Skills for Life: Values for Life
Values for Life is an Open Awards Skills for Life unit in which learners identify personal, social and at Level 2 cultural values, see how values shape behaviour and viewpoints, and use values to choose and justify actions in scenarios. Each level, from Entry 1 to Level 2, is a separate 20 hour, 2 credit unit, assessed through school-designed tasks collected in a portfolio and judged Pass or Fail. Digital demand is low: the unit lists Digital as a cross-curricular skill and encourages e-portfolios, but no criterion or guidance names any digital task, so any digital work depends on the scenarios and evidence format the school chooses.
- 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 (CBM156), Entry Level 2 (CBM157) and Entry Level 3 (CBM158): Three outcomes at each Entry level: know personal and social values, know or understand how values influence behaviour and differ between people, and choose actions that reflect values. Criteria rise from identifying a personal value and choosing a positive action with a simple reason (Entry 1), through stating what a personal value is, giving two social values and two possible outcomes of a choice (Entry 2), to describing personal and social values, identifying different values in a situation, explaining how values influenced a choice and describing two possible consequences (Entry 3). Provider-designed tasks such as matching, sorting, scenario choices and short responses, collected in a portfolio. 20 guided learning hours and 2 credits at each level, Pass or Fail.
- Level 1 (CBM159): Seven criteria across three outcomes: outline personal and social values and describe how they influence behaviour, give at least two examples of how different priorities lead to different viewpoints, describe how values affect outcomes, apply at least two values to a situation, explain the reasons for the actions taken, and review what worked well and what could be improved. Provider-designed tasks collected in a portfolio. 20 guided learning hours, 2 credits, Pass or Fail.
- Level 2 (CBM160): Ten criteria across three outcomes: explain personal, social and cultural values, how they influence decisions and how they change over time, describe how individuals and groups prioritise values, explain conflicting values and the short and long-term impact of value-based actions, apply own values in a real or simulated situation, justify the actions, evaluate the impact on different people, and reflect on how their values may develop. Provider-designed tasks collected in a portfolio. 20 guided learning hours, 2 credits, Pass or Fail.
The digital skills in this qualification
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Applying values to choices in online situations
Every level lists Literacy and Digital as cross-curricular skills, and learners apply values such as fairness, honesty, respect and responsibility to choose actions in given scenarios, at Level 2 including school, community and global contexts. The specification does not name online scenarios, so this is digital only if the school sets scenarios about online behaviour.
DCF: Online behaviour and online bullying, Health and well-being
Getting pupils ready
- Year 7
- Pupils sort cards showing online actions, such as sharing a friend's photo without asking, into kind and unkind and name the value each shows.
- Year 8
- Pupils decide how to respond to a mean comment in a group chat scenario and explain which value guided their choice.
- Year 9
- Pupils discuss a scenario where loyalty to a friend conflicts with honesty about an online post, and justify the action they would take.
Show the specification wording and the DCF statements
Where it is in the specification: Cross-curricular Skills, all levels, pages 11, 13, 15, 17 and 20; Learning outcome 3, all levels
“Literacy and Digital”
Progression step 3
I can demonstrate appropriate online behaviour and apply a range of strategies to protect myself and others from possible online dangers, bullying and inappropriate behaviour, e.g. turn off comments on digital media, reporting, block users.
I can identify the wider positive and negative influences of technology, e.g. on my life, on society, on the environment.
Progression step 4
I can act appropriately online, keeping myself safe and behaving in a responsible manner.
I can demonstrate healthy online behaviours and identify unacceptable behaviour.
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Building a digital evidence portfolio
Learners collect their evidence in a portfolio, which can be paper or digital, and Open Awards encourages e-portfolios wherever possible. This is how evidence is gathered, not an assessment criterion.
DCF: Storing and sharing
Getting pupils ready
- Year 7
- Pupils create a folder for a topic in their school account, name files clearly and save one piece of work into it.
- Year 8
- Pupils upload photos of group work and a written reflection to an online class notebook, with a title for each item.
- Year 9
- Pupils organise a term's evidence into labelled sub-folders and restore an earlier version of a document using version history.
Show the specification wording and the DCF statements
Where it is in the specification: Assessment Approach, page 6
“Wherever possible, e-portfolios are encouraged”
Progression step 3
I can manage files and folders locally or online, e.g. move files to a folder.
I can upload files from a local drive to online storage.
Progression step 4
I can use appropriate advanced file management techniques, e.g. version history, restore previous version, tagging, compression.
Good to know
- Each level is a separate unit with its own code, worth 2 credits and 20 guided learning hours: CBM156 (Entry 1), CBM157 (Entry 2), CBM158 (Entry 3), CBM159 (Level 1) and CBM160 (Level 2); every unit page states "Guided Learning Hours: 20" (Unit Content, pages 10 to 18).
- Only one level counts in a qualification: "with the exception of British Sign Language (BSL), units with the same title at different levels are barred for completion within the same qualification" (Level 1 Qualification Guide, Qualification Units, page 17).
- Tasks are set by the school: the unit is "assessed through assessment tasks and activities designed by the provider", tasks need pre-course verification, and "All assessment criteria must be met in full for the learner to be awarded a 'pass'" (Assessment Approach, page 6).
- Evidence goes in a portfolio of evidence, on paper or digital, and "Wherever possible, e-portfolios are encouraged" (Assessment Approach, page 6).
- Level 2 needs a real or simulated situation: learners apply their own values in a situation such as school, home or work experience, and "This can be simulated where a real-life scenario does not present itself." (Indicative Content, page 19).
- Staff must handle sensitive topics: "Teaching staff must be suitably trained and confident in managing sensitive discussions", as scenarios may include bullying, mental health, discrimination, consent and ethics (Staffing Resources, page 5).
- The unit specification has no rule on AI tools; the qualification guide only requires that evidence must "Be the learner's own work" (Level 1 Qualification Guide, Assessment Conditions, page 30).
- Document slips: the Entry 3 sustainability text begins "dentifying personal and societal values" (page 15); the Entry 3 guidance asks for "at least one specific values" (page 15); the Level 1 statement of what matters starts "Humanities Human societies" (page 17); and the Entry 1 learning outcomes are numbered "2" and "3" without full stops (page 10).
Links with other qualifications
Values for Life links with GCSE Religious Studies, which explores beliefs, values and moral decisions, and with the citizenship side of GCSE Digital Technology where schools choose online scenarios such as respectful behaviour in group chats. Within the Open Awards Skills Suite, Online Safety and Community Participation give contexts in which values guide choices, such as responding to unkind messages or taking part in community life. Compared with the Pearson Values for life unit, which names digital ethics in its content, the Open Awards unit has no digital content of its own, so its DCF links depend on how the school sets the scenarios.
Source: Open Awards Skills for Life Unit Specification, Values for Life, Entry Level 1 to Level 2.