VCSE Sport and Leisure
The VCSE in Sport and Leisure asks learners to collect, chart and interpret participation and fitness data, film and analyse performance or coaching, research using sources they reference, and know how social media and digital tools are used across the sector. Unit 1 is a short sector test that centres may run on screen, while the digital work is concentrated in the Unit 2 NEA and in whichever of Unit 3 or Unit 4 a centre chooses, with evidence documented and submitted digitally and no use of AI. The single biggest thing KS3 should build is the habit of recording sport and activity data in a spreadsheet, charting it and saying what it shows, alongside filming practical work and reviewing it honestly.
- 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 Sport and Leisure, Entry Level and Level 1
How this qualification is assessed
- Unit 1: Introduction to the Sport and Leisure Sector: Sector test 1 hour, paper-based or on screen, 20%, 50 marks, set and marked by WJEC
- Unit 2: Promoting Health and Wellbeing through Sport and Leisure: NEA 5 hours plus one hour reading time, 20%, 50 marks, set and marked by WJEC, brief changes every year
- Unit 3: Developing Personal Performance in Sport and Leisure (optional, alternative to Unit 4): NEA 7 hours, 60%, 90 marks, set by WJEC, marked by the centre and moderated by WJEC; the six-week training programme can be carried out outside the supervised time
- Unit 4: Leadership and Coaching in Sport and Leisure (optional, alternative to Unit 3): NEA 7 hours, 60%, 90 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 for the NEA and referencing sources
The NEA includes a research phase, and the assessment pack sets out the research approach and how learners should reference their sources. Learners research participation, barriers and organisations such as Sport Wales and local clubs to support their tasks.
DCF: Sourcing, searching and planning digital content, Evaluating and improving digital content
Getting pupils ready
- Year 7
- Pupils search for three facts about a sport in Wales, such as who runs it and where it is played locally, bookmark the pages and write the web address under each fact.
- Year 8
- Pupils compare a governing body website (for example Wales Netball) with a fan forum on the same topic and rate each for who wrote it, when, and how far it can be trusted.
- Year 9
- Pupils research what their local authority leisure service offers young people, using refined searches such as site:gov.wales, and finish with a reference list of every source used.
Show the specification wording and the DCF statements
Where it is in the specification: Section 3.3, Task Taking, page 46
“information about research phase including research approach and referencing, can be found in the assessment pack.”
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.
I can refer appropriately to sources of information used in my digital work.
Good to know
- The sector test can be taken either way: "Centres may enter candidates for either a paper-based or an onscreen version of the test." (Section 3.2, page 45)
- AI is banned in both optional NEA units: "The use of AI is not permitted." (Unit 3, page 33; Unit 4, page 39)
- Submission for moderation is digital but typing is optional: "Evidence submitted for external moderation must be submitted digitally, either as scanned handwritten responses or completed electronically." (pages 45 and 46)
- Centres must provide "A method of capturing visual evidence, such as a camera or mobile device" for Units 3 and 4 (pages 32 and 39). No software is named anywhere in the specification.
- Social media appears in Unit 2 content, but the front cover warns: "The UK Government has announced plans to restrict social media use by children under 16, which may impact some of our qualifications."
- Appendix A maps Digital Competence Citizenship, Interacting and Collaborating, Producing, and Data and Computational Thinking to all four units (page 53).
Links with other qualifications
Fitness testing, training logs and filming performance overlap closely with GCSE Physical Education and Health, and the participation survey and charting work matches the data demand in GCSE Social Studies and GCSE Health and Social Care, and Childcare, so one shared KS3 routine of Forms to Excel to a written conclusion would serve all of them.
Source: WJEC Level 1/Level 2 VCSE Sport and Leisure specification, approved by Qualifications Wales, teaching from September 2027, for award from 2029 (© WJEC CBAC Ltd 2026).