Foundation Retail and Customer Service
WJEC Foundation Retail and Customer Service is a two-year, 120 hour work-related qualification for learners aged 14 to 16 working at Entry Level or Level 1, leading on to the VCSE in Retail and Customer Service. Both units are centre-marked portfolios built from teacher-set tasks. Literacy runs through everything: learners read short scenarios and case studies, describe and explain in writing or orally, give presentations, speak and listen to customers, follow and give instructions, use some Welsh greetings and reflect on their own performance. Entry learners can show much of this through talk, pictures and structured templates. Numeracy is light and practical, centred on a simple event budget and prices, handling money and counting stock, scheduling, and reading feedback such as rating scales and surveys.
- Awarding body
- WJEC
- Level
- Entry Level and Level 1
- First taught
- September 2027
- Amount of literacy work
- Medium
- Amount of numeracy work
- Low
- Specification
- Open the specification
- Next step up
- VCSE Retail and Customer Service, Level 1 and Level 2
How this qualification is assessed
- Unit 1: Introduction to the Retail and Customer Service Sector: Centre marked non-examination assessment, portfolio of evidence, maximum assessment time 9 hours (typically 7 to 9 hours), 36 guided learning hours, 48 points, teacher-set activities assessed in the centre and moderated by WJEC, available for moderation from summer 2028
- Unit 2: Retail and Customer Service in Action: Centre marked non-examination assessment, portfolio of evidence, maximum assessment time 21 hours (typically 19 to 21 hours), 84 guided learning hours, 60 points, teacher-set activities around planning and running a retail-related event, assessed in the centre and moderated by WJEC, available for moderation from summer 2029
Skills that use Measurement
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Scheduling the event and its tasks
Timing and scheduling and staffing are planning considerations for the Unit 2 event, and learners prepare and tidy up using checklists. A Level 1 example task asks learners to fill in a structured template of everything needed before and during the event.
Numeracy: Measurement, Strategic competence
Getting pupils ready
- Year 7
- Pupils put the set-up tasks for a class stall in order and give each a start time on a simple timeline.
- Year 8
- Pupils make a rota for a lunchtime stall, sharing four 15 minute shifts between six people so each works the same time.
- Year 9
- Pupils plan a timed schedule for a school event, from set-up to tidy-up, with staffing for each slot, and adjust it when one task takes twice as long.
Show the specification wording and the LNF statements
Where it is in the specification: Unit 2, LO2.1 and LO2.3, page 28; Unit 2, Examples of tasks LO2.1, page 34
“fill in a structured template detailing all operational requirements”
Progression step 3
I can use and interpret calendars, timetables and schedules to plan events and activities, and make calculations as part of the planning journey.
I can prioritise and organise the relevant steps needed to complete the task or reach a solution.
Progression step 4
I can prioritise and organise the relevant steps needed to complete the task or reach a solution.
Good to know
- Literacy runs through the whole qualification: Appendix A maps Listening, Reading, Speaking and Writing to "All sections" of both units (page 48).
- Numeracy is mapped narrowly: "Developing Mathematical Proficiency" to LO1.4, LO1.5, LO2.1, LO2.3, LO2.4 and LO2.5, statistics to LO2.6 only, and nothing to number or to geometry and measurement (Appendix A, pages 48 and 49).
- Evidence does not have to be written. It can include teacher observation, "video/audio recordings" and teacher questioning with responses "either written or oral" (Section 3.3, pages 40 and 41).
- Support depends on level: Entry 1 learners "will require a high level of support, including verbal, visual and practical assistance", while Level 1 learners "should work independently" (Section 3.4, pages 41 and 42).
- Where a real event is not possible, "learners will be able to be assessed via role-play" (Unit 2, page 27), so customer service talk can be assessed in a simulated setting.
- The qualification can be taken in Welsh, with separate Welsh medium entry codes such as "6100N1" for Unit 1 (Section 4.1, page 45).
Links with other qualifications
This qualification leads directly to the WJEC VCSE in Retail and Customer Service, which the specification names as a progression route. Both ask learners to understand good and poor customer service, deal with complaints by listening and responding, use Welsh with customers and write promotional material. The VCSE steps this up: learners read a full case study with reviews and live chat transcripts, write an analytical report, staff guidance and customer replies in the right tone, and deliver a pitch with questions, and its numeracy moves from a simple event budget to customer service data, pricing strategies and costs. Budgeting and promotion also link with GCSE Business, and the event budget with GCSE Mathematics and Numeracy.
Source: WJEC Entry Level/Level 1 Foundation Retail and Customer Service specification, approved by Qualifications Wales, teaching from September 2027, for award from 2029 (© WJEC CBAC Ltd 2026).