Skills for Life: Food Planning and Preparation
Food planning and preparation is a Pearson Skills for Life unit in which learners plan and prepare a meal, from a simple meal with different types of food at Entry 1 to a costed, balanced and sustainable two-course meal for specific dietary needs at Level 2. It is one 20 hour unit that learners combine with others into a Pearson Skills for Life Award, Certificate or Diploma at Entry 1 to Level 2, internally assessed and graded Pass or Fail. Numeracy sits in keeping to a given budget and costing the meal, with weighing, measuring and portion sizes suggested. Literacy sits in following instructions and recipes, writing planning documents, and explaining why the meal meets dietary needs.
- Awarding body
- Pearson
- Level
- Entry Level 1 to Level 2
- Guided learning hours
- 20
- First taught
- September 2027
- Amount of literacy work
- Medium
- Amount of numeracy work
- Medium
- 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: plan and prepare a simple meal that includes different types of food, with a basic nutritious meal within a given budget at Entry 3. Evidence is from centre devised assignments (Pearson's Authorised Assignment Brief can be used or adapted), internally assessed by the centre and quality assured by Pearson standards verification. Graded Pass or Fail. 20 guided learning hours.
- Level 1 and Level 2: One assessment criterion at each of Level 1 and Level 2: plan and prepare a nutritious, balanced two-course meal within a given budget (Level 1), or plan, cost and prepare a nutritious, balanced and sustainable two-course meal that meets specific dietary needs (Level 2). Evidence is from centre devised assignments, internally assessed by the centre and quality assured by Pearson standards verification. Graded Pass or Fail. 20 guided learning hours.
Skills that use Understanding, response and analysis
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Following instructions, recipes and labels
Entry 1 learners plan and prepare a simple meal by following simple instructions, and at every level learners follow hygiene and safety procedures while they cook. Annexe C names reading recipes and interpreting labels as the literacy links. Following instructions is required by the Entry 1 criterion; reading recipes and labels at higher levels is suggested.
Literacy: Reading strategies, Understanding, response and analysis
Getting pupils ready
- Year 7
- Pupils read a picture recipe for fruit salad, tick off each step as they go, and explain one hygiene rule they followed.
- Year 8
- Pupils scan the labels of three breakfast cereals for allergens and storage instructions and record what they find.
- Year 9
- Pupils read two recipes for the same dish, pick out the differences in method and timing, and write one combined method for their group.
Show the specification wording and the LNF statements
Where it is in the specification: Unit SfL 13, Assessment criteria, Entry 1, page 64; Essential information for assessment decisions, Entry 1 to Level 2, pages 65 to 66; Annexe C, page 162
“Plan and prepare a simple meal that includes different types of food, by following simple instructions.”
Progression step 3
I can use a range of strategies for finding information, e.g. skimming for gist, scanning for detail.
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 use a range of strategies, e.g. speed reading, close reading, annotation, prediction, to skim texts for gist, key ideas and themes, and scan for detailed information.
I can read closely, follow up and use additional material in texts to extend my understanding.
Good to know
- The unit is Unit SfL 13 with "20" guided learning hours in the unit summary (Section 3, page 5).
- A Pearson unit is achieved at one level only: "Learners can only achieve each unit once, at a single level" (Rules of Combination, page 6).
- Evidence can be written, spoken or visual: "For this unit there are no mandatory evidence requirements and centres can select the type of evidence" (Essential information for assessment decisions, page 65).
- The budget is set by the centre: Entry 3 and Level 1 learners work "within a given budget", and only Level 2 asks learners to "cost" the meal (Assessment criteria, page 64).
- Planning must be written down at Level 1: "Learner's planning documents will show a consideration of variety of ingredients and waste reduction" (Essential information, Level 1, page 65).
- Work must be in the learner's own words: "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 67).
- Annexe E moves straight from SfL 5 to SfL 18 (page 172), so this unit has no Annexe E evidence row despite the unit text pointing to it (page 67).
Links with other qualifications
Reading recipes, explaining dietary needs and costing dishes are shared with WJEC GCSE Food and Nutrition, the WJEC VCSE in Hospitality and Catering and the WJEC Foundation in Hospitality and Catering, which ask for the same skills in more depth, and costing within a budget links with WJEC GCSE Mathematics and Numeracy. Compared with the WJEC Food planning and preparation unit, also 20 hours, Pearson sets one criterion per level built around a single planned and cooked meal, adds a given budget from Entry 3 and asks for costing only at Level 2, while WJEC spreads describing and explaining across four learning outcomes on nutrition, meal planning, preparation, and food storage and hygiene. The WJEC Skills Suite units Financial literacy and Healthy lifestyle share the budgeting and healthy eating work.
Source: Pearson Entry Level 1 to Level 2 Skills for Life Award, Certificate and Diploma Qualifications specification, Issue 1, August 2026, Unit SfL 13: Food planning and preparation.