Personal Project
The WJEC Level 1/Level 2 Personal Project is a 60 guided learning hour qualification in which learners choose their own topic and submit a project plan and a final project, marked against 20 learning outcomes under the four integral skills. Literacy runs through almost every outcome: reading and judging sources, synthesising and referencing them, framing questions to guide the project, building arguments and solutions, presenting ideas, listening to others' views, and writing reflections. Numeracy is light and comes from planning a timeline and resources, including any budget, and checking progress against measurable SMART goals. Any surveys or data depend on the learner's topic.
- Awarding body
- WJEC
- Level
- Level 1 and Level 2
- Guided learning hours
- 60
- First taught
- September 2027
- Amount of literacy work
- High
- Amount of numeracy work
- Low
- Specification
- Open the specification
How this qualification is assessed
- Planning and organising (LO1 to LO6): Six learning outcomes, each marked out of 4 in four mark bands, 24 marks and 30% of the qualification: planning activities and timelines, determining resources, setting SMART goals and success criteria, managing the plan, monitoring and adapting it, and reflecting on planning and outcomes. Evidence comes from the project plan and final project, internally marked by the centre and externally moderated by WJEC
- Critical thinking and problem solving (LO7 to LO12): Six learning outcomes, each marked out of 4 in four mark bands, 24 marks and 30% of the qualification: assessing information and the reliability of sources, synthesising and referencing sources, explaining issues and barriers, using meaningful questions, developing arguments and proposing solutions. Internally marked by the centre and externally moderated by WJEC
- Creativity and innovation (LO13 to LO16): Four learning outcomes, each marked out of 4 in four mark bands, 16 marks and 20% of the qualification: exploring and generating ideas, connecting ideas between knowledge, experience and skills, sharing ideas and presenting a final outcome, and presenting ideas in a creative and engaging format. Internally marked by the centre and externally moderated by WJEC
- Personal effectiveness (LO17 to LO20): Four learning outcomes, each marked out of 4 in four mark bands, 16 marks and 20% of the qualification: considering and responding to others' views, reflecting on own learning and behaviour, identifying successes and skills developed, and identifying areas for development. Internally marked by the centre and externally moderated by WJEC
Skills that use Conceptual understanding
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Checking progress against measurable goals
Learners set SMART goals and success criteria, track progress against the planned timeline, interpret feedback and performance data, and judge at the end whether goals were met. LO3, LO5 and LO6 assess this. How much data is involved depends on the project; primary information such as surveys is optional, as LO8 accepts secondary and/or primary information.
Numeracy: Interpreting data, Conceptual understanding
Getting pupils ready
- Year 7
- Pupils set a measurable reading goal, such as 60 pages in two weeks, record pages read each day in a table and say whether they met it.
- Year 8
- Pupils track how many of ten planned tasks they finish each week on a bar chart and work out whether they are on schedule.
- Year 9
- Pupils set three SMART success criteria for a mini project, collect survey or progress figures against each and write a conclusion on which were met, noting any results that might be misleading.
Show the specification wording and the LNF statements
Where it is in the specification: Section 2.1 amplification, pages 9 and 10; marking grid LO3 and LO5, page 19; marking grid LO6, page 20; Appendix A Glossary, page 33
“how to interpret feedback and performance data to assess whether objectives and success criteria are being met”
Progression step 3
I can draw conclusions from data and recognise that some conclusions may be misleading or uncertain.
I can interpret answers within the context of the problem and consider whether answers, including calculator, analogue and digital displays, are sensible.
Progression step 4
I can draw conclusions from data and recognise that some conclusions may be misleading or uncertain.
I can interpret answers within the context of the problem and consider whether answers, including calculator, analogue and digital displays, are sensible.
Progression step 5
I can draw conclusions from data and recognise that some conclusions may be misleading or uncertain.
I can interpret answers within the context of the problem and consider whether answers, including calculator, analogue and digital displays, are sensible.
Good to know
- There are no written tests. The project "is internally assessed and marked by the centre and externally moderated by WJEC" (Section 4.2, page 25), and judgements are made "solely against the assessment criteria, not based on overall impressions or learner effort" (Section 4.3, page 28). No marks are set aside for spelling, punctuation and grammar.
- Length is flexible: "A suggested word count of up to 2,000 words is provided, but this should be used only as guidance and must not restrict achievement of the assessment criteria" (Section 4.2, page 26).
- Spoken work counts. The outcome may be "written, oral, digital, artefact, performance and/or event" (Section 2.5, page 16), and presentations are recorded "using observation records that include both descriptive and summative comments" (Section 4.3, page 28).
- Writing support is limited: teachers must not "produce any form of writing frame for use within assessment activities" or "correct or modify a candidate's work" (Section 4.2, page 26).
- Referencing is required of every learner: "Candidates must understand that information from published sources must be referenced." (Section 4.2, page 26). AI use is acceptable "When properly referenced", and misuse includes "copying or paraphrasing whole responses of AI-generated content" (Section 4.4, page 30).
- Welsh medium learners have their own entry codes, 9011C0 and 9022C0 (Section 5.1, page 31), so the whole project can be written and presented in Welsh.
- Numeracy is not named in any learning outcome. It arises from planning, where resources include "people, materials, equipment and budget" (Section 2.1, page 9), and from SMART goals with success criteria, where learners learn "how to define success criteria to evaluate whether project goals have been met" (page 9).
- The specification has no example tasks; suggested activities are in the separate "Personal Project: Guidance for teaching and assessment" (Section 2, page 8).
Links with other qualifications
The Personal Project sits in the Skills Suite alongside the Skills for Life and Skills for Work units, and the Personal Project Entry Level is the step below it. Reading and judging sources, building arguments, presenting and reflective writing build directly on GCSE English Language and Literature and GCSE Cymraeg Language and Literature, and the source evaluation links with GCSE History. The Skills for Work unit Personal Development Planning also asks Level 2 learners to set SMART goals and plan with timescales and resources, and Enterprise Venture asks learners to plan, adapt and evaluate a venture. Any survey or budget work links with GCSE Mathematics and Numeracy. The specification names the Level 3 Advanced Skills Baccalaureate Wales as the progression route.
Source: WJEC Level 1/Level 2 Personal Project specification, approved by Qualifications Wales, teaching from September 2027, for award from 2029 (© WJEC CBAC Ltd 2026).