Skills for Work: International Language: Education and Employment (Written)
International language (written): education and employment is a 10 hour Skills for Work unit, from Entry 1 to Level 2, offered in French, German, Italian, Japanese, Mandarin and Spanish. Learners read and write about school, college, jobs and the workplace, from single words at Entry 1 to opinions and written requests at Level 2. It is one unit 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 demand is low and no criterion asks for digital work. Digital skills appear only in suggested emails, online research, Canva posters, partner school links and quiz tools.
- Awarding body
- WJEC
- Level
- Entry Level 1 to Level 2
- Guided learning hours
- 10
- First taught
- September 2027
- Amount of digital work
- Low
How this unit is assessed
- Entry Level (Entry 1, Entry 2, Entry 3): Two learning outcomes (understand information relating to education and employment, write about education and employment), with assessment criteria at Entry 1, Entry 2 and Entry 3, including correct spelling. Entry Level reflects pre-A1 to A1 of the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages. Evidence goes in a portfolio, internally assessed by the centre and externally quality assured by WJEC. 10 guided learning hours.
- Level 1 and Level 2: Two learning outcomes (understand key facts and information in texts relating to education and employment, produce texts about education and employment), with one reading criterion and four writing criteria at each of Level 1 and Level 2: facts and information, opinions, answers to questions and written requests. Levels 1 and 2 reflect A2 to B1 of the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages. Evidence goes in a portfolio, internally assessed by the centre and externally quality assured by WJEC. 10 guided learning hours.
Skills that use Collaboration
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Communicating online with a partner school
Learners could link with a partner school over the internet to write about school and work, using their earlier research as a basis for questions, and could research and present differences between the two schools to share with the partner school. These are suggested experiences only, so they are taught, not assessed.
DCF: Communication, Collaboration
Getting pupils ready
- Year 7
- Pupils each write one sentence in the target language about their favourite subject for a shared class message the teacher sends to a partner school.
- Year 8
- Pupils post questions about school life in the target language on a shared online page for a partner class, then read and sort the replies.
- Year 9
- Pupils work in a shared online document with a partner school to build a table comparing the two school days, each side writing its own column in the target language.
Show the specification wording and the DCF statements
Where it is in the specification: Experiences, page 15; Suggested activities, development activities, page 14
“create a link with a partner school to communicate via the internet about school and work”
Progression step 3
I can show an understanding of the advantages and disadvantages of different forms of communication and when it is appropriate to use each, e.g. explain when video conferencing may be more appropriate than e-mail, and vice versa; explain the pros and cons of using instant messaging in social contexts; talk about purpose and audience.
I can work with others to create an online collaborative project for a specific purpose, sharing and appropriately setting permissions for other group members, e.g. editing, commenting, viewing.
Progression step 4
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
- Unit codes are not printed in the pack, which says "Please refer to the Skills for Life and Work qualifications specification" (Unit overview, page 3). The specification lists each language version separately with the code "TBC" (Specification section 3.1, pages 15 and 16).
- The unit runs in six languages: "This unit is available in French, German, Italian, Japanese, Mandarin and Spanish." The title on the certificate shows the language achieved (Unit overview, page 3).
- The criteria "assume that learners have no previous experience of the language being learnt", and learners already taking GCSE French, German or Spanish "may not benefit from taking an international language unit in the same language" (Planning courses, page 7).
- No digital resource is required. The unit uses "standard classroom environments", though "it would be beneficial to have access to computers, tablets, or mobile devices for digital activities and research" (Resources required for delivery, page 16). Assessors "should have subject-specific expertise in language teaching and assessment" (page 18).
- Evidence is mostly paper or photographed: possible sources include "photographic evidence / photocopies of mini whiteboards", worksheets, a gap-fill exercise and teacher observation notes (Sources of evidence, page 15), and a portfolio "is not limited to paper-based materials" (Specification section 4.1, page 18).
- Suggested assessment tasks "are not mandatory"; teachers may use, adapt or replace them as long as learners can meet all the criteria (Specification section 4.1, page 18).
- AI misuse is malpractice. Misuse includes "Using AI to complete parts of the assessment so that the work does not reflect the learner's own work", and learners "cannot be credited for any work they produce for assessment which is not their own" (Specification section 4.6, page 21).
- Appendix A maps the unit to Literacy only, not Digital Competence or Numeracy, and to the cross-cutting themes of local, national and international contexts and human rights education (Specification, pages 27 and 29). Only one level counts: "only the highest level of the unit achieved will count towards the GLH" (Specification section 2.2, page 10).
Links with other qualifications
The pack pairs this unit with the other WJEC international language units, Education and employment (spoken) and the spoken and written units in Social activities and Communicating personal information, and suggests it can complement VCSE Travel and Tourism and GCSE Business. It covers school and jobs topics also found in GCSE French, GCSE German and GCSE Spanish, but at a lower level, and the pack suggests GCSE learners try a different language. The digital work here is light: emails, online research, Canva posters and quiz tools. The Level 2 formal email and job application phrases link with the Applying for Jobs unit.
Source: WJEC International language (written): education and employment 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).