progression step 4
I can search a variety of sources using relevant search techniques with increased complexity.
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 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).