Skills for Life: Democracy In Action
Democracy in action is a Skills for Life unit in which learners find out what democracy is, why it matters and how it works in Wales, and show practical ways to make informed decisions about their own political rights and responsibilities. It is one 10 hour unit that learners combine with others into a Pearson Skills for Life Award, Certificate or Diploma, achieved at one level from Entry 1 to Level 2. Literacy sits in stating, describing and explaining democracy with examples, reading information from a range of sources, and giving reasons for decisions at Level 2. Discussion and debate appear in the unit's aim but not the criteria. The specification gives no numeracy link.
- Awarding body
- Pearson
- Level
- Entry Level 1 to Level 2
- Guided learning hours
- 10
- 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): One assessment criterion at each of Entry 1, Entry 2 and Entry 3: state, outline or identify what democracy is (and at Entry 3 why it matters and how it works in Wales), and demonstrate at least two, three or four ways to make decisions about own political rights and responsibilities. Evidence is centre-devised and internally assessed by the centre, with Pearson standards verification. Graded Pass or Fail. 10 guided learning hours.
- Level 1 and Level 2: One assessment criterion at each of Level 1 and Level 2: describe (Level 1) or explain (Level 2) what democracy is, why it is important and how it works in Wales, and demonstrate at least five (Level 1) or six, with reasons (Level 2), ways to make informed decisions about own political rights and responsibilities. Evidence is centre-devised and internally assessed by the centre, with Pearson standards verification. Graded Pass or Fail. 10 guided learning hours.
Skills that use Understanding, response and analysis
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Reading and selecting information from sources
Entry 3 learners gather information from given simple sources, Level 1 learners select relevant information from provided sources, and Level 2 learners identify, select and use information from a variety of sources and explain why they fact-check and trust only reputable ones. Reading is how learners gather the content for the criteria, though the sources are the centre's choice.
Literacy: Reading strategies, Understanding, response and analysis
Getting pupils ready
- Year 7
- Pupils scan a young people's guide to the Senedd for three facts and copy them into a fact file in their own words.
- Year 8
- Pupils read two short texts about votes at 16 and sort sentences from them into facts and opinions.
- Year 9
- Pupils read a news report and a campaign leaflet on the same issue, judge which is more reliable and summarise the useful information from each.
Show the specification wording and the LNF statements
Where it is in the specification: Unit SfL 5, Levels of supervision and support, page 32; Essential information for assessment decisions, Level 2, page 32
“select and use relevant information from a range of provided sources”
Progression step 3
I can use a range of strategies for finding information, e.g. skimming for gist, scanning for detail.
I can distinguish between facts, theories and opinions.
I can make use of reference/digital sources to select, summarise and synthesise information, referencing as appropriate.
Progression step 4
I can research a wide range of reference and digital sources to develop a full understanding of a topic or issue.
I can distinguish between facts/evidence and bias/arguments.
I can evaluate the usefulness and reliability of texts.
Progression step 5
I can use printed and digital texts to search selectively, assessing the reliability, significance and accuracy of what I find.
Good to know
- The unit is "Unit SfL 5: Democracy in action" and carries 10 guided learning hours (Unit summary, page 5), half the 20 hours of the WJEC unit of the same name.
- Evidence is the centre's choice: "there are no mandatory evidence requirements and centres can select the type of evidence" (Essential information for assessment decisions, page 31), and forms of evidence include "observation records, witness testimony, and products of learners' work" (Assessment requirements, page 9).
- Spoken answers need a record, because "achievement cannot be inferred from performance" (Assessment requirements, page 9).
- The command words rise by level, from "State what democracy is" at Entry 1 to explaining it with "detailed examples to support their explanations" at Level 2 (Assessment criteria, page 30; Essential information, page 32).
- The specification maps no numeracy to this unit: the numeracy column in Annexe C reads "No direct link" (Annexe C, page 161).
- AI may be used only if "the final submission must be in the learner's own words" and the use is acknowledged (Requirements relating to permitted/prohibited resources, page 33).
Links with other qualifications
Explaining democracy and rights and judging sources link with GCSE Social Studies and GCSE History, and the reading and explaining work supports GCSE English Language and Literature. Within the WJEC Skills Suite, Everyday Law, Community Participation and Ethical Choices use similar explanation and reasoning. The WJEC Democracy in action unit is 20 hours and requires a discussion or debate at every level, with presenting and justifying a viewpoint at Level 1 and Level 2, so it carries more speaking and listening; the Pearson unit is 10 hours and assesses mainly written or spoken explanation and reasoned decisions.
Source: Pearson Entry Level 1 to Level 2 Skills for Life Award, Certificate and Diploma Qualifications Specification, Issue 1, August 2026, Unit SfL 5: Democracy in action.