Skills for Work: Jobs of the Future
Jobs of the future is a 20 hour Skills for Work unit, from Entry 1 to Level 2, that learners combine with other units into a Skills for Work or Skills for Life and Work Award, Certificate or Diploma. Learners look at how technology, climate action and other changes are reshaping work, find examples of emerging jobs, identify the skills and qualifications those jobs need, and write a plan to improve their own employability. Digital demand is medium. Technology, automation and AI are part of the content and Level 2 learners explain how digital skills support employability; online research, digital presentations and labour market data are suggested ways of working.
- 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 (the job market is changing, jobs that may exist in the future, skills and qualifications for future jobs, improving opportunities for future work), each with assessment criteria at Entry 1, Entry 2 and Entry 3. Evidence goes in a portfolio, internally assessed by the centre and externally quality assured by WJEC. 20 guided learning hours, unit codes S660E1, S660E2 and S660E3.
- Level 1 and Level 2: Four learning outcomes (how and why the job market is changing, exploring future jobs and industries, skills, qualifications and personal qualities for future jobs, developing own employability through study and training), each with assessment criteria at Level 1 and Level 2. Evidence goes in a portfolio, internally assessed by the centre and externally quality assured by WJEC. 20 guided learning hours, unit codes S660L1 and S660L2.
Skills that use Evaluating and improving digital content
-
Presenting findings as a digital presentation or infographic
Level 2 learners must present examples of emerging jobs, and a suggested activity is a digital presentation or infographic showing how personal skills match future work trends. Posters, collages and spoken presentations also meet the criteria, so the digital format is taught, not assessed.
DCF: Creating digital content, Evaluating and improving digital content
Getting pupils ready
- Year 7
- Pupils make a two slide PowerPoint about a future job with a picture, a title and three bullet points.
- Year 8
- Pupils design an infographic in Canva about a green job, choosing icons and a colour scheme that make the key facts easy to read.
- Year 9
- Pupils build a short presentation matching their own skills to two future jobs, then explain to the class why they chose that layout and what they would change after feedback.
Show the specification wording and the DCF statements
Where it is in the specification: Level 1 and Level 2, learning outcome 2, assessment criterion L2 2.1, page 6; suggested activities, page 9; Sources of evidence, page 9
“create a digital presentation or infographic showing how personal skills match future”
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.
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.
I can justify the reasons for choices and explain the advantages and disadvantages of the different digital outputs I create.
Good to know
- The unit has five codes, one per level: S660E1, S660E2, S660E3, S660L1 and S660L2, and is 20 guided learning hours (Unit overview, page 3). Only "the highest level of the unit achieved will count towards the GLH" (specification section 2.2, page 10).
- No special kit is needed: "Assessment of this unit should not require any specific resources." (Resources required for assessment, page 11). Online research and digital presentations are suggestions, so the unit can be delivered with limited computer access.
- Digital products are accepted as evidence: "digital presentations, slideshows, or infographics produced by learners" and "video or audio recordings of learners presenting or role-playing job scenarios" (Sources of evidence, pages 9 and 10). The portfolio "is not limited to paper-based materials" (specification section 4.1, page 18).
- Evidence sampled by WJEC "must be provided digitally by the centre" (specification section 5.2, page 23), so posters and collages need photographing.
- AI is a topic in this unit and also a malpractice risk. Learners "risk committing malpractice if AI is misused", including "Copying or paraphrasing sections of AI-generated content" (specification section 4.6, page 21), so research on future jobs must be in learners' own words with AI use acknowledged.
- Suggested assessment tasks "are not mandatory"; teachers may use them, adapt them or write their own (specification section 4.1, page 18).
Links with other qualifications
The pack names GCSE Digital Technology and VCSE Engineering as linked WJEC qualifications: Digital Technology covers how digital systems and AI change organisations and work, and Engineering covers the technical routes into roles such as robotics and renewable energy that this unit uses as examples. It also names Computer Science AS/A Level as a later link. In the Skills for Work suite it sits with Exploring career pathways, Understanding the changing labour market, Applying for jobs, Interview and confidence techniques, Work experience, Career creativity, Rights and responsibilities in the workplace and Working in Wales; Understanding the changing labour market shares the labour market data work.
Source: WJEC Jobs of the future 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).