Skills for Work: Enterprise Venture
Enterprise venture is a Skills for Work unit in which learners help choose an idea for a product or service, plan it, run it for real as a team, for example selling handmade cards, and review how it went. It is one 20 hour unit that learners combine with others into a Pearson Skills for Work Award, Certificate or Diploma, achieved at one level from Entry 1 to Level 2. Assessment is internal. Digital demand is low: no criterion requires technology. Digital work sits in the examples the guidance gives, such as a short social media message to promote the venture, a plan with tasks and dates, a budget, and counting sales to review the activity.
- 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: contribute to developing, planning and carrying out an enterprise activity, from a limited contribution with support at Entry 1 to at least three ways each in planning and carrying out at Entry 3, and state, outline or identify its strengths (and at Entry 3 areas for development). Evidence is internally assessed by the centre, with Pearson standards verification. Graded Pass or Fail. 20 guided learning hours.
- Level 1 and Level 2: One assessment criterion at each of Level 1 and Level 2: contribute in at least four (Level 1) or five (Level 2) ways each to planning and carrying out an enterprise activity, and describe (Level 1) or explain (Level 2) its strengths and areas for development using different sources of feedback. Evidence is internally assessed by the centre, with Pearson standards verification. Graded Pass or Fail. 20 guided learning hours.
The digital skills in this qualification
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Creating promotion for the venture
Learners help promote the product or service, for example by creating a simple poster at Entry 3, a poster or short social media message at Level 1, and deciding on ways to promote it at Level 2. These are examples of the planning contributions the criteria require, so a digital format is optional.
DCF: Creating digital content, Health and well-being
Getting pupils ready
- Year 7
- Pupils design a digital poster for a class cake sale with the price, date and one eye catching image.
- Year 8
- Pupils write a short social media post for a school fundraiser and compare it with a real advert to see which marketing features they used.
- Year 9
- Pupils make two versions of a promotional post for a product aimed at different audiences and explain which features suit each audience.
Show the specification wording and the DCF statements
Where it is in the specification: Unit SfW 13, Essential information for assessment decisions, Entry 3, page 68, Level 1 and Level 2, page 69
“creating a poster or short social media message”
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 use software tools to enhance the outcomes for specific audiences.
I can identify marketing elements designed to draw my attention.
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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Planning tasks, dates and roles
Learners contribute to planning, such as listing materials at Entry 2, a basic timeline at Entry 3 and Level 1, and at Level 2 a short plan with tasks and dates and fair team roles. A shared document or calendar can hold the plan, but the format is not specified.
DCF: Sourcing, searching and planning digital content
Getting pupils ready
- Year 7
- Pupils make a simple checklist in a document of what is needed for a class stall and who will bring each item.
- Year 8
- Pupils build a timeline of key dates for a school event in a shared document and add who is responsible for each task.
- Year 9
- Pupils use a shared planner or spreadsheet to plan a fundraiser, with tasks, deadlines and team roles, and update it as tasks are completed.
Show the specification wording and the DCF statements
Where it is in the specification: Unit SfW 13, Essential information for assessment decisions, Entry 2 and Entry 3, page 68, Level 1 and Level 2, page 69
“creating a short plan with tasks and dates”
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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Recording sales and preparing a budget
Level 1 learners keep count of items sold and handle money, and Level 2 learners prepare a simple but realistic budget and set a sales target. A spreadsheet is a natural tool, though the guidance does not require one. These are examples of the planning and delivery contributions the criteria require.
DCF: Data and information literacy
Getting pupils ready
- Year 7
- Pupils enter the items and prices for a class stall into a spreadsheet table and use SUM to find the total cost.
- Year 8
- Pupils set up a spreadsheet to tally sales during a tuck shop session and calculate takings with a formula.
- Year 9
- Pupils build a budget spreadsheet for a fundraiser with costs, expected sales and profit, and change the price to see the effect.
Show the specification wording and the DCF statements
Where it is in the specification: Unit SfW 13, Essential information for assessment decisions, Level 1 and Level 2, page 69
“preparing a simple but realistic budget”
Progression step 3
I can construct, refine and interrogate data sets within tables, charts, spreadsheets and databases to test or support an investigation.
I can use a range of spreadsheet formulae, e.g. + - / x, sum, average, max, min.
Progression step 4
I can create a data capture form, capture data, search data and create a database and spreadsheet with appropriate data input method.
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Reviewing the venture using sales data and feedback
Level 1 learners use different sources of feedback, such as the number of items sold, customer comments and a teacher's comment, to describe what went well, and Level 2 learners use at least three sources of information to explain strengths and improvements. An online form or sales spreadsheet can supply this, but it is not required.
DCF: Evaluating and improving digital content, Data and information literacy
Getting pupils ready
- Year 7
- Pupils collect classmates' opinions of a product idea with a simple online poll and report the most popular choice.
- Year 8
- Pupils make a short online feedback form for customers at a school event and summarise the answers in a chart.
- Year 9
- Pupils combine sales figures, an online customer survey and teacher feedback in a spreadsheet and identify two improvements.
Show the specification wording and the DCF statements
Where it is in the specification: Unit SfW 13, Essential information for assessment decisions, Level 1 and Level 2, page 69
“use at least three sources of information to review the activity”
Progression step 3
I can invite feedback/responses from others, e.g. use 'comment' in online platforms, asking questions or adding suggestions.
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
- The unit is "Unit SfW 13: Enterprise venture" with 20 guided learning hours (Unit summary, page 5).
- A unit counts once: "Learners can only achieve each unit once, at a single level" (Rules of Combination, page 6).
- Learners must actually run the activity: every criterion includes carrying out or delivering the activity, and even Entry 1 learners help "organise and carry out an enterprise activity", so the centre needs a real sales or service opportunity (Assessment criteria, page 67; Essential information, page 68).
- There is one criterion per level, and "there are no mandatory evidence requirements and centres can select the type of evidence" (Essential information for assessment decisions, page 68); the planning tasks listed, such as a poster or social media message, are examples marked "e.g.".
- Team work needs individual evidence, because "achievement cannot be inferred from performance" (Assessment requirements, page 9).
- AI may be used only if acknowledged: "A learner will have committed malpractice if they use AI tools without acknowledging them" (page 70).
- The Skills for Work specification says "Every unit in our Skills for Life qualifications includes an Authorised Assessment Brief" (Authorised Assignment Briefs, page 8), an apparent carry-over from the Skills for Life specification, and calls the same document both an Assessment Brief and an Assignment Brief.
- The unit's 'What matters' mapping is to Expressive Arts: "Creating combines skills and knowledge, drawing on the senses, inspiration and imagination" (page 71).
Links with other qualifications
Enterprise venture links most closely with GCSE Business, which covers marketing, pricing, finance and running a business, and with the WJEC Skills Suite units Business Finance, Customer Service, Teamwork and Career Creativity. Digital promotion connects with GCSE Digital Technology. The WJEC Enterprise venture unit is also 20 hours and also requires a real enterprise activity, but it has four learning outcomes, including planning and presenting the idea to others, and its Level 1 and Level 2 amplification asks for a digital promotional tool; the Pearson unit has one criterion per level, with promotion, budgets and timelines only as examples of planning contributions and no required pitch.
Source: Pearson Entry Level 1 to Level 2 Skills for Work Award, Certificate and Diploma Qualifications Specification, Issue 1, August 2026, Unit SfW 13: Enterprise venture.