Skills for Work: Work Experience
Work Experience is a set of 5 Open Awards Skills for Work units, Entry 1 to Level 2, each 20 guided learning hours and 2 credits, for 14 to 16 year olds in Wales. Learners learn about jobs, prepare for and carry out work-related tasks in a real or simulated setting, work safely and review their performance, from a supervised task at Entry 1 to comparing placements, managing risks, monitoring a plan and judging their readiness for work at Level 2. The provider designs the tasks and Open Awards quality assures them. Digital is a named cross-curricular skill but digital demand is low: spreadsheets, task apps, laptops, screen safety and data confidentiality appear as examples, mostly at Level 1 and Level 2.
- Awarding body
- Open Awards
- Level
- Entry Level 1 to Level 2
- Guided learning hours
- 20
- First taught
- September 2027
- Amount of digital work
- Low
- Specification
- Open the specification
How this unit is assessed
- Entry Level 1 (CBM226), Entry Level 2 (CBM227) and Entry Level 3 (CBM228): Each Entry level is a separate 2 credit, 20 guided learning hour unit. Entry 1 has 3 learning outcomes: identifying 2 jobs in a familiar setting and what people do, using suitable clothing or equipment and arriving on time, and carrying out a supervised task and tidying up. Entry 2 has 4: types of local work and the skills needed, suitable clothing and behaviour, taking part in and reviewing a work-related activity, and why being on time matters. Entry 3 has 4: outlining strengths and areas to improve, identifying health and safety signs and explaining timekeeping, selecting tools and communicating appropriately, and carrying out and explaining a task. Tasks are designed by the provider in a real or simulated work setting, the learner builds a portfolio, and every criterion must be met for a Pass.
- Level 1 (CBM229) and Level 2 (CBM230): Each level is a separate 2 credit, 20 guided learning hour unit with 4 learning outcomes. Level 1 learners describe 3 duties of a job role and 3 qualities employers look for, explain health and safety procedures and how to report hazards, prepare a workspace and carry out 3 tasks, and review their own performance and describe skills developed. Level 2 learners compare 2 placements against their career goals, describe the importance of professional behaviour, describe 3 risks and explain 3 actions to reduce them, monitor progress against a plan and adapt their approach, and evaluate their performance and describe their readiness for future work. Tasks include written, scenario, practical, monitoring and evaluation tasks.
Skills that use Collaboration
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Logging and monitoring progress in a spreadsheet or task app
Level 2 learners monitor their own progress against a project plan or set of tasks, for example using a spreadsheet to log completion dates of office tasks, keeping a daily logbook, or updating a shared task management app such as Trello to show which milestones have been met. Learners enter data accurately, keep it up to date and use it to see whether they are on schedule. Monitoring progress is a Level 2 criterion with digital tools as examples.
DCF: Data and information literacy, Collaboration
Getting pupils ready
- Year 7
- Pupils log the dates they complete 5 classroom jobs in a simple spreadsheet table.
- Year 8
- Pupils build a spreadsheet task tracker with a drop-down for "not started", "in progress" and "done" and use it for a 2 week project.
- Year 9
- Pupils update a shared online task board during a group project and use it to report which milestones are late.
Show the specification wording and the DCF statements
Where it is in the specification: Level 2, AC 3.1, page 24; Physical Resources, Practical Resources, page 7
“Using a spreadsheet to log the completion dates of administrative tasks in a school office”
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 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 create a data capture form, capture data, search data and create a database and spreadsheet with appropriate data input method.
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
- Each level is its own unit with its own code: "Unit Reference Number: CBM226" at Entry 1 to CBM230 at Level 2, each "Credit Value: Two (2)" and "Guided Learning Hours: 20" (Unit Content, pages 11, 14, 17, 20 and 23).
- Only one level can count in a qualification: "units with the same title at different levels are barred for completion within the same qualification" (Level 1 Qualification Guide, Qualification Units, page 17), and this is a Skills for Work unit, so it counts towards the Skills for Work group (Rules of Combination, page 16).
- A real placement is not compulsory: "Where possible, this should include experience of a real or simulated work environment appropriate to the level of the unit", through short placements, employer engagement or simulated tasks (Work Experience Requirement, page 7).
- The provider writes the assessment: "This suite of units has been designed to be assessed through assessment tasks and activities designed by the provider", with pre-course verification, internal quality assurance and external quality assurance by Open Awards (Assessment Approach, page 8).
- There is no partial credit: "All assessment criteria must be met in full for the learner to be awarded a 'pass'" (Assessment Approach, page 8).
- Evidence goes in a portfolio, paper or digital: "Wherever possible, e-portfolios are encouraged." (Assessment Approach, page 8).
- Resources include "access to digital devices for research and recording progress where appropriate" and materials for task planning and tracking such as "checklists, logbooks or simple digital tools", plus clothing, equipment and safety signage to simulate workplaces (Physical Resources, page 7).
- Staff must "understand safeguarding requirements and know how to respond appropriately to learner disclosures or concerns" (Staffing Resources, page 6).
- The unit specification does not mention AI tools; the Open Awards Provider Handbook, which must be read alongside it, sets wider rules.
- The text looks unfinished in places: the Entry 1 and Entry 2 assessment task tables are identical (pages 8 and 9), Level 1 AC 4.1 "Review own performance" becomes "Identify own strengths and areas for improvement" in the content (pages 20 and 22), and there are typing errors such as "idenitfy", "give participate" and "at least on reason" (Entry 2, page 15) and "he need" (Entry 3, page 18).
Links with other qualifications
Work Experience sits well beside the Skills Challenge Certificate, the VCSE and Foundation in Business, GCSE Business, the Open Awards Applying for Jobs and Teamwork units, and the Careers and Work-Related Experiences cross-cutting theme. Logging tasks in a spreadsheet and keeping data confidential link to GCSE Digital Technology and the DCF Data and computational thinking and Citizenship strands. Compared with the Pearson Work experience unit, which centres on planning a placement, the Open Awards version can be met through simulated tasks and puts more weight on health and safety, risk control and monitoring progress at Level 2.
Source: Open Awards Skills for Work Unit Specification, Work Experience, Entry Level 1 to Level 2.