VCSE Hospitality and Catering
The VTCT Skills VCSE Hospitality and Catering has two mandatory units. Unit 1 covers the industry in Wales, food safety, nutrition, customer care and sustainability and is tested by a 28 mark multiple-choice examination taken on screen. Unit 2 is a 12 hour Non-Examined Assessment in which learners plan, cook and serve a dish at a simple event and evaluate their performance. Digital work is light. The examination asks how booking apps, QR code menus, contactless payment, social media, online reviews and AI chatbots are changing the industry, and VTCT links Unit 2 planning to digital tools, but no software, typed work or digital evidence is required. Key Stage 3 should build confident on-screen planning and costing.
- Awarding body
- VTCT Skills
- Level
- Level 1 and Level 2
- First taught
- September 2027
- Amount of digital work
- Low
- Specification
- Open the specification
- Step before
- Foundation Hospitality and Catering, Entry Level and Level 1
How this qualification is assessed
- Unit 1 (UWHC1): Introduction to the Hospitality and Catering industry: MCQ External theory examination 60 minutes, 30%, 28 marks, multiple-choice questions on LO1 to LO5, set and marked by VTCT Skills, taken on screen with a paper option, sat in the April or May series at the end of Year 10 with one resit in Year 11 (best result counts); 40 GLH
- Unit 2 (UWHC2): Planning, preparing and serving a meal: Non-Examined Assessment, maximum 12 hours, 70%, four tasks worth 8, 12, 16 and 12 marks, set by VTCT Skills with a new brief each year, released in December of Year 11 and submitted in April, marked and internally quality assured by the centre with a level-based mark scheme, externally moderated by VTCT Skills, no resit; 100 GLH
Skills that use Communication
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Social media, online reviews and a business's reputation
Unit 1 lists managing social media, advertising and promotions as a marketing role, describes social media as a tool for marketing and customer feedback, and explains how professional behaviour leads to good online reviews and repeat business. Learners must list job roles, describe the changing industry and explain the impact of professional behaviour on reputation, and all three criteria are tested in the multiple-choice examination.
DCF: Health and well-being, Communication, Identity, image and reputation
Getting pupils ready
- Year 7
- Pupils look at three made-up social media posts from local cafés and pick out the features, such as photographs, offers and hashtags, that are designed to catch a customer's eye.
- Year 8
- Pupils read a set of sample online reviews of a seaside café, sort them into positive and negative, and suggest a polite public reply to one complaint.
- Year 9
- Pupils discuss how a member of staff's own social media posts could affect their employer's reputation, then write three rules for staff at a hotel in Pembrokeshire.
Show the specification wording and the DCF statements
Where it is in the specification: Unit 1, sections 1.2, 1.5 and 4.4, pages 35, 36 and 49; assessment criteria 1.2, 1.5 and 4.4, pages 53 and 54
“Consistent professionalism promotes positive word-of-mouth and online reviews”
Progression step 3
I can identify marketing elements designed to draw my attention.
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 understand that I have a digital footprint and that this information can be searched, copied and passed on.
I can discuss the benefits and risks of presenting myself in different ways online.
Progression step 5
I can build a positive reputation in the context of employment prospects, e.g. use social media responsibly.
Good to know
- Codes: qualification number C00/5368/9, product code HC2W1, with mandatory units UWHC1 and UWHC2 (Sections 1 and 4, pages 5 and 13). The "First registration date 1st September 2027" and VTCT states it is approved for "first awarding summer 2029." (page 5).
- The Unit 1 examination is on screen by default but not only on screen: "A paper-based option will also be available for learners" (Section 5.3.1, page 17). This differs from the WJEC VCSE, whose food safety examination is on screen only.
- No digital evidence format is required of learners. The specification never says NEA work must be typed, photographed or submitted digitally; it only says the centre's evidence and marks are submitted "using VTCT Skills e-testing platform." (Section 8.2.1, page 28).
- Resources: the Unit 1 classroom includes "computers/access to internet" (Section 7.2, page 24), and Unit 2 kitchens need "Access to systems/resources that support" food safety recording, allergen communication, labelling and basic planning documentation, including "costing where applicable" (page 25). No software is named.
- AI appears only as Unit 1 content; there is no rule on learners using AI in the NEA, unlike WJEC's use of JCQ AI guidance. Supervision must ensure "Plagiarism, collusion or cheating is prevented" (Section 5.4.5, page 20), learners sign a "Declaration of Authenticity Form" (Section 5.4.7, page 21), and teachers must not "Provide feedback on any evidence produced by the learner" (Section 5.4.6, page 21).
- There is "no resit opportunity for the Non-Examined Assessment" (Section 5.4.8, page 21), while the examination has one resit, for which "A resit fee will be charged." (Section 5.3.4, page 18).
- VTCT's Curriculum for Wales mapping links digital competence only to Unit 1 LO1.5 "(industry use of digital systems" and Unit 2 LO1.2 "(using digital tools for planning)" (Section 11.1, page 73).
- The document contradicts itself on NEA marking: Section 5.1 (page 16) lists task marking as "high control", while Appendix 1, A1.2 (page 78) lists task marking for the same NEA as "medium control".
Links with other qualifications
Compared with the WJEC VCSE Hospitality and Catering, which has four units, a choice between Catering in Action and Hospitality in Action for the 70% NEA, an on-screen-only food safety examination, digital NEA submission, photographs of practical outcomes and digital promotion of an event, the VTCT Skills version has two mandatory units, one multiple-choice examination on the whole of Unit 1 and one NEA that combines cooking with table service, and its digital demand is lighter, limited to knowledge of digital systems in the industry and planning and costing documents. The planning and costing overlap with GCSE Food and Nutrition and GCSE Business, and the Skills for Work topics VTCT suggests, Customer Service and Working in Wales, match WJEC Skills Suite units already on the page.
Source: VTCT Skills Level 1/2 VCSE Hospitality and Catering Qualification Specification, HC2W1 (qualification number C00/5368/9), Version P1, issued 01/09/2026.