Skills for Life: Skills in the Natural Environment
Skills in the natural environment is a 20 hour Skills for Life unit, from Entry 1 to Level 2, which learners combine with other units into a Skills for Life or Skills for Work Award, Certificate or Diploma. Learners study local environments, ecosystems and natural resources, the impact of human activity, and practical outdoor skills such as shelter building, navigation, planting and conservation, working safely and sustainably. Digital demand is low: no assessment criterion needs technology, and the pack does not list Digital competence among the unit's integral skills. Digital work sits in filming practical tasks as evidence, videos and case studies, wildlife survey records and presentations.
- 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, each with assessment criteria at Entry 1, Entry 2 and Entry 3 (unit codes S624E1, S624E2 and S624E3). Evidence is compiled into a portfolio, internally assessed by the centre and externally quality assured by WJEC. 20 guided learning hours.
- Level 1 and Level 2: Four learning outcomes, each with assessment criteria at Level 1 and Level 2 (unit codes S624L1 and S624L2). Evidence is compiled into a portfolio, internally assessed by the centre and externally quality assured by WJEC. 20 guided learning hours.
Skills that use Data and information literacy
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Recording wildlife survey results
Learners can carry out eco-action tasks such as wildlife surveys and keep records of them, for example counting birds or pollinators. Wildlife surveys appear in the suggested activities and sources of evidence, and resources such as the FIT Count app support them, but no assessment criterion requires a survey or a data set, so this is optional.
DCF: Data and information literacy
Getting pupils ready
- Year 7
- Pupils count the birds they see on the school field in ten minutes and type the totals into a simple table.
- Year 8
- Pupils enter a class minibeast count into a spreadsheet and make a bar chart showing which habitat had most creatures.
- Year 9
- Pupils compare insect counts from two areas of the school grounds in a spreadsheet, group the results by type and say what the difference suggests.
Show the specification wording and the DCF statements
Where it is in the specification: Suggested activities, page 13; Sources of evidence, page 14; Resources available to support delivery, page 17
“records of eco-actions (e.g. litter picks, planting, wildlife surveys)”
Progression step 3
I can construct, refine and interrogate data sets within tables, charts, spreadsheets and databases to test or support an investigation.
Progression step 4
I can perform analysis on simple data sets including grouping data as appropriate.
Good to know
- Each level has its own unit code: "S624E1", "S624E2", "S624E3", "S624L1" and "S624L2" (Unit overview, page 3).
- Outdoor access is needed: "Centres may need access to local green spaces, basic navigation tools (maps, compasses), and simple safety equipment" (Resources required for delivery, page 15), and assessment "should not require any additional resources to those required for delivery" (page 17).
- Practical evidence is best captured on camera: sources include "photos or short videos of learners carrying out survival tasks (e.g. building a shelter, using a compass, collecting water)" (Sources of evidence, page 14), and the portfolio "is not limited to paper-based materials" (Skills for Life and Work specification, Section 4.1, page 18).
- Navigation in the pack is with "maps or compasses" (Amplification of LO3, page 11); GPS or mapping apps are not required.
- AI tools can be used only if acknowledged; learners "risk committing malpractice if AI is misused", and misuse includes "Failing to acknowledge use of AI tools when they have been used as a source of information" (Skills for Life and Work specification, Section 4.6, page 21).
- Suggested assessment tasks in the pack "are not mandatory"; teachers may use, adapt or replace them (Skills for Life and Work specification, Section 4.1, page 18).
- Evidence sent to WJEC for quality assurance goes digitally: "all evidence submitted for sampling must be provided digitally by the centre" (Skills for Life and Work specification, Section 5.2, page 23).
Links with other qualifications
The pack names GCSE Geography and GCSE Biology as related; on this page the ecosystems, biodiversity and freshwater work links to GCSE Geography and to the biology in GCSE The Sciences and GCSE Integrated Science. It also names the Foundation and VCSE in Sport and Leisure, which share outdoor activity and risk assessment, and Built Environment, which here is the VCSE Built Environment. In the Skills Suite the pack suggests delivering it alongside Community participation, Basic first aid, Teamwork, Personal safety, Practical gardening, Sustainability in action, Overcoming barriers, Working in Wales and Jobs of the future.
Source: WJEC Skills in the natural environment 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).