Skills for Work: Working in Wales
Working in Wales is a Skills for Work unit about the job market in Wales: key job sectors and employers, how Welsh sectors link to the wider UK and global economy, why Welsh language skills matter at work and the role of the Welsh Language Commissioner, and the skills needed in sectors with high demand. It is one 10 hour unit that learners combine with others into a Skills for Work or Skills for Life and Work Award, Certificate or Diploma. Digital demand is low: no criterion requires digital work, which sits in suggested online research, source logs, comparison tables and presentations.
- Awarding body
- WJEC
- Level
- Entry Level 1 to Level 2
- Guided learning hours
- 10
- First taught
- September 2027
- Amount of digital work
- Low
How this unit is assessed
- Entry Level (Entry 1, Entry 2, Entry 3): Three learning outcomes (jobs available in Wales, the importance of the Welsh language in Welsh workplaces, skills needed to work in Wales), 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. 10 guided learning hours.
- Level 1 and Level 2: Four learning outcomes (the job market in Wales, key employment sectors and their links to the international economy, the importance of the Welsh language in Welsh workplaces, skills needed to work in Wales), 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. 10 guided learning hours.
Skills that use Data and information literacy
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Comparing job sectors in a table
Comparison is required by the criteria: at Entry 3 learners compare two jobs, and at Level 2 they compare two job sectors in Wales and compare why there is high demand in each. The pack suggests using tables to compare sectors, and completed comparison tables are listed as evidence. Making the table on screen is a suggested method, not a requirement.
DCF: Creating digital content, Data and information literacy
Getting pupils ready
- Year 7
- Pupils insert a two column table in a word processor and fill it in to compare two jobs, such as nurse and builder, by place of work and skills.
- Year 8
- Pupils build a spreadsheet table comparing three Welsh sectors by example jobs, employers and whether Welsh is needed, and sort it by one column.
- Year 9
- Pupils create a spreadsheet comparing two sectors in high demand, with rows for skills needed, reasons for demand and example employers, and format it clearly for printing.
Show the specification wording and the DCF statements
Where it is in the specification: Level 1 and Level 2, learning outcome 1, assessment criterion 1.3, page 6, and learning outcome 4, assessment criterion 4.3, page 7; Suggested activities, page 11; Sources of evidence, page 11
“comparison tasks: using tables to compare different job sectors in Wales”
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 construct, refine and interrogate data sets within tables, charts, spreadsheets and databases to test or support an investigation.
Progression step 4
I can explore and develop a range of formal text document structures for different audiences and purposes.
I can perform analysis on simple data sets including grouping data as appropriate.
Good to know
- Each level has its own unit code: "Unit Codes S669E1" through S669L2, and the unit is worth "GLH 10" (Unit overview, page 3).
- No special equipment is needed: "Assessment of this unit should not require any specific resources" (Resources required for assessment, page 12), and delivery uses "standard classroom environments" (page 11).
- Evidence can be digital or spoken: "While evidence may be verbal, written, practical, or visual, extended written work is not required unless appropriate" and possible evidence includes "screenshots of research activities" (Sources of evidence, page 11).
- The portfolio "is not limited to paper-based materials" and evidence types include "video/audio recordings" and "photographic evidence" (Skills for Life and Work specification, section 4.1, page 18).
- Suggested assessment tasks "are not mandatory". Teachers may use, adapt or replace them (Skills for Life and Work specification, section 4.1, page 18).
- AI tools may be used "When properly referenced", but misuse includes "Failing to acknowledge use of AI tools when they have been used as a source of information" (Skills for Life and Work specification, section 4.6, page 21).
- Where a criterion uses a plural without a number, "a plural reference within assessment criterion refers to a minimum of two" (pages 5 and 7).
- Only the highest level achieved counts: "only the highest level of the unit achieved will count towards the GLH" (Skills for Life and Work specification, section 2.2, page 10).
Links with other qualifications
The pack names Rights and responsibilities in the workplace, Understanding the changing labour market, Fairness and inclusion in the workplace and Wellbeing in work (Wellbeing and work in the specification) as closely related Skills Suite units, and Jobs of the future and Exploring career pathways sit naturally alongside it. Work on sectors, employers and the Welsh economy links with GCSE Business. The Welsh language outcomes link with Core Cymraeg and Cymraeg Language and Literature. The key sectors named in the amplification match other qualifications on the page: construction with VCSE Built Environment, tourism with VCSE Travel and Tourism, retail with VCSE Retail and Customer Service, public services with VCSE Public Services, advanced manufacturing with VCSE Engineering, creative industries with VCSE Creative and Media Production and Technology, food and drink with VCSE Hospitality and Catering, and health and social care with GCSE Health and Social Care and Childcare.
Source: WJEC Working in Wales 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).