Skills for Work: Enterprise Venture
Enterprise venture is a 20 hour Skills for Work unit, from Entry 1 to Level 2, in which learners come up with ideas for a product or service, plan and present one, run it for real, for example as a stall or fundraiser, and evaluate how it went. It is one unit that learners combine with other 10 or 20 hour units into a Skills for Work, or Skills for Life and Work, Award, Certificate or Diploma. Digital work sits mainly in promotion and presentations, with the Level 1 and 2 amplification asking for a digital promotional tool. No criterion requires a computer.
- Awarding body
- WJEC
- Level
- Entry Level 1 to Level 2
- Guided learning hours
- 20
- First taught
- September 2027
- Amount of digital work
- Medium
How this unit is assessed
- Entry Level (Entry 1, Entry 2, Entry 3): Four learning outcomes (share or discuss ideas for an enterprise activity, take part in planning and presenting the idea, take part in an enterprise activity, reflect on it), with separate assessment criteria at Entry 1, Entry 2 and Entry 3. Learners must take part in a real enterprise activity. Evidence goes in a portfolio, internally assessed by the centre and externally quality assured by WJEC. 20 guided learning hours.
- Level 1 and Level 2: Four learning outcomes (generate and develop ideas for a product or service, plan and present an enterprise venture idea, carry out the venture, evaluate it), with separate assessment criteria at Level 1 and Level 2. Learners must take part in a real enterprise activity. Evidence goes in a portfolio, internally assessed by the centre and externally quality assured by WJEC. 20 guided learning hours.
Skills that use Sourcing, searching and planning digital content
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Planning the venture with resources, timelines and roles
Learners make a list of what needs to happen at Entry 1, an ordered list at Entry 2 and a simple plan at Entry 3, then a basic plan at Level 1 and a detailed plan covering all key enterprise factors at Level 2. The plan is required, and a planning template, timeline or shared document is a natural digital way to build it, though paper plans also meet the criteria.
DCF: Sourcing, searching and planning digital content, Problem-solving and modelling, Collaboration
Getting pupils ready
- Year 7
- Pupils put the jobs for running a class raffle into the right order in a Word table, with who does each job.
- Year 8
- Pupils plan a school stall in a shared online document, listing tasks, resources, who is responsible and the deadline for each.
- Year 9
- Pupils build a Gantt style timeline for a fundraising event in a spreadsheet and add a 5Ps section to their shared plan, editing it together with their group.
Show the specification wording and the DCF statements
Where it is in the specification: Entry Level, learning outcome 2, page 5; Level 1 and Level 2, learning outcome 2, assessment criteria 2.1, page 7; Amplification of LO2, page 11
“Create a detailed plan for an enterprise venture idea, that includes all key enterprise factors”
Progression step 3
I can independently create and plan work before beginning a digital task.
I can understand the importance of the order of statements within algorithms.
Progression step 4
I can select and effectively use a variety of planning techniques.
I can independently select and use a range of online collaboration tools to create a project with others in one or more languages, e.g. making use of online technology to share and present ideas to others.
Good to know
- The unit codes are S656E1, S656E2, S656E3, S656L1 and S656L2, and the unit is 20 guided learning hours in the Skills for Work suite (Unit overview, page 3).
- Learners must actually run something: "To achieve this unit, learners must take part in an enterprise activity." (Unit overview, page 3).
- No special equipment is needed: "Assessment of this unit should not require any specific resources" (Resources required for assessment, page 17). Canva for Education is listed only as a free support resource (page 16).
- Evidence can be digital. The sources of evidence include "Digital portfolios: learners collect evidence of idea generation, planning documents, promotional materials, and reflections" and "written, audio, or video reflections" (Sources of evidence, page 14).
- Suggested assessment tasks are optional: "These tasks are not mandatory." (Skills for Life and Work specification, section 4.1, page 18).
- AI use must be acknowledged. Properly referenced AI use "can be acceptable", but "Using AI to complete parts of the assessment so that the work does not reflect the learner's own work, analysis, evaluation or calculations" is malpractice (Skills for Life and Work specification, section 4.6, page 21).
- The pack names Digital competence as a cross-curricular link for "product promotion and digital presentations" (Unit overview, page 4), and Appendix A of the specification maps the unit to Literacy, Numeracy, Digital Competence and Creativity and innovation (page 29).
Links with other qualifications
The pack names links with VCSE Retail and Customer Service, the Foundation qualification in Retail and Customer Service and GCSE Business, which all cover marketing, pricing and serving customers, with GCSE Business going further into business planning and finance. Digital promotion and pitch presentations link with GCSE Digital Technology and VCSE Creative and Media Production and Technology. Making a product to sell can draw on GCSE Design and Technology or GCSE Food and Nutrition. The pack names Business finance, Teamwork, Sustainable economic development, Community participation, Customer service, Working in Wales, Personal development planning, Using IT in the workplace, Work experience and Ethical choices as related Skills Suite units.
Source: WJEC Enterprise venture unit delivery and assessment pack, read with the WJEC Entry 1 to Level 2 Skills for Life and Skills for Work specification, approved by Qualifications Wales, teaching from September 2027 (© WJEC CBAC Ltd 2026).