Skills for Life: International Language: Communicating Personal Information (Spoken)
International language (spoken): communicating personal information is a 10 hour Skills for Life unit, from Entry 1 to Level 2, offered in French, German, Italian, Japanese, Mandarin and Spanish. It is one unit that learners combine with others into a Skills for Life, or Skills for Life and Work, Award, Certificate or Diploma. Literacy is the whole unit: learners listen for personal details and speak about themselves, from single words at Entry 1 to a short conversation with open questions at Level 2, often translating into English or Cymraeg. Numeracy is light, limited to saying numbers, dates and times.
- Awarding body
- WJEC
- Level
- Entry Level 1 to Level 2
- Guided learning hours
- 10
- First taught
- September 2027
- Amount of literacy work
- High
- Amount of numeracy work
- Low
How this unit is assessed
- Entry Level (Entry 1, Entry 2, Entry 3): Two learning outcomes (understand basic spoken personal information, give basic personal information orally), with separate 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. 10 guided learning hours.
- Level 1 and Level 2: Two learning outcomes (understand spoken personal information, engage in a conversation relating to personal information), with separate assessment criteria at Level 1 and Level 2. Evidence goes in a portfolio, internally assessed by the centre and externally quality assured by WJEC. 10 guided learning hours.
Skills that use Purpose
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Giving opinions and reasons
Learners at all levels are taught to express likes and dislikes with adjectives and simple qualifiers, and at Levels 1 and 2 they begin to explain and give reasons for their answers, for example why they like their job or studies. The assessment criteria do not name opinions, so this is taught content that supports the Level 2 criterion of adding relevant details in a conversation.
Literacy: Purpose
Getting pupils ready
- Year 7
- Pupils hold up a thumbs up or down card and say I like or I do not like for pictures of sports and school subjects.
- Year 8
- Pupils sort adjectives into positive and negative in a Venn diagram, then give a spoken opinion on three hobbies using very or quite.
- Year 9
- Pupils tell a partner what they think of a school subject and why, using because and an adjective, and the partner notes the reason in English or Cymraeg.
Show the specification wording and the LNF statements
Where it is in the specification: Amplification, learning outcomes 1 and 2, pages 8 to 10; Unit overview, integral and cross cutting skills, page 4
“learners will begin to explain and give reasons for their answers”
Progression step 3
I can share, talk and write about my thoughts, feelings and opinions using a range of techniques to show impact.
Progression step 4
I can share, talk and write about my thoughts, feelings and opinions showing empathy and respect.
Good to know
- There is one unit for each language. The title is "available in French, German, Italian, Japanese, Mandarin and Spanish", and for unit codes the pack says "Please refer to the Skills for Life and Work qualifications specification." (Unit overview, page 3), where every code is still listed as TBC (section 3.1, page 13).
- Literacy is the integral skill named for the unit: "Learners will have opportunities to develop their literacy skills, with an emphasis on speaking and listening." (Unit overview, page 4). Appendix A of the specification has no row for this unit.
- Spoken work can be evidenced without writing: sources include "audio recording of candidate", "video recording of role-play" and "teacher observation notes", and "extended written work is not required unless appropriate" (Sources of evidence, page 14).
- Judgements are on the criteria, not accuracy of writing: "Assessor judgements should focus on meeting the standard, not spelling or presentation unless specifically assessed." (Sources of evidence, page 14).
- Suggested assessment tasks are optional: "These tasks are not mandatory." (Skills for Life and Work specification, section 4.1, page 18).
- AI use must be acknowledged. Properly referenced AI use "can be acceptable", but "Failing to acknowledge use of AI tools when they have been used as a source of information" is malpractice (Skills for Life and Work specification, section 4.6, page 21).
- The unit starts from scratch: the units "assume that learners have no previous experience of the language being learnt" (Planning courses, page 7), with Entry Level pitched at CEFR pre-A1 to A1 and Levels 1 and 2 at A2 to B1 (page 8). Staff should have "subject-specific expertise in language teaching" (page 14).
Links with other qualifications
The pack names VCSE Travel and Tourism and GCSE Business as qualifications the international language units can complement, and greetings, nationality, travel and talk about where people live and work fit both. Learners already taking GCSE French, GCSE German or GCSE Spanish are pointed towards a new language rather than the same one. Within the Skills Suite the unit pairs with International language (written): communicating personal information, the Social activities units and the Skills for Work Education and employment units, which share vocabulary for school, work and hobbies. Translating answers into English or Cymraeg draws on GCSE English Language and Literature, GCSE Cymraeg Language and Literature and GCSE Core Cymraeg, and the Level 2 questions about skills and future jobs echo the Interview and confidence techniques unit.
Source: WJEC International language (spoken) - communicating personal information 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).