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 Storing and sharing
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Capturing photo and video evidence of sustainability activities
Learners at every level take part in sustainability activities, and the sources of evidence include photographs or video clips of learners doing the tasks and recordings of learners presenting their projects. Taking and organising this media is a way to evidence the learning outcome 4 criteria, not a skill the criteria assess.
DCF: Creating digital content, Storing and sharing
Getting pupils ready
- Year 7
- Pupils take before and after photos of a tidied school garden bed and save them in a named folder.
- Year 8
- Pupils film a 30 second clip explaining a recycling station they set up and add a title and caption in a video editor.
- Year 9
- Pupils record and edit a short video of their sustainability activity with labelled photos, organise the files in a shared folder and add a voiceover explaining the impact.
Show the specification wording and the DCF statements
Where it is in the specification: Entry Level, learning outcome 4, page 6; Level 1 and Level 2, learning outcome 4, page 8; sources of evidence, page 15
“photographs or video clips of learners carrying out sustainability tasks”
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 manage files and folders locally or online, e.g. move files to a folder.
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.
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).