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 Sourcing, searching and planning digital content
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Researching sustainability examples and legislation
Level 1 learners describe the principles of sustainability with local and national examples and the relevant legislation, and Level 2 learners explain them across local, national and international contexts. The criteria require the examples but not how they are found; Pearson's Annexe C names ICT for research as the unit's digital link.
DCF: Sourcing, searching and planning digital content
Getting pupils ready
- Year 7
- Pupils search a council website for how their area collects recycling and copy three facts and the page address into a table.
- Year 8
- Pupils search for one Welsh and one UK example of a sustainability scheme, adjusting their keywords, and note which source they trust more and why.
- Year 9
- Pupils research the Well-being of Future Generations (Wales) Act and one project from another country, check each source for reliability and list their references.
Show the specification wording and the DCF statements
Where it is in the specification: Unit SfL 25, Assessment criteria, Level 1 and Level 2, page 116; Essential information for assessment decisions, Level 1 and Level 2, page 117; Annexe C, page 165
“Research tasks, writing plans, ICT for research, digital”
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.
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Planning a sustainability activity
Entry 3 learners contribute ideas to planning a sustainability activity, Level 1 learners plan parts of it with occasional guidance, and Level 2 learners plan and run it independently, adapting tasks where necessary. The criteria require the plan, which can be on paper or digital; planning with digital tools is a centre choice.
DCF: Sourcing, searching and planning digital content
Getting pupils ready
- Year 7
- Pupils plan a classroom recycling drive in a shared document with a list of jobs, who does each one and the day it happens.
- Year 8
- Pupils use a simple online planning board to break a school energy saving week into tasks and move each card as it is done.
- Year 9
- Pupils compare a mind map and a timeline for planning a litter pick, choose the better one for the job and explain their choice.
Show the specification wording and the DCF statements
Where it is in the specification: Unit SfL 25, Assessment criteria, Entry 3 to Level 2, page 116; Essential information for assessment decisions, Entry 3 to Level 2, page 117; Levels of supervision and support, page 118
“plan and participate in a sustainability activity independently, selecting and using relevant skills and information”
Progression step 3
I can independently create and plan work before beginning a digital task.
Progression step 4
I can select and effectively use a variety of planning techniques.
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Referencing sources and acknowledging AI
At every level learners must certify that their evidence is their own and reference any sources and any artificial intelligence they used. Using AI without acknowledging it is malpractice, so this applies to all research for the unit.
DCF: Digital rights, licensing and ownership, Sourcing, searching and planning digital content
Getting pupils ready
- Year 7
- Pupils add a sources box to a sustainability fact sheet listing the website name and address for each fact they used.
- Year 8
- Pupils discuss why copying a paragraph about climate change counts as plagiarism, then rewrite it in their own words and cite it.
- Year 9
- Pupils use an AI chatbot to suggest sustainability ideas, check two claims against reliable websites and write a note acknowledging what the AI tool contributed.
Show the specification wording and the DCF statements
Where it is in the specification: Unit SfL 25, Requirements relating to permitted/prohibited resources, page 118
“they have clearly referenced any sources and any artificial intelligence used”
Progression step 3
I can understand that copying the work of others and presenting it as my own is plagiarism.
I can cite sources when researching and explain the importance of this, e.g. create simple lists for the referencing of digital and offline sources.
Progression step 4
I can evaluate the reliability of sources of information, justify my opinions and reasons for choices, and reference using appropriate methods.
I can act responsibly as creator and user of creative work, e.g. exploring decisions that creators make when exercising their creative rights and responsibilities, giving consideration to ethical, real-life issues.
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.