LNF Cymru Literacy and numeracy for Wales

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Foundation Humanities

WJEC Entry Level/Level 1 Foundation Humanities is a two year, 120 hour course for learners aged 14 to 16, assessed entirely by portfolio across two of five subject units (Business, Geography, History, Religious Studies and Social Studies) and the mandatory Unit 6 on sustainable communities in Wales. Literacy carries the course: learners read different types of evidence, compare perspectives, use key terms, explain causes and impacts, and write informed viewpoints, with discussion and presentations where tasks ask for them. Numeracy is light and depends on the units chosen: revenue, costs, profit and loss and pricing in Business, temperature and rainfall data in Geography, and measuring a campaign's success in Social Studies.

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: Business (optional): Portfolio of six tasks (non-examination assessment), suggested timing approximately 8 hours, 35%, 60 marks, set by WJEC, marked by the centre and moderated by WJEC
  • Unit 2: Geography (optional): Portfolio of six tasks (non-examination assessment), suggested timing approximately 8 hours, 35%, 60 marks, set by WJEC, marked by the centre and moderated by WJEC
  • Unit 3: History (optional): Portfolio of six tasks (non-examination assessment), suggested timing approximately 8 hours, 35%, 60 marks, set by WJEC, marked by the centre and moderated by WJEC
  • Unit 4: Religious Studies (optional): Portfolio of six tasks (non-examination assessment), suggested timing approximately 8 hours, 35%, 60 marks, set by WJEC, marked by the centre and moderated by WJEC
  • Unit 5: Social Studies (optional): Portfolio of six tasks (non-examination assessment), suggested timing approximately 8 hours, 35%, 60 marks, set by WJEC, marked by the centre and moderated by WJEC
  • Unit 6: Creating sustainable communities in Wales (mandatory): Portfolio of six tasks (non-examination assessment), suggested timing approximately 7 hours, 30%, 50 marks, set by WJEC, marked by the centre and moderated by WJEC. Learners take two of Units 1 to 5 plus Unit 6, ideally in the final year

Skills that use Collaborative talk

  1. Discussing and presenting ideas

    Assessed: In coursework (non-examination assessment, NEA)

    Appendix A maps speaking and listening to all six units, and the learning experiences include collaborative working and developing empathy through different perspectives. Where a task asks for a presentation or other spoken evidence, the teacher records it on an observation record.

    Literacy: Clarity and vocabulary, Purpose, Listening to understand, Collaborative talk

    Getting pupils ready

    Year 7
    Pupils take turns in a small group to share one fact about their topic, listening carefully and asking another member one question.
    Year 8
    Pupils give a two minute talk to the class on a social campaign in Wales, using prompt cards and key terms.
    Year 9
    Pupils hold a structured discussion on whether tourism helps Welsh communities, responding respectfully to views they disagree with before presenting a group conclusion.
    Show the specification wording and the LNF statements

    Where it is in the specification: Section 3.4, page 29; Opportunities for integration of learning experiences, page 26; Appendix A, page 35

    “Where required, performance evidence (e.g. presentations) must be documented”
    Progression step 3

    • I can express issues and ideas clearly using area of learning and experience/discipline-specific vocabulary and examples.

    • I can organise talk so that different audiences in different contexts can follow what is being said, including using formal language.

    • I can listen to others’ ideas/presentations, and understand that they may have a different perspective to my own, in order to respond appropriately.

    Progression step 4

    • I can share, talk and write about my thoughts, feelings and opinions showing empathy and respect.

    • I can use talk in a range of authentic contexts to explore challenging or contentious issues.

    • I can listen to gain different people's views and ideas on various subjects, using them to arrive at my own conclusions.

Good to know

Links with other qualifications

Each optional unit leads towards the matching GCSE, Business, Geography, History, Religious Studies or Social Studies, which the specification calls "a broad basis for progression onto GCSEs in the Humanities area" (page 9). Those GCSEs step up the same literacy, from reading a few sources to judging bias and reliability, and from short viewpoints to extended evaluative writing. GCSE Business extends profit and loss to break-even, cash flow and income statements, and GCSE Geography and GCSE Social Studies extend climate and campaign data to averages, percentages and graphs. The reading, writing and speaking here also support GCSE English Language and Literature.

Source: WJEC Entry Level/Level 1 Foundation Humanities specification, approved by Qualifications Wales, teaching from September 2027, for award from 2029 (© WJEC CBAC Ltd 2026).