Skills for Life: Faith and Belief in the Community
Faith and belief in the community is a 20 hour Skills for Life unit, one of the units learners combine into a Skills for Life or Skills for Work Award, Certificate or Diploma at Entry Level or Level 1 and 2. Learners find out what faith and belief mean, how beliefs are expressed in the community and how belief affects people and society. Literacy runs through every criterion: naming and giving examples at Entry Level, then defining, describing, explaining, comparing, discussing and evaluating at Levels 1 and 2, in speech or writing. Numeracy is light and optional, limited to a suggested survey or map of local places of worship.
- Awarding body
- WJEC
- 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
How this unit is assessed
- Entry Level (Entry 1, Entry 2, Entry 3): Three learning outcomes with assessment criteria at Entry 1, Entry 2 and Entry 3. Evidence goes in a portfolio, internally assessed by the centre and externally quality assured by WJEC. 20 guided learning hours.
- Level 1 and Level 2: Three learning outcomes with assessment criteria at Level 1 and Level 2. Evidence goes in a portfolio, internally assessed by the centre and externally quality assured by WJEC. 20 guided learning hours.
Skills that use Representing data
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Surveying and charting local faith and belief
Numeracy is light. The unit overview suggests embedding numeracy through data collection and analysis, such as mapping local places of worship and creating surveys. No assessment criterion asks for data, counts or charts, so this is optional enrichment.
Numeracy: Collecting data, Representing data, Position
Getting pupils ready
- Year 7
- Pupils tally the places of worship on a local street map and give each one a grid reference.
- Year 8
- Pupils collect class answers on which festivals families celebrate in a tally chart and draw a bar chart with a suitable scale.
- Year 9
- Pupils design a short questionnaire on community events linked to belief, collect 20 responses and show the results in a pie chart with a sentence on what it shows.
Show the specification wording and the LNF statements
Where it is in the specification: Unit overview, integral and cross-curricular skills, page 4
“mapping local places of worship, creating surveys and analysing findings using appropriate software tools”
Progression step 3
I can collect relevant data to answer posed questions.
I can represent data using:
- lists, tally charts, tables, diagrams and frequency tables
- bar charts, grouped data charts, line graphs and conversion graphs
- pictograms where one symbol represents more than one unit using a key
- Venn and Carroll diagrams.
I can use grid references to specify location.
Progression step 4
I can collect own data for a survey, e.g. through designing a questionnaire.
I can construct and interpret graphs and diagrams (including pie charts) to represent discrete or continuous data, choosing an appropriate scale.
Good to know
- The unit codes are S611E1, S611E2, S611E3, S611L1 and S611L2, and the unit is 20 guided learning hours (Unit overview, page 3).
- Spoken evidence counts: "extended written work is not required unless appropriate", and assessor judgements should not focus on spelling or presentation unless specifically assessed (Sources of evidence, page 10).
- A plural in a criterion means at least two: "If not specified, then a plural reference within assessment criterion refers to a minimum of two." (pages 5 and 6).
- Suggested assessment tasks are optional: "These tasks are not mandatory." Teachers may adapt them or devise their own (Specification section 4.1, page 18). No specific resources are needed for assessment (page 12).
- AI use must be acknowledged. Misuse includes "Using AI to complete parts of the assessment so that the work does not reflect the learner's own work, analysis, evaluation or calculations." (Specification section 4.6, page 21).
- Appendix A of the specification (page 28) maps this unit to literacy, but not to numeracy, although the unit overview says numeracy "can be embedded through data collection and analysis" (page 4).
Links with other qualifications
The pack names GCSE Religious Studies as a linked WJEC qualification. Both ask learners to explain beliefs, compare how faiths and non-religious worldviews such as Humanism express them, and discuss the impact of belief on people and society, so the unit gives useful practice in explaining and discussing at a lower level. Ethical choices; Equality, diversity and inclusion; Understanding self and others; and Values for life are the closely related Skills for Life units the pack suggests delivering alongside it, and they share the same discussion and reflection work.
Source: WJEC Faith and belief in the community unit delivery and assessment pack, read with the WJEC Entry 1 to Level 2 Skills for Life and Skills for Work specification, approved by Qualifications Wales, teaching from September 2027 (© WJEC CBAC Ltd 2026).