Foundation Health and Social Care, and Childcare
Foundation Health and Social Care, and Childcare is a two-year, two-unit Work-Related Foundation Qualification for learners aged 14 to 16 working at Entry Level or Level 1. Every learner takes Unit 1 on the sectors, communication, safeguarding and wellbeing, then either Unit 2 Adult Health and Social Care or Unit 3 Childcare, all assessed through a teacher-set portfolio moderated by WJEC. Literacy runs through everything: Unit 1 has a whole learning outcome on communicating with children and adults in Welsh or English, and evidence comes from role-plays, presentations, case studies, reports, leaflets and blogs. Numeracy is light and sits mainly in Unit 3, in child development milestones by age and in snack and mealtime tasks, with some planning of meals and daily routines in Unit 2.
- Awarding body
- WJEC
- Level
- Entry Level and Level 1
- First taught
- September 2027
- Amount of literacy work
- High
- Amount of numeracy work
- Low
- Specification
- Open the specification
How this qualification is assessed
- Unit 1: Introduction to the Health and Social Care and Childcare sector, and Basic Safeguarding: Compulsory, taught first. Centre marked non-examination assessment, a portfolio of evidence from teacher-set tasks, maximum assessment time 12 hours (typically 9 to 12 hours), 52 of the 120 qualification points, assessed in centre and moderated by WJEC. 48 guided learning hours, first moderated summer 2028.
- Unit 2: Adult Health and Social Care: Optional, taken instead of Unit 3. Centre marked non-examination assessment, a portfolio of evidence from teacher-set tasks, maximum assessment time 18 hours (typically 14 to 18 hours), 68 of the 120 qualification points, assessed in centre and moderated by WJEC. 72 guided learning hours, first moderated summer 2029.
- Unit 3: Childcare: Optional, taken instead of Unit 2. Centre marked non-examination assessment, a portfolio of evidence from teacher-set tasks, maximum assessment time 18 hours (typically 14 to 18 hours), 68 of the 120 qualification points, assessed in centre and moderated by WJEC. 72 guided learning hours, first moderated summer 2029.
Skills that use Collaborative talk
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Role-play and presenting to peers
Role-play runs through all three units: learners carry out short conversations, plan and present role-plays showing effective communication in a care setting, and act out scenarios with and without voice, choice and control. Level 1 criteria also ask learners to present to peers, for example how to wash hands to NHS guidelines.
Literacy: Collaborative talk, Clarity and vocabulary
Getting pupils ready
- Year 7
- Pupils act out a two person scene of a receptionist welcoming a patient to a GP surgery from a prompt card.
- Year 8
- Pupils plan and perform a short role-play of a nursery worker settling an upset child, then explain to the class what the worker did well.
- Year 9
- Pupils script and present a care home role-play twice, once ignoring the resident's choices and once giving voice, choice and control, and explain to their peers the difference it makes.
Show the specification wording and the LNF statements
Where it is in the specification: Unit 1, assessment criterion 1.2.2, page 18; Unit 2, assessment criteria 2.5.1 and 2.5.3, page 32; example tasks, pages 35 and 36; Unit 3, assessment criterion 3.4.1, page 44
“plan and present a role-play activity which demonstrates effective”
Progression step 3
I can explore challenging or contentious issues through a variety of authentic contexts, including sustaining a role.
I have experienced speaking with different people in a variety of authentic contexts.
Progression step 4
I have experienced speaking with different people in a variety of authentic contexts.
I can convey meaning convincingly in a range of contexts so that the audience is fully engaged.
Good to know
- Appendix A maps all four literacy skills, listening, reading, speaking and writing, to "All sections" of every unit (page 59).
- Numeracy is mapped only in Unit 3: Developing Mathematical Proficiency and the number system to LO3.2, and geometry and measurement to LO3.6, with nothing for Units 1 and 2 or for statistics (Appendix A, page 60).
- Spoken work counts: evidence includes "teacher/assessor questioning" answered in writing or orally and "video/audio recordings" of presentations and discussions (Section 3.3, page 52), and observed performance is recorded on "observation records" (Section 3.6, page 53).
- Communication can be in either language: learners use "Basic communication skills in Welsh or English" and implement "the Active Offer" (Unit 1, LO1.2, page 14).
- Support is graded by level: Entry 1 learners may need "verbal, visual and practical assistance", while Level 1 teachers "can provide advice on planning and structuring their answers" without doing the work for them (Section 3.4, page 53).
- The example tasks "are not mandatory" (Section 2.1, page 9), so the reading and writing load depends on the tasks the centre sets.
Links with other qualifications
The specification names GCSE Health and Social Care, and Childcare as the next step, and the two share the same structure: a sector and wellbeing unit, then Adult Health and Social Care or Childcare. There is no WJEC VCSE in this subject. The GCSE steps the literacy up from short spoken and written tasks to an examination and two 12 hour NEA units that need organised, evaluative writing, close reading of case studies and a researched childcare investigation, and its numeracy adds physiological measurements, wellbeing statistics and surveys. The Foundation communication, case study and report work prepares for that. Communication and role-play link with English or Cymraeg oracy, and meal planning with Food and Nutrition.
Source: WJEC Entry Level/Level 1 Foundation Health and Social Care, and Childcare specification, approved by Qualifications Wales, teaching from September 2027, for award from 2029 (© WJEC CBAC Ltd 2026).