Skills for Life: Music, Dance and Drama
Music, Dance and Drama is an Open Awards Skills for Life unit offered at 5 levels, Entry Level 1 to Level 2, in which learners develop practical skills in music, dance or drama, take part in rehearsals and performances and review their work. Each level is a 20 hour unit assessed through provider designed practical and reflective tasks, with evidence in a portfolio. Digital is the only cross-curricular skill the unit names, but demand is low: recording rehearsals, voice notes and music technology appear as resources and examples, and no criterion requires digital work.
- Awarding body
- Open Awards
- 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 1 (CBM111): 3 learning outcomes and 6 assessment criteria: identifying an instrument or prop and recognising a sound or piece of music, demonstrating a simple movement or sound and using an object or instrument to express an idea, and taking part in a group performance activity and indicating what they enjoyed. Tasks include identification, recognition, demonstration and participation, with evidence in a portfolio. 2 credits, 20 guided learning hours. Pass only.
- Entry Level 2 (CBM112): 3 learning outcomes and 6 assessment criteria: identifying at least 3 types of performance equipment and stating safety rules, demonstrating a sequence of at least 3 movements or sounds and using costume or props to represent a character, and taking part in a rehearsed group performance and stating how they contributed. 2 credits, 20 guided learning hours.
- Entry Level 3 (CBM113): 3 learning outcomes and 6 assessment criteria: identifying 3 roles in a performance and stating the purpose of 3 rehearsal activities, demonstrating 3 performance skills and using at least 2 pieces of feedback to improve, and taking part in a structured performance for an audience and giving 3 strengths in their own performance. 2 credits, 20 guided learning hours.
- Level 1 (CBM114): 4 learning outcomes and 8 assessment criteria: describing 3 styles of music, dance or drama and listing resources for a performance, preparing a personal practice plan and organising equipment for a rehearsal, demonstrating 3 technical skills and communicating moods or themes through performance, and reviewing own contribution and giving 3 ways to improve. 2 credits, 20 guided learning hours.
- Level 2 (CBM115): 4 learning outcomes and 8 assessment criteria: comparing the use of expression in 2 performing arts and explaining how 3 technical elements support performance, planning a performance on a theme and adapting the plan after rehearsal, demonstrating 4 stylistic qualities of a genre and using the performance space to engage an audience, and monitoring own progress and evaluating the performance against the plan. 2 credits, 20 guided learning hours.
The digital skills in this qualification
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Recording rehearsals and performances to review progress
Providers should have recording equipment to support review and assessment. Level 1 learners can review their contribution by recording a voice note, and Level 2 learners can monitor their progress by recording video clips of rehearsals to see their technique improve. These are examples, and the criteria can be met without recording, so this is taught, not assessed.
DCF: Creating digital content, Storing and sharing, Evaluating and improving digital content
Getting pupils ready
- Year 7
- Pupils record a short clip of their group performing a rhythm and save it in a named class folder.
- Year 8
- Pupils film two rehearsals of a short scene a week apart, watch both and note one improvement.
- Year 9
- Pupils record rehearsals over several weeks, trim the clips into a short progress video and use it to plan the next improvements.
Show the specification wording and the DCF statements
Where it is in the specification: Physical Resources, Equipment, page 7; Level 1, AC 4.1, page 23; Level 2, AC 4.1, page 27
“recording video clips of every third rehearsal to physically see the”
Progression step 3
I can use a range of software to select, produce and edit a range of multimedia components for a purpose, such as:
- text and images, e.g. format text (bold, underline, italics, highlight); insert and edit text boxes; columns; use refine tools (spellchecker, find and replace); word wrap; crop; alter size and shape; alter images; add effects; trim and split sound and video clips; transitions; onion skin
- presentation, e.g. page orientation; animations; transitions; remove and alter images; use background; use action buttons to create hyperlink; embed objects.
I can manage files and folders locally or online, e.g. move files to a folder.
Progression step 4
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.
I can suggest and make improvements that are relevant for audience and purpose, based on feedback and self-evaluation of my digital work.
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Using music technology and playback equipment
Entry Level 2 learners identify performance equipment such as a microphone or digital keyboard, Level 1 learners organise equipment such as connecting speakers to a tablet, and Level 2 learners explain how technical elements such as a lapel microphone or reverb on a vocal track support a performance. The digital examples are suggestions within wider criteria, so this is taught, not assessed.
DCF: Creating digital content, Evaluating and improving digital content
Getting pupils ready
- Year 7
- Pupils play a backing track from a tablet through a speaker and adjust the volume for a class performance.
- Year 8
- Pupils record a short melody on a digital keyboard or music app and add a second layer.
- Year 9
- Pupils add an effect such as reverb to a recorded vocal or instrumental track and explain how it changes the mood of the performance.
Show the specification wording and the DCF statements
Where it is in the specification: Entry Level 2, AC 1.1, page 16; Level 1, AC 2.2, page 23; Level 2, AC 1.2, page 26
“how "reverb" added to a vocal track in a music performance creates a”
Progression step 3
I can use a range of software to select, produce and edit a range of multimedia components for a purpose, such as:
- text and images, e.g. format text (bold, underline, italics, highlight); insert and edit text boxes; columns; use refine tools (spellchecker, find and replace); word wrap; crop; alter size and shape; alter images; add effects; trim and split sound and video clips; transitions; onion skin
- presentation, e.g. page orientation; animations; transitions; remove and alter images; use background; use action buttons to create hyperlink; embed objects.
I can explain reasons for layout and content of my own work and the work of others.
Progression step 4
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.
I can justify the reasons for choices and explain the advantages and disadvantages of the different digital outputs I create.
Good to know
- Each level is a separate unit worth "Guided Learning Hours: 20" and 2 credits (Unit Content, pages 12, 15, 18, 21 and 25).
- Barred combinations: "with the exception of British Sign Language (BSL), units with the same title at different levels are barred for completion within the same qualification" (Open Awards Level 1 Qualification Guide, Qualification Units, page 17), so a learner can complete this unit at one level only within a qualification.
- All criteria must be met: "All assessment criteria must be met in full for the learner to be awarded a ‘pass’." Tasks are designed by the provider and checked through pre-course verification (Assessment Approach, page 8).
- Evidence goes in a portfolio, paper or digital, and "Wherever possible, e-portfolios are encouraged." (Assessment Approach, page 8).
- Resources include instruments, "sound equipment, e.g., speakers, microphones, playback devices" and "recording equipment where appropriate to support review and assessment" (Physical Resources, Equipment, page 7), and staff need "access to technical support where required for sound, lighting or recording equipment" (Staffing Resources, page 6).
- The unit specification gives no rules on AI tools or on referencing sources; it must be read with the Qualification Guide and the Open Awards Provider Handbook (Qualification Documentation, page 3).
- Some wording looks draft: at Level 1 and Level 2 the criteria tables number LO3 as 3.1 and "3.3" with no 3.2, while the indicative content uses 3.2 (pages 21, 23, 25 and 27); "Learners must demonstrate communicate three moods or themes" (page 23); and the Unit Aim calls it "The Music and Drama suite" and says it is for "Skills for Life" or "Skills for Life and Work" qualifications (page 3).
Links with other qualifications
The unit sits in the Expressive Arts Area of Learning and Experience and links to the WJEC GCSEs in Music, Drama and Dance, and the Pearson unit of the same name covers similar ground. Recording and reviewing rehearsals mirrors the way GCSE Music and Drama use recordings as evidence, and the planning and review cycle supports the Skills for Work unit Building a Growth Mindset. Explaining technical elements such as microphones and reverb links to the DCF producing strand and to music technology work.
Source: Open Awards Skills for Life Unit Specification, Music, Dance and Drama, Entry Level 1 to Level 2.