GCSE Dance
Literacy matters most in the Unit 3 on-screen examination, where learners write short and extended answers that analyse and evaluate three set works and an unseen work using precise dance terminology, and in the Unit 1 reflective log on their own choreography. Numeracy is light and practical: counting phrases, rhythm and tempo, working to set performance times, and describing space through levels, turns, planes, pathways and formations. The biggest thing Key Stage 3 should build is the ability to watch a dance closely and write a clear, evaluative paragraph about it using the correct terms.
- Awarding body
- WJEC
- Level
- Level 1 and Level 2
- First taught
- September 2026
- Amount of literacy work
- Medium
- Amount of numeracy work
- Low
- Specification
- Open the specification
How this qualification is assessed
- Unit 1: Choreography: Non-examination assessment, choreography to a WJEC stimulus plus a reflective log, marked by the centre and moderated by WJEC, 40%, 96 marks
- Unit 2: Performance: Non-examination assessment, live performance of two pieces of repertoire, marked by the centre and moderated by WJEC, 30%, 72 marks
- Unit 3: Dance Appreciation: Digital only examination 1 hour 45 minutes, 30%, 72 marks
Skills that use Angle
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Space, direction, turns and formations
Learners use and describe space through levels, facing, planes, pathways and formations such as lines, curves and circles. This draws on angle as turn, position on a stage grid, two-dimensional shape and symmetry.
Numeracy: Angle, Position, Shape and space, Conceptual understanding
Getting pupils ready
- Year 7
- Pupils perform quarter, half and full turns and name each one as 90, 180 or 360 degrees.
- Year 8
- Pupils mark a floor pattern on a nine-area stage grid, such as upstage left to downstage right, and draw the pathway with arrows.
- Year 9
- Pupils draw a floor plan of the studio to scale showing their group formations, such as a line, a circle and a diagonal, then use it to stage their piece.
Show the specification wording and the LNF statements
Where it is in the specification: Appendix A, Structural Devices, page 26; Unit 3, Section 3.1.1, page 16
“where dancers are placed on stage in relation to each other. These can form patterns such as lines, curves, scattered and circles.”
Progression step 3
I can use angle as a measure of rotation.
I can use coordinates to find position.
I can use mathematical language to accurately describe two-dimensional and three-dimensional shapes.
Progression step 4
I can apply understanding of bearings and scale to interpret maps and plans, and to create plans and drawings to scale.
I can measure and draw angles.
Progression step 5
I can measure and draw angles.
I can represent a concept in different ways, flowing between different representations including verbal, concrete, visual, digital and abstract.
Good to know
- No marks for spelling, punctuation and grammar or accuracy of language are mentioned anywhere in the specification.
- Unit 3 is a digital only examination of 1 hour 45 minutes, 72 marks and 30% of the qualification, so written answers are typed on screen, not handwritten (page 4). It includes an unseen work as well as three set works (page 15).
- The Unit 1 reflective log is in a non-prescribed format with no word limit printed; Unit 1 AO3 is worth 5% of the qualification (pages 4 and 20).
- Set performance times: a solo lasts 1 minute 30 seconds to 2 minutes and a group piece 2 to 4 minutes, with each Unit 2 dancer actively performing for a minimum of 1 minute 30 seconds (pages 10 and 12).
- The specification says nothing about calculators or dictionaries, and numeracy is not assessed in its own right.
Links with other qualifications
Appendix B ticks listening, reading and speaking for all three units and writing for Units 1 and 3, while the four numeracy strands are ticked for Unit 1 only, pages 28 and 29.
Source: WJEC GCSE Dance specification, teaching from 2026, for award from 2028, © WJEC CBAC Ltd 2025 (no version number printed).