Skills for Work: Wellbeing and Work
Wellbeing and Work is a Pearson Skills for Work unit about looking after your wellbeing at work: taking breaks, managing workload and work-life balance, using sources of support, and building positive working relationships through polite communication, active listening and, at Level 2, conflict resolution and feedback. It is one 10 hour unit that learners combine with others into a Pearson Skills for Work Award, Certificate or Diploma, from Entry 1 to Level 2, assessed internally by the centre. Digital demand is low: no criterion mentions technology, and Annexe C gives only "online, search" as the digital link. Digital work sits in finding support online, balancing screen use and choosing communication channels.
- Awarding body
- Pearson
- Level
- Entry Level 1 to Level 2
- Guided learning hours
- 10
- First taught
- September 2027
- Amount of digital work
- Low
- Specification
- Open the specification
How this unit is assessed
- Entry Level (Entry 1, Entry 2, Entry 3): One assessment criterion at each of Entry 1, Entry 2 and Entry 3, rising from stating a simple way to look after wellbeing at work and showing a positive interaction to identifying methods for managing wellbeing and demonstrating ways to build and maintain positive working relationships. There are no mandatory evidence requirements. Internally assessed by the centre through a centre-devised assignment or Pearson's adaptable Authorised Assignment Brief, subject to Pearson standards verification, graded Pass or Fail. 10 guided learning hours.
- Level 1 and Level 2: One assessment criterion at each of Level 1 and Level 2: describe (Level 1) or explain a range of (Level 2) practical ways to manage wellbeing at work, and demonstrate strategies for building and maintaining positive working relationships, in different contexts at Level 2. Role-play, observation or workplace simulation can be used. Internally assessed by the centre, subject to Pearson standards verification, graded Pass or Fail. 10 guided learning hours.
Skills that use Online behaviour and online bullying
-
Choosing how to communicate in formal and informal contexts
Level 1 learners adapt their approach for contexts such as a formal meeting or an informal chat with peers, and Level 2 learners show professionalism in formal contexts and cooperation in informal ones. The criteria do not mention email or messaging, so choosing a suitable digital channel is a natural extension rather than an assessed requirement.
DCF: Communication, Online behaviour and online bullying
Getting pupils ready
- Year 7
- Pupils sort messages, such as asking a teacher for help and inviting a friend round, into the best way to send them: face to face, email or a chat message.
- Year 8
- Pupils rewrite an informal chat message as a polite email to a supervisor asking for help with a task.
- Year 9
- Pupils compare email, a video call and a face to face meeting for raising a workload problem, and justify which they would choose and why.
Show the specification wording and the DCF statements
Where it is in the specification: Essential information for assessment decisions, Level 1 and Level 2, page 94
“adapt their approach depending on the context, such as a formal meeting or an informal interaction with peers”
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.
Progression step 4
I can select and use different online communication tools for specific purposes with higher levels of competence, e.g. set up and manage an address book, organise contacts, use advanced features of e-mail provider (signature, auto reply, read receipt, widgets).
I can act appropriately online, keeping myself safe and behaving in a responsible manner.
Good to know
- The unit is "SfW 18" with 10 guided learning hours (Unit summary, page 5), half the 20 hours of the WJEC Wellbeing and work unit. "Learners can only achieve each unit once, at a single level" (Rules of Combination, page 6).
- Practical demonstration is part of every level, and "Role-play, observation, or workplace simulation can be used to assess these skills" (Essential information for assessment decisions, Level 2, page 94).
- Level 1 names four components of wellbeing: "physical, mental, social, and financial" (Essential information for assessment decisions, Level 1, page 94), so financial wellbeing is part of the Level 1 description.
- The centre chooses the evidence: "there are no mandatory evidence requirements" (page 93), and teaching content is in Pearson's separate Teaching and Learning Support document (Unit content, page 93).
- AI may be used only if acknowledged: "A learner will have committed malpractice if they use AI tools without acknowledging them" (Requirements relating to permitted/prohibited resources, page 96).
- Annexe C gives no numeracy link and only "online, search" as the digital link (page 122).
- The specification has editing slips: Entry 1 refers to "a work-related problems affecting their feelings" (page 93), and page 8 of this Skills for Work specification says "Every unit in our Skills for Life qualifications includes an Authorised Assessment Brief".
Links with other qualifications
Ways to manage stress, breaks and work-life balance sit beside GCSE Physical Education and Health and GCSE Health and Social Care, and Childcare, and positive working relationships and organisational culture link with GCSE Business. Within the WJEC Skills Suite, Mental health and wellbeing looks at the same ideas from a personal angle, and Healthy relationships and Teamwork cover related communication skills. Compared with the WJEC Wellbeing and work unit, the Pearson unit is half the size (10 hours, not 20), has one criterion per level rather than four learning outcomes, and puts its weight on demonstrating positive working relationships in role-play or simulation, while the WJEC unit gives screen time and digital wellbeing more attention.
Source: Pearson Entry Level 1 to Level 2 Skills for Work Award, Certificate and Diploma Qualifications Specification, Issue 1, August 2026, Unit SfW 18: Wellbeing and work.