Skills for Work: Building a Growth Mindset
Building a Growth Mindset is a Pearson Skills for Work unit in which learners find out which skills and strategies, such as reflection, motivation and goal setting, build a growth mindset, and the benefits and opportunities it brings in learning, work and situations such as receiving critical feedback. It is one 10 hour unit that learners combine with others into a Pearson Skills for Life or Skills for Work Award, Certificate or Diploma, assessed internally by the centre. Digital demand is low because no assessment criterion asks for digital work. Digital skills sit in finding information online, presenting findings and referencing sources and any AI used.
- Awarding body
- Pearson
- Level
- Entry Level 1 to Level 2
- Guided learning hours
- 10
- 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, moving from listing the skills needed to build a growth mindset and its benefits, to outlining skills, strategies, benefits and opportunities, to identifying ways to build a growth mindset and its benefits in different contexts. Evidence is internally assessed by the centre, which sets and marks the assessment, and quality assured by Pearson through standards verification. 10 guided learning hours. Graded Pass or Fail.
- Level 1 and Level 2: One assessment criterion at each of Level 1 and Level 2: describing, then explaining, how a growth mindset can be built and the benefits and opportunities it can have for an individual in different contexts and situations. Evidence is internally assessed by the centre, which sets and marks the assessment, and quality assured by Pearson through standards verification. 10 guided learning hours. Graded Pass or Fail.
The digital skills in this qualification
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Finding information about growth mindset online
Entry 3 learners gather information from given simple sources, Level 1 learners select relevant information from a limited range of given sources, and Level 2 learners identify and select information from a variety of sources. Pearson's mapping names online searching as the digital link, but the criteria do not require online research, so the digital part is taught, not assessed.
DCF: Sourcing, searching and planning digital content
Getting pupils ready
- Year 7
- Pupils search for growth mindset using two different sets of keywords and record which search gave the more useful results.
- Year 8
- Pupils find two websites explaining growth mindset, note the main idea from each, and decide which one is more reliable and why.
- Year 9
- Pupils search several sources for strategies to build a growth mindset, evaluate each source's reliability, and justify which three strategies they would trust.
Show the specification wording and the DCF statements
Where it is in the specification: Unit SfW 7, Levels of supervision and support before and during assessment, page 42; Annexe C, Digital Links, page 119
“Learners can identify, select, and use information from a variety of sources.”
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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Presenting findings about growth mindset
Level 1 learners are accountable for organising and presenting their findings accurately, and Pearson's mapping lists presentation and devices as the digital link. Learners can show skills, benefits and opportunities in a slide deck or poster, but the criteria do not require a digital format, so this is taught, not assessed.
DCF: Creating digital content, Evaluating and improving digital content
Getting pupils ready
- Year 7
- Pupils make a one slide poster showing two growth mindset phrases, such as not yet, with a matching image.
- Year 8
- Pupils build a three slide presentation on the benefits of a growth mindset at school, using headings and images that suit a Year 7 audience.
- Year 9
- Pupils create a short digital presentation combining text, images and a recorded voice over explaining how a growth mindset helps after disappointing results.
Show the specification wording and the DCF statements
Where it is in the specification: Unit SfW 7, Levels of supervision and support before and during assessment, Level 1, page 42; Annexe C, Digital Links, page 119
“They are accountable for organising their findings and presenting them accurately.”
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 ensure my output is appropriate for specific purposes.
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.
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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 AI tools they used. Using AI without acknowledging it is malpractice, so this is a requirement of every submission.
DCF: Digital rights, licensing and ownership, Sourcing, searching and planning digital content
Getting pupils ready
- Year 7
- Pupils list the title and web address of each website they used for a growth mindset poster.
- Year 8
- Pupils discuss when copying an AI chatbot's answer about growth mindset would be plagiarism, and write a sentence acknowledging any AI help they used.
- Year 9
- Pupils reference every source in a growth mindset report in a set format and add a note stating exactly how any AI tool was used.
Show the specification wording and the DCF statements
Where it is in the specification: Unit SfW 7, Requirements relating to permitted/prohibited resources, page 42
“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.
Good to know
- The unit is Unit SfW 7 in the Overcoming barriers group and is worth "10" guided learning hours (Unit summary, page 5). The WJEC unit of the same name is 20 guided learning hours, so the Pearson unit is half the size.
- Pearson units are achieved once: "Learners can only achieve each unit once, at a single level" (Rules of Combination, page 6).
- The unit content is not printed in the specification: it "can be found in the Teaching and learning document for this unit" (Unit content, page 41), so centres need that separate document to plan teaching.
- Evidence is flexible: "there are no mandatory evidence requirements and centres can select the type of evidence" (Essential information for assessment decisions, page 41).
- AI tools must be acknowledged: "A learner will have committed malpractice if they use AI tools without acknowledging them" (Requirements relating to permitted/prohibited resources, page 42).
- The Entry 2 guidance contains wording errors, "can have on for an individual" and "identify least two" (Essential information for assessment decisions, page 41), and the Skills for Work specification says "Every unit in our Skills for Life qualifications includes an Authorised Assessment Brief" (Authorised Assignment Briefs, page 8), a leftover from the Skills for Life document.
Links with other qualifications
The WJEC Skills for Work unit Building a Growth Mindset covers similar ground but is 20 hours with four learning outcomes and a habit tracking element, while the Pearson unit is 10 hours with one criterion per level focused on describing and explaining how a growth mindset is built and its benefits and opportunities in different contexts. The wellbeing focus links to the WJEC GCSE in Physical Education and Health and to the Skills for Life unit Mental health and wellbeing, and the work on responding to feedback and setbacks supports the WJEC Skills for Work units Overcoming barriers and Personal development planning, and the Personal Project.
Source: Pearson Entry Level 1 to Level 2 Skills for Work Award, Certificate and Diploma Qualifications specification, Issue 1, August 2026, Unit SfW 7: Building a growth mindset.