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 Understanding, response and analysis
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Researching artists and techniques to inform ideas
Level 2 learners carry out a basic investigation using generally relevant research and make informed choices based on it, and Annexe E shows the content includes research into Welsh art and design. Lower levels do not require research. Reading about artists, makers and techniques is expected at Level 2 in the essential information and support guidance.
Literacy: Understanding, response and analysis
Getting pupils ready
- Year 7
- Pupils read a short gallery label about a Welsh painting and pick out three facts about how it was made.
- Year 8
- Pupils read two short articles about a craft tradition, such as Welsh quilting, and summarise the main techniques in a table.
- Year 9
- Pupils research an artist from several sources, summarise how the artist works in a paragraph, and note which idea they will try in their own work.
Show the specification wording and the LNF statements
Where it is in the specification: Unit SfL 1, Level 2 essential information and Levels of supervision and support, page 14; Annexe C, page 160; Annexe E, page 170
“Level 2 learners work with increasing independence, taking responsibility for task completion and make informed choices based on their research”
Progression step 3
I can make use of reference/digital sources to select, summarise and synthesise information, referencing as appropriate.
I can show understanding of and use the main ideas and significant details in different texts on the same topic.
Progression step 4
I can research a wide range of reference and digital sources to develop a full understanding of a topic or issue.
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.