Skills for Life: Basic First Aid
Basic First Aid is one of 30 Skills for Life units in Agored Cymru's Skills Suite, offered at Entry 1, Entry 2, Entry 3, Level 1 and Level 2, each a separate 20 hour unit that learners combine with others into a Skills for Life, or Skills for Life and Work, Award, Certificate or Diploma. Learners carry out a primary survey, respond to an unresponsive casualty, call for help, treat wounds, nosebleeds and burns and, at Level 1 and Level 2, recognise the signs of acute illnesses, with the practical work shown in recorded role play. Literacy demand is medium: learners use first aid vocabulary such as anaphylaxis and hypoglycaemia, give clear information when calling 999 or handing over to helpers, and list, outline or describe checks, procedures and treatments, with written description rising to Level 2. Numeracy demand is low: learners put steps in the right order, and the unit's map mentions timing and estimation, but no criterion asks for a calculation or a measurement.
- Awarding body
- Agored Cymru
- Level
- Entry Level 1 to Level 2
- Guided learning hours
- 20
- First taught
- September 2027
- Amount of literacy work
- Medium
- Amount of numeracy work
- Low
- Specification
- Open the specification
How this unit is assessed
- Entry Level (Entry 1, Entry 2, Entry 3): Three learning outcomes at each Entry level: know the steps to providing first aid, be able to respond when an individual is unresponsive, and be able to respond to injuries. Entry 1 (Unit ID CDR883, Unit Code PV3E1CY002) learners identify situations such as cuts, grazes, burns and scalds, list ways to get help, indicate how to help place someone in the recovery position, give an example of what to tell those helping, and demonstrate washing hands, helping to apply a dressing and helping someone with a nosebleed. Entry 2 (CDR882, PV3E2CY002) learners also list the checks before giving first aid, including environment, airway, breathing, circulation and consent, indicate how to call 999, and demonstrate the recovery position, applying a dressing and helping with a nose bleed. Entry 3 (CDR881, PV3E3CY002) learners give examples of when first aid is needed, outline checks including medication, outline how to respond to an unresponsive person according to current accepted guidelines, and demonstrate the recovery position, calling for help, hygienic dressing of a wound and treating minor burns. At every Entry level the prescribed method is role play recorded on video and/or annotated photographs with an assessor observation statement for LO2 and LO3. The centre devises the task within Agored Cymru's mandatory Summative Assessment Package, marks it internally, and Agored Cymru moderates it. 20 guided learning hours and 2 credits at each level, graded Pass or Fail.
- Level 1 and Level 2: Four learning outcomes at each level: the primary survey, responding when an individual is unresponsive, responding to external bleeding and wounds, and the signs of acute illnesses. Level 1 (Unit ID CDR880, Unit Code PV31CY003) learners outline the six steps of a primary survey, demonstrate checks on an unresponsive casualty, the recovery position, controlling bleeding including nosebleeds and applying wound dressings, outline the treatment of burns and how to respond to head injuries, and outline the signs of 6 acute illnesses from an asthma attack to a cardiac arrest. Level 2 (CDR879, PV32CY001) learners describe the six steps, demonstrate the checks and recovery position including when an individual is unconscious or having a seizure, describe precautions with wounds, demonstrate controlling a nosebleed and applying and checking dressings, describe treating grazes, minor cuts, bruises and minor burns, and describe the signs of 8 acute illnesses, including mild and severe choking in adults. The prescribed method is role play recorded on video and/or annotated photographs with an assessor observation statement, for LO2 and LO3 at Level 1 and for LO2 and AC 3.2 and 3.4 at Level 2. The centre devises the task within the mandatory Summative Assessment Package, marks it internally, and Agored Cymru moderates it. 20 guided learning hours and 2 credits at each level, graded Pass or Fail.
Skills that use Strategic competence
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Following first aid steps in the right order
The amplification at every level asks what steps should be taken and in what order, for the recovery position, dressings and nosebleeds, and Level 1 and Level 2 learners know the six steps of a primary survey in sequence. Prioritising and ordering steps is a numeracy reasoning skill, although it involves no calculation. It is assessed through the practical criteria.
Numeracy: Strategic competence
Getting pupils ready
- Year 7
- Pupils number the steps of applying a plaster in order and check the order with a partner by following it.
- Year 8
- Pupils sequence the six steps of a primary survey on cards, then explain which step must come first and why.
- Year 9
- Pupils plan the order of tasks at a staged incident with 2 casualties and justify their priorities.
Show the specification wording and the LNF statements
Where it is in the specification: Basic First Aid, Level 2 AC 1.1 and 2.2, pages 17 and 18; Entry 2 AC 2.2, 3.2 and 3.3, page 25; Entry 1 AC 3.2 and 3.3, page 27
“What steps should be taken and in what order.”
Progression step 3
I can prioritise and organise the relevant steps needed to complete the task or reach a solution.
Progression step 4
I can prioritise and organise the relevant steps needed to complete the task or reach a solution.
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Estimating and keeping track of time during treatment
The unit's map says it encourages estimation and time awareness during treatment and claims it develops accuracy in timing. Knowing roughly how long to keep pressure on a nosebleed, or noting the time an incident happened to pass on to helpers, uses time and estimation. The criteria do not set any times, so this is taught, not assessed.
Numeracy: Measurement, Strategic competence, The number system
Getting pupils ready
- Year 7
- Pupils estimate 1 minute without a clock, then time themselves with a stopwatch and record how close they were.
- Year 8
- Pupils time how long it takes to apply a practice dressing, record 3 attempts in minutes and seconds and order them.
- Year 9
- Pupils keep a timed log during a role play incident, noting when each step happened, and estimate how long help would take to arrive from a given distance.
Show the specification wording and the LNF statements
Where it is in the specification: Basic First Aid, Cross curricular map, Numeracy, page 29
“Encourages estimation and time awareness during”
Progression step 3
I can carry out practical activities involving timed events and explain which unit of time is the most appropriate.
I can time events in minutes and seconds, and order the results.
Progression step 4
I can identify, measure or obtain required information to complete the task.
I can make and justify estimates and approximations of calculations.
Good to know
- Each level is a separate 20 GLH unit with its own Unit ID, from CDR879 at Level 2 to CDR883 at Entry 1 (Basic First Aid, pages 17, 20, 22, 24 and 26), and "multiple levels of the same unit title are not permitted" (Unit aggregation, page 9).
- The command words set the writing level: "Outline" means to "Give the main characteristics or key points/features", while "Describe" asks learners to "give the steps for a process" (Command Word Definitions, page 93).
- Much of the communication is spoken and practical: "Role-play - video and/or annotated photographic evidence with assessor observation" is prescribed for the practical criteria (pages 18, 21, 23, 25 and 27), and Entry 2 learners must "Provide your location" when calling 999 (page 25).
- Learners must prepare notes themselves: "Learners must produce their own reference materials" and "AI tools must not be used at all." (Appendix A, page 106).
- There is no second chance to improve writing: "Drafting and redrafting are not permitted in this summative task." and "Feedback on learner work must not be provided once the summative task has started." (Appendix A, page 106), and "There are no resubmission opportunities available for these qualifications." (page 99).
- Assessment time is short: "20 GLH incorporates assessment time of no more than 60 minutes." (Appendix A, page 106), and learners may complete it in more than one sitting (page 97).
- Learners need basic literacy to start: they are expected to study through the medium of Welsh or English and "have basic literacy, digital and numeracy" skills (Restrictions on Learner Entry, page 7).
- The unit's map claims more numeracy than the criteria ask for: it "Develops accuracy in measuring dosages, timing and vital" signs (page 29), but no criterion at any level mentions dosages, timing or vital signs.
- The map's bullet "Supports reading and following first aid procedures and guidelines" runs over the page break from the Literacy row and sits above the Numeracy label, so it is unclear which framework it belongs to (page 29).
Links with other qualifications
Agored Cymru places Basic First Aid in the Health and Well-being Area of Learning and Experience and maps it to Literacy for clear communication when reporting incidents and accurate medical and safety vocabulary, and to Relationships and Sexuality Education for consent and respectful contact. The describing, explaining and emergency communication sit well beside GCSE Health and Social Care, and Childcare, the VCSEs in Public Services and Sport and Leisure, and the matching Foundations, and clear speaking and listening in role play build on GCSE English Language and Literature. Within the Skills Suite, Personal Safety, Looking After Others and Mental Health and Wellbeing are natural partners. Compared with the WJEC Basic first aid unit, which builds a portfolio around four learning outcomes and stresses reassuring a casualty and a mock 999 call, and the Pearson unit, which sets out the facts to give on an emergency call at each level, Agored's version has more knowledge criteria, so learners at Level 1 and Level 2 outline or describe treatments and the signs of 6 or 8 acute illnesses, and its Entry 2 criteria spell out what to say on a 999 call.
Source: Agored Cymru The Skills Suite: Skills for Life and Work Specification, version 1.0, October 2026, Basic First Aid.