Skills for Life: Art and Crafts
Arts and crafts (Unit SfL 1) is one 20 hour unit that learners combine with others into a Pearson Skills for Life Award, Certificate or Diploma, from Entry 1 to Level 2. Learners practise art or craft techniques and materials and produce a 2D or 3D piece on a given topic, with a portfolio of exploratory work from Level 1. Centres set and mark the assessment, Pearson verifies it, and the unit is passed once at one level. Literacy demand is low because the criteria are practical: literacy sits in explaining choices when prompted, Level 2 research and optional annotation. Numeracy is light, limited to the scaling, proportion and area Annexe C suggests.
- Awarding body
- Pearson
- Level
- Entry Level 1 to Level 2
- Guided learning hours
- 20
- First taught
- September 2027
- Amount of literacy work
- Low
- Amount of numeracy work
- Low
- Specification
- Open the specification
How this unit is assessed
- Entry Level (Entry 1, Entry 2, Entry 3): One practical assessment criterion at each of Entry 1, Entry 2 and Entry 3, rising from demonstrating a few basic skills in a given arts or crafts activity, to demonstrating a range of skills and techniques to produce a piece of 2D or 3D artwork or craft on a given topic. The centre chooses the evidence, sets and marks the assessment, and Pearson quality assures it through standards verification. 20 guided learning hours, graded Pass or Fail at the level achieved.
- Level 1 and Level 2: One practical assessment criterion at each of Level 1 and Level 2: learners develop a portfolio of exploratory skills (Level 1) or of techniques, stylistic approaches and exploratory skills (Level 2) and produce a final piece of 2D or 3D artwork or craft. The centre chooses the evidence, sets and marks the assessment over a number of sessions, and Pearson quality assures it through standards verification. 20 guided learning hours, graded Pass or Fail at the level achieved.
Skills that use Purpose
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Talking about choices of techniques and materials
Entry 2 learners answer the teacher's prompts and probes about how they decided on their piece, Entry 3 learners make choices about techniques and materials, and Level 2 learners make informed choices based on their research. Evidence can be spoken, so this is usually a conversation rather than writing. It sits in the essential information and support guidance, not as a separate written task.
Literacy: Clarity and vocabulary, Purpose
Getting pupils ready
- Year 7
- Pupils explain to a partner why they chose a material for a collage, using at least two art words such as texture and contrast.
- Year 8
- Pupils answer teacher questions about their sketchbook in a short one-to-one review, giving a reason for each technique they tried.
- Year 9
- Pupils give a two minute talk on how their research changed the techniques they chose for a final piece.
Show the specification wording and the LNF statements
Where it is in the specification: Unit SfL 1, Entry 2 essential information, page 13; Levels of supervision and support, page 14
“Prompts and probes should be used to elicit responses about the learner's decision-making process”
Progression step 3
I can express issues and ideas clearly using area of learning and experience/discipline-specific vocabulary and examples.
I can share, talk and write about my thoughts, feelings and opinions using a range of techniques to show impact.
Progression step 4
I have experienced a range of area of learning and experience/discipline-specific and general academic vocabulary, and can use them in my own communication.
I can speak clearly, selecting and adapting my language appropriately for a range of audiences and purposes, conveying meaning effectively to the audience.
Good to know
- Arts and crafts is Unit SfL 1 (printed "SfL1" in the unit summary) with 20 "Unit GLH" (Unit summary, page 5), and "Learners can only achieve each unit once, at a single level" (Rules of Combination, page 6).
- Evidence does not have to be written: "For this unit there are no mandatory evidence requirements and centres can select the type of evidence" (page 13), and examples include "observation records, witness testimony, and products of learners' work" (Assessment requirements, page 9).
- At Entry 2 the teacher draws out the reasoning: "Prompts and probes should be used to elicit responses about the learner's decision-making process" (Entry 2 essential information, page 13).
- "Learners can be assessed in Welsh or English" (Language of assessment, page 8).
- The teaching content is in a separate document: "This can be found in the Teaching and Learning Support document for this unit" (Unit content, page 13).
- AI must be acknowledged: "If AI is used, the final submission must be in the learner's own words and reflect their own effort" (Requirements relating to permitted/prohibited resources, page 15).
- The annexes give the numeracy and literacy links only in outline: "Scaling, proportions, area" and "Annotating work, research, planning notes" (Annexe C, page 160); none of these appears in the assessment criteria.
Links with other qualifications
Arts and crafts leads naturally into GCSE Art and Design, where annotating and explaining development work is assessed, and links with the Foundation in Expressive Arts, the Foundation in Design and Technology and the VCSE in Creative and Media Production and Technology. Talking about ideas with subject vocabulary builds on GCSE English Language and Literature, and scaling a design draws lightly on the ratio and area work in GCSE Mathematics and Numeracy. Within the WJEC Skills Suite, Digital Film and Media and Career Creativity are natural partners. Compared with the WJEC Arts and crafts unit, also 20 hours, whose learning outcomes ask learners to know what art and craft is and to express and present ideas, Pearson's version is almost entirely practical, with one criterion per level about producing work and a portfolio, so it makes lighter literacy demands.
Source: Pearson Entry Level 1 to Level 2 Skills for Life Award, Certificate and Diploma Qualifications Specification, Issue 1, August 2026, Unit SfL 1: Arts and crafts.