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 Position
-
Reading maps to judge retail locations
In Unit 1 learners study the factors behind where shops locate, such as footfall, accessibility, proximity to competitors and cost of location. Example tasks include labelling locations on a simple map and, at Level 1, creating a map of the local area that highlights where businesses are.
Numeracy: Position, Collecting data, Strategic competence
Getting pupils ready
- Year 7
- Pupils use grid references on a town map to find the post office, a supermarket and the bus station.
- Year 8
- Pupils count people passing two shop doors for five minutes each and compare the footfall in a simple table.
- Year 9
- Pupils mark local shops on a map of the area, add footfall counts and distances to the nearest car park, and use them to recommend a site for a new shop.
Show the specification wording and the LNF statements
Where it is in the specification: Unit 1, LO1.2, pages 14 and 15; Unit 1, Examples of tasks LO1.2, pages 21 and 22
“create a map of the local area, highlight where businesses are”
Progression step 3
I can use grid references to specify location.
I can collect relevant data to answer posed questions.
Progression step 4
I can identify, measure or obtain required information to complete the task.
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).