Skills for Work: Sustainable Economic Development
Sustainable Economic Development is a 20 hour Skills for Work unit, from Entry 1 to Level 2, in which learners find out what makes a workplace sustainable, how actions such as saving energy, recycling and travel choices affect the environment and community, then plan a sustainability strategy for their own setting, carry out activities and review their impact. It is one unit that learners combine with others into a Skills for Life or Skills for Work Award, Certificate or Diploma. Digital demand is low. No criterion needs a digital tool, but the pack suggests spreadsheets for energy or waste data, presentations, online research and photo evidence.
- Awarding body
- WJEC
- Level
- Entry Level 1 to Level 2
- Guided learning hours
- 20
- First taught
- September 2027
- Amount of digital work
- Low
How this unit is assessed
- Entry Level (Entry 1, Entry 2, Entry 3): Four learning outcomes (what helps make a workplace sustainable, how sustainable actions affect the environment, creating a plan to support sustainability in a workplace setting, and taking part in sustainability activities), with separate 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.
- Level 1 and Level 2: Four learning outcomes (what contributes to a sustainable workplace and why it matters, how sustainable actions affect the environment, workplace or community, developing a strategy to improve sustainability, and taking part in sustainability activities and reviewing their impact), with separate 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.
Skills that use Data and information literacy
-
Recording and analysing environmental data in a spreadsheet
Level 1 and Level 2 learners can monitor energy, water or waste use and record it in a spreadsheet, which helps with the Level 2 criteria that ask them to assess the impact and review the effectiveness of their activities. The spreadsheet itself is a suggested activity and a possible source of evidence, not a requirement. Entry learners do simpler monitoring, such as counting lights left on.
DCF: Data and information literacy
Getting pupils ready
- Year 7
- Pupils count the lights left on in five classrooms at lunchtime for a week, type the counts into a spreadsheet and make a bar chart.
- Year 8
- Pupils record the weight of the recycling and general waste bins from their form room each day in a spreadsheet and use SUM and AVERAGE to compare the two.
- Year 9
- Pupils log meter readings or waste weights before and after a switch off campaign, use formulae to work out the percentage change and write two sentences on whether the campaign worked.
Show the specification wording and the DCF statements
Where it is in the specification: Suggested activities for Level 1 and 2 learners, page 14; amplification of learning outcome 4, page 12; sources of evidence, page 15
“using digital tools or simple spreadsheets to record and analyse environmental data (e.g. energy use, recycling rates)”
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 perform analysis on simple data sets including grouping data as appropriate.
Good to know
- Unit codes run from Entry 1 to Level 2: "S664E1", "S664E2", "S664E3", "S664L1" and "S664L2", with 20 GLH (unit overview, page 3).
- No special equipment is needed for assessment: "Assessment of this unit should not require any specific resources" (page 17). Delivery uses standard classrooms and practical spaces (page 16), so learners need access to a real setting such as the school site for their activities.
- Evidence can be digital. The sources of evidence include "photographs or video clips of learners carrying out sustainability tasks" and "digital records or spreadsheets tracking energy, water, or waste reduction outcomes" (page 15), and the specification says the portfolio "is not limited to paper-based materials" (section 4.1, page 18).
- Evidence sent for external quality assurance must be digital: "all evidence submitted for sampling must be provided digitally by the centre" (specification section 5.2, page 23).
- AI misuse is malpractice. Examples include "Copying or paraphrasing whole responses of AI-generated content." and "Failing to acknowledge use of AI tools when they have been used as a source of information." (specification section 4.6, page 21).
- Suggested assessment tasks are optional: "These tasks are not mandatory." Teachers may use, adapt or replace them (specification section 4.1, page 18).
- The pack notes that planned UK limits on social media use by under 16s "may impact some of our qualifications" (page 2), which matters if a campaign would be run on social media.
Links with other qualifications
The pack names Enterprise venture, Sustainability in action, Financial literacy and Business finance as closely related Skills Suite units, with further links to Science and technology in everyday life, Skills in the natural environment, Ethical choices, Rights and responsibilities in the workplace and Jobs of the future. It also points to GCSE Geography, GCSE Business, GCSE Mathematics for modelling sustainability initiatives (GCSE Mathematics and Numeracy in Wales) and GCSE science on ecosystems, which fits GCSE The Sciences and GCSE Integrated Science. It names vocational awards in Retail Business and Engineering, which match VCSE Retail and Customer Service and VCSE Engineering on this page. The spreadsheet and presentation work also suits GCSE Digital Technology.
Source: WJEC Sustainable economic development 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).