VCSE Public Services
VCSE Public Services asks learners to understand how the public services use digital communication tools such as radios, tablets, drones and public warning systems, and then, depending on the optional unit, either record and analyse their own fitness test data or research a local wellbeing issue online, plan a project with digital tools and analyse survey feedback. The Unit 1 sector test can be taken on screen or on paper, and all three NEA units are submitted digitally with access to IT required, while AI is not permitted and no software is named. The single biggest thing KS3 should build is the habit of collecting their own data in a spreadsheet or online form and using it to judge progress and back up recommendations.
- Awarding body
- WJEC
- Level
- Level 1 and Level 2
- First taught
- September 2027
- Amount of digital work
- Medium
- Specification
- Open the specification
- Step before
- Foundation Public Services, Entry Level and Level 1
How this qualification is assessed
- Unit 1: Introduction to the Public Services Sector: External sector test 1 hour, 20%, 50 marks, set and marked by WJEC, paper-based or on-screen
- Unit 2: Public Services in Action: External NEA 5 hours, 20%, 62 marks, set and marked by WJEC, set brief with five tasks that changes each year
- Unit 3: Wellbeing and Fitness for Public Services (optional, taken instead of Unit 4): NEA 11 hours (not including the six-week health and fitness training programme), 60%, 98 marks, set by WJEC, marked by the centre and moderated by WJEC
- Unit 4: Citizenship and Community within Public Services (optional, taken instead of Unit 3): NEA 10 hours (not including the small-scale community or school-based wellbeing project), 60%, 98 marks, set by WJEC, marked by the centre and moderated by WJEC
Skills that use Sourcing, searching and planning digital content
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Researching a local wellbeing issue online and referencing sources
In Unit 4 learners research a community wellbeing issue in a Welsh local authority area using online sources, local media and public data, and review their Public Service Board Wellbeing Plan. The NEA research phase includes guidance on research approach and referencing.
DCF: Sourcing, searching and planning digital content, Digital rights, licensing and ownership, Evaluating and improving digital content
Getting pupils ready
- Year 7
- Pupils search for their own county council website, find three services it runs in their area, and bookmark the pages they used.
- Year 8
- Pupils compare a local newspaper story and a council web page about the same local issue, such as litter in a town park, and rate each one for author, date and reliability.
- Year 9
- Pupils find the Wellbeing Plan of their local Public Service Board, choose one objective, and research it using at least three sources listed with web address and date accessed.
Show the specification wording and the DCF statements
Where it is in the specification: Unit 4, Section 4.2.1, page 54; Section 3.3, page 61
“conducting research using a range of sources (for example, online sources, local media, public data)”
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.
I can cite sources when researching and explain the importance of this, e.g. create simple lists for the referencing of digital and offline sources.
Progression step 4
I can search a variety of sources using relevant search techniques with increased complexity.
I can independently use a range of complex searches, e.g. and/or/+/-/not.
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.
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.
I can refer appropriately to sources of information used in my digital work.
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Planning a project proposal that includes digital tools and a timeline
In Unit 4 learners write a proposal for a small-scale wellbeing project with a title, aims and objectives, activities, a timeline and the resources needed, with digital tools named among those resources. The proposal must be justified against current Public Service Board objectives.
DCF: Sourcing, searching and planning digital content, Creating digital content
Getting pupils ready
- Year 7
- Pupils plan a class charity cake sale in a shared Word table showing each task, who will do it and by when.
- Year 8
- Pupils build a simple week-by-week timeline in Excel for a St David's Day assembly, colour coding each group's tasks.
- Year 9
- Pupils write a one-page proposal for a school wellbeing idea with headings for title, aims, activities, resources including digital tools, and a timeline set out in a table.
Show the specification wording and the DCF statements
Where it is in the specification: Unit 4, Section 4.3.2, page 55
“the resources needed for example, materials, venues and digital tools”
Progression step 3
I can independently create and plan work before beginning a digital task.
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.
Progression step 4
I can select and effectively use a variety of planning techniques.
I can explore and develop a range of formal text document structures for different audiences and purposes.
Progression step 5
I can plan my digital work effectively and with increasing complexity.
I can create formal text documents for a professional audience, incorporating the use of collaborative review tools into activities.
Good to know
- The Unit 1 sector test is the only examination and need not be on screen: 'Centres may enter candidates for either a paper-based or an onscreen version of the test.' (page 59).
- Typing is optional but submission is digital: 'The assessment must be submitted digitally, either as scanned handwritten responses or completed electronically.' (Unit 2, page 59; similar wording for Units 3 and 4 on page 60).
- IT is required for every NEA unit but no software is named, and AI is banned: 'Learners must have access to IT and appropriate software.' and 'The use of AI is not permitted.' (Unit 2, page 27; Unit 3, page 40; Unit 4, page 50).
- Learners take only one of the optional units: 'Centres/Learners may then choose either Unit 3 or Unit 4.' (page 6). The fitness data skills apply only to the Unit 3 route and the research, survey and project skills only to the Unit 4 route.
- The training programme and the wellbeing project happen outside supervised time: 'Delivery of this aspect of the assessment is unsupervised.' (Unit 3, page 39; Unit 4, page 49), while page 60 says it 'may be unsupervised'.
- Appendix A (pages 67 and 68) maps all four Digital Competence strands, Citizenship, Interacting and Collaborating, Producing, and Data and Computational Thinking, to every unit, which is wider than the digital content the units actually state.
Links with other qualifications
The Unit 3 fitness testing, normative data and training programme work closely matches GCSE Physical Education and Health, and the Unit 4 local research, use of public data and survey analysis overlaps with GCSE Social Studies and Geography, so a shared KS3 routine of collecting data in Forms or Excel and charting it would serve all of them.
Source: WJEC Level 1/Level 2 VCSE Public Services specification, approved by Qualifications Wales, teaching from September 2027, for award from 2029 (© WJEC CBAC Ltd 2026).