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 Sourcing, searching and planning digital content
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Understanding how digital technology is changing hospitality work
Unit 1 section 1.5 covers online booking systems and apps, digital menus and QR codes, contactless payment and self-service kiosks, and the use of AI for chatbots and for predicting busy times to plan staff rotas, as well as the growing need for digital skills in hospitality jobs. Learners must describe these changes, and the assessment criterion is tested in the multiple-choice examination.
DCF: Health and well-being, Identity, image and reputation, Sourcing, searching and planning digital content
Getting pupils ready
- Year 7
- Pupils scan a QR code menu made by the teacher for a pretend school café, order from it, and list two ways it helps the café and two ways it could cause problems for some customers.
- Year 8
- Pupils compare booking a table through a restaurant app with phoning the restaurant, and record in a table the personal details each one asks for and who benefits.
- Year 9
- Pupils try a simple online chatbot that answers questions about opening times and allergens, judge where its answers are helpful or wrong, and write when a customer should speak to a member of staff instead.
Show the specification wording and the DCF statements
Where it is in the specification: Unit 1, LO1, section 1.5 and assessment criterion 1.5, pages 36, 37 and 53; Section 11.1, page 73
“Artificial Intelligence (AI) is starting to help with tasks like:”
Progression step 3
I can identify the wider positive and negative influences of technology, e.g. on my life, on society, on the environment.
I can identify the benefits and risks of giving personal information and device access to different software.
Progression step 4
I can reflect on the role of digital media in my life and habits.
I can make informed choices while making online choices, including making in-app purchases and clicking on adverts.
Progression step 5
I can consider the benefits and limitations of digital tools and information sources and of the results I produce and use these results to inform future judgements about the quality of my digital work.
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Researching dishes and nutrition guidance for a brief
In Unit 2 learners investigate suitable dishes for the audience and event in the brief and justify their choices, for example using the Eatwell Guide and Public Health Wales guidance. The assessment criteria require the investigation and justification, while online research is not required but internet and research facilities are listed as typical resources.
DCF: Sourcing, searching and planning digital content
Getting pupils ready
- Year 7
- Pupils search the online Eatwell Guide to find which food group each ingredient in a pasta salad belongs to, and note the web address they used.
- Year 8
- Pupils search for three vegetarian main course recipes suitable for a community lunch, changing their keywords to narrow the results, and judge which website is most trustworthy.
- Year 9
- Pupils research dishes for an older people's lunch club using Public Health Wales and NHS pages, record their sources in a short list, and explain why they trusted each one.
Show the specification wording and the DCF statements
Where it is in the specification: Unit 2, LO1, sections 1.1 and 1.3, pages 57 and 59; assessment criteria 1.1 and 1.3, page 71; Section 7.2, page 24
“Use Public Health Wales guidance for reference”
Progression step 3
I can adjust keywords and search techniques to find relevant information.
I can begin to reference sources used in my work, and consider if content is reliable.
Progression step 4
I can search a variety of sources using relevant search techniques with increased complexity.
I can evaluate the reliability of sources of information, justify my opinions and reasons for choices, and reference using appropriate methods.
Progression step 5
I can search efficiently for information for my digital work and evaluate the reliability of sources of information, justifying opinions and reasons for choices, and I can reference work using appropriate methods.
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Producing a meal and service plan with digital tools
Unit 2 learners create a meal and service plan with a time plan, a dish specification with a shopping list, recipe and costing, a plating plan, storage and holding notes, and a table diagram for their style of service. The assessment criterion requires the plan; VTCT's own mapping links this criterion to digital tools for planning, but no software or typed format is required.
DCF: Creating digital content, Sourcing, searching and planning digital content
Getting pupils ready
- Year 7
- Pupils type a recipe for fruit scones in Word using a table for ingredients and a numbered list for the method, with headings in bold.
- Year 8
- Pupils draw a table diagram for a birthday lunch in PowerPoint using shapes for plates, cutlery and glasses, and add text boxes explaining the layout.
- Year 9
- Pupils build a one page meal and service plan in Word with a timed plan, a shopping list grouped by food type, a plating sketch and a table diagram, laid out so a supervisor could follow it.
Show the specification wording and the DCF statements
Where it is in the specification: Unit 2, LO1, section 1.2, page 58; assessment criterion 1.2, page 71; Section 11.1, page 73
“Ensure the meal and service plan shows how the timing, dish details and table layout work together”
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 independently create and plan work before beginning a digital task.
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.
I can explore and develop a range of formal text document structures for different audiences and purposes.
Progression step 5
I can create formal text documents for a professional audience, incorporating the use of collaborative review tools into activities.
I can plan my digital work effectively and with increasing complexity.
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.