Skills for Life: Sustainability In Action
Sustainability in action (Unit SfL 25) 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. Learners find out about sustainability practices and, from Level 1, the three pillars of sustainability and relevant legislation, using local, national and at Level 2 international examples, then plan and take part in a sustainability activity. The centre sets and marks the assignment. Digital demand is low: no criterion needs a computer. Pearson's own mapping names ICT for research, digital posters and recording outcomes, and every learner must reference sources and acknowledge any AI used.
- 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: list, outline or identify everyday sustainability practices and take part in a simple sustainability activity, contributing to its planning at Entry 3. There are no mandatory evidence requirements; the centre sets and marks its own assignment (Pearson's Authorised Assignment Brief is optional), internally verified and checked by a Pearson Standards Verifier. Graded Pass or Fail. 20 guided learning hours.
- Level 1 and Level 2: One assessment criterion at each level: describe (Level 1) or explain (Level 2) the principles of sustainability using local and national examples, and at Level 2 international ones too, then plan and participate in a sustainability activity. Evidence is chosen by the centre, internally assessed by the centre and checked by a Pearson Standards Verifier. Graded Pass or Fail. 20 guided learning hours.
Skills that use Creating digital content
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Making digital posters and recording outcomes
Pearson's Annexe C names digital posters and recording outcomes as digital links, for example photographs or a short report of the sustainability activity. Centres choose the evidence format, so producing digital content is suggested rather than required by the criteria.
DCF: Creating digital content, Storing and sharing
Getting pupils ready
- Year 7
- Pupils design a poster in Adobe Express encouraging classmates to switch off lights, with a heading, an image and two tips.
- Year 8
- Pupils photograph each stage of a school composting activity, save the photos in a named folder and caption them in a slide show.
- Year 9
- Pupils produce a short digital report of a sustainability activity with photos, a results table and a reflection, adjusted for a governors' audience.
Show the specification wording and the DCF statements
Where it is in the specification: Unit SfL 25, Essential information for assessment decisions, page 117; Annexe C, page 165; Assessment requirements, page 9
“Examples of forms of evidence include observation records, witness testimony, and products of learners' work”
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.
Good to know
- The unit is Unit SfL 25 and the unit summary lists it at 20 GLH ("SfL 25 Sustainability in action 20", Unit summary, page 5); it counts towards Skills for Life qualifications numbered C00/5443/4 to C00/5445/0 (Qualification titles, pages 3 to 4).
- A unit is achieved once, at one level: "Learners can only achieve each unit once, at a single level" (Rules of Combination, page 6), and units and qualifications are "graded Pass/Fail" (Other key information, page 4).
- There is no set evidence format: "there are no mandatory evidence requirements and centres can select the type of evidence" (Essential information for assessment decisions, page 117). Pearson's Authorised Assignment Brief is an exemplar only: "AABs are not mandatory" (How to use this document, page 1).
- The compulsory teaching content is not in the specification: "This can be found in the T Teaching and Learning Support document for this unit" (Unit content, page 117), so schools need that separate Pearson document. The stray "T" is a typing slip in the specification.
- Level 1 learners must give information on "the three pillars and appropriate legislation" (Essential information for assessment decisions, page 117), and legislation must be "current, up to date and relates to the legislative context of Wales" (Section 5 Units, page 11).
- AI may be used only if acknowledged: "A learner will have committed malpractice if they use AI tools without acknowledging them" (Requirements relating to permitted/prohibited resources, page 118).
- The specification is inconsistent on size: the unit summary gives 20 GLH, but worked Example 7 lists "Unit SfL 25 10" (Understanding the qualification grade, page 148). The Entry 3 guidance also contains the slip "can participating in it with guidance" (page 117).
Links with other qualifications
Pearson maps this unit to the Humanities statements "Our natural world is diverse and dynamic" and informed citizens taking ethical action, and its Annexe E links it to the Well-being of Future Generations Act, the UN Sustainable Development Goals and green careers, so it sits naturally beside GCSE Geography and GCSE Social Studies and the WJEC Foundation in Humanities. Within the WJEC Skills Suite it overlaps with Sustainable Economic Development, Skills in the Natural Environment and Practical Gardening. Compared with the WJEC Sustainability in Action unit, which has four learning outcomes and asks learners to keep a record of their sustainable actions over time, the Pearson unit has a single criterion per level, adds the three pillars and legislation at Level 1 and international contexts at Level 2, and centres choose the evidence format.
Source: Pearson Entry Level 1 to Level 2 Skills for Life Award, Certificate and Diploma specification, Issue 1, August 2026, Unit SfL 25: Sustainability in action.