Skills for Life: Leading a Sport Activity Session
Leading a sport activity session is a Pearson Skills for Life unit in which learners help plan and lead a sport or physical activity session, from setting out equipment and assisting at Entry 1 to planning, leading and adapting a whole session at Level 2, then reflecting on how it went. It is one 20 hour unit that learners combine with others into a Pearson Skills for Life Award, Certificate or Diploma, at any level from Entry 1 to Level 2, graded pass or fail. Literacy sits in giving instructions and demonstrations, adapting communication to participants, writing session plans and reflecting on the session. Numeracy is light: timing activities in the plan, with counting repetitions and measuring distances suggested.
- 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
- 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: list or state the equipment for a sport activity session and carry out tasks to assist in leading it, and at Entry 3 outline and apply simple leadership skills while following a basic plan. Centres choose the type of evidence; it is internally assessed by the centre and quality assured by Pearson through standards verification. 20 guided learning hours.
- Level 1 and Level 2: One assessment criterion at each of Level 1 and Level 2: describe and apply straightforward leadership skills to assist in planning and leading a session safely (Level 1), or explain key leadership skills, apply them when planning and leading a session and adapt them to different situations (Level 2), then review the session. Centres choose the type of evidence; it is internally assessed by the centre and quality assured by Pearson through standards verification. 20 guided learning hours.
Skills that use Purpose
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Giving instructions and demonstrations to a group
Learners communicate with participants while leading, from following support cues at Entry 1 to giving the group instructions and demonstrations for a progressive drill at Level 1. Communication is named as a leadership skill at Entry 3. Applying leadership skills while leading is required by the criteria from Entry 3 upwards.
Literacy: Clarity and vocabulary, Purpose
Getting pupils ready
- Year 7
- Pupils explain the rules of a simple tag game to a small group in under a minute, then check the group understood by asking one question.
- Year 8
- Pupils lead a warm up for their class, giving each instruction clearly and demonstrating each stretch before the group copies it.
- Year 9
- Pupils teach a passing drill to a group of Year 7 pupils, choosing simple words, demonstrating each step and using a whistle and gestures in a noisy hall.
Show the specification wording and the LNF statements
Where it is in the specification: Unit SfL 29, Assessment criteria, page 133; Essential information for assessment decisions, Entry 3 and Level 1, page 134
“applying straightforward leadership skills such as giving the group instructions and demonstrations”
Progression step 3
I can speak clearly, recognising the appropriate language for different audiences and purposes, and varying my expression, vocabulary, tone and gestures to engage the audience.
I can organise talk so that different audiences in different contexts can follow what is being said, including using formal language.
Progression step 4
I can speak clearly, selecting and adapting my language appropriately for a range of audiences and purposes, conveying meaning effectively to the audience.
I can convey meaning convincingly in a range of contexts so that the audience is fully engaged.
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Adapting communication to participants' needs
Level 2 learners deliver the session independently and change their leadership skills, for example their communication, in response to participants' needs, and the Level 2 criterion requires them to adapt their leadership to different situations. Lower levels follow a plan and do not need to adapt.
Literacy: Clarity and vocabulary, Listening for meaning, Purpose, Listening to understand, Collaborative talk
Getting pupils ready
- Year 7
- Pupils explain the same game twice, once to a partner and once as if to a much younger child, and discuss what they changed.
- Year 8
- Pupils lead a short drill and, when a partner signals they are confused, rephrase the instruction or demonstrate it again.
- Year 9
- Pupils lead a session for a mixed ability group and adjust their explanations, pace and encouragement as they watch how participants respond.
Show the specification wording and the LNF statements
Where it is in the specification: Unit SfL 29, Assessment criteria, Level 2, page 133; Essential information for assessment decisions, Level 2, page 135; Levels of supervision and support, Level 2, page 135
“make changes to their leadership skills, e.g. their communication in response to participant need”
Progression step 3
I can speak clearly, recognising the appropriate language for different audiences and purposes, and varying my expression, vocabulary, tone and gestures to engage the audience.
I can listen to, understand, infer, interpret and recall the general meaning of what I have heard.
Progression step 4
I can organise talk effectively to respond to how listeners are reacting by adapting what I say and how I say it.
I can listen to and consider the relevance and significance of information and ideas presented to me.
Progression step 5
I can respond confidently to how listeners react, adapting my language in a wide range of contexts and for different purposes.
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Reflecting on the session and own leadership
After the session learners review how it went, from naming the equipment and tasks at Entry 1 to identifying strengths and areas for improvement at Entry 3. Level 1 learners describe the effectiveness of the activity and their contribution, and Level 2 learners reflect on what went well and their own strengths and areas for development. This is required by the assessment guidance at every level.
Literacy: Purpose, Planning and organising for different purposes, audiences and context
Getting pupils ready
- Year 7
- Pupils say one thing that went well and one thing to change after leading a game, using a sentence starter.
- Year 8
- Pupils write a short review of a warm up they led, covering what worked, what did not and why.
- Year 9
- Pupils write a reflective review of a session they led, judging how effective it was and setting two targets for their own leadership.
Show the specification wording and the LNF statements
Where it is in the specification: Unit SfL 29, Essential information for assessment decisions, Entry 1 to Level 1, pages 134 to 135, Level 2, page 135; Annexe C, Literacy Links, page 165
“reflecting on what went well and identifying their own strengths and areas for future development”
Progression step 3
I can share, talk and write about my thoughts, feelings and opinions using a range of techniques to show impact.
I can write about my thoughts, feelings and opinions, showing empathy and respect.
Progression step 4
I can share, talk and write about my thoughts, feelings and opinions showing empathy and respect.
I can use summary, discussion of issues, detailed explanations and logic when covering a topic.
Good to know
- The unit is "SfL 29 Leading a sport activity session" with "20" guided learning hours (Unit summary, page 6). WJEC has no equivalent leadership unit in its Skills Suite.
- A unit is achieved at one level only: "Learners can only achieve each unit once, at a single level" (Rules of Combination, page 6).
- 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 134), so much of the communication can be evidenced through observation rather than writing.
- The unit maps to the Languages, Literacy and Communication statement "Expressing ourselves through languages is key to communication" as well as Health and Well-being (Statements of 'what matters' mapping, page 136).
- The teaching content is not printed in the specification: it "can be found in the Teaching and Learning Support document for this unit" (Unit content, page 134).
- AI may be used only if it is acknowledged, and "the final submission must be in the learner's own words" (Requirements relating to permitted/prohibited resources, page 136).
- The specification points to "Section 6 Glossary" (Units, page 11) when the glossary is section 7.
Links with other qualifications
WJEC has no Skills Suite unit on leading a sport session; Exercise for all is about taking part in activity rather than leading it. The closest WJEC qualifications are the VCSE in Sport and Leisure, whose optional Unit 4, Leadership and Coaching in Sport and Leisure, asks for the same planning, instructing and reviewing in a longer assessed task, and the Foundation in Sport and Leisure, whose Unit 2 has learners plan, set up, support and review a real activity. The coaching option in the GCSE Physical Education and Health performance unit uses the same spoken skills. Clear instructions and adapting talk to an audience also match the oracy in GCSE English Language and Literature.
Source: Pearson Entry Level 1 to Level 2 Skills for Life Award, Certificate and Diploma Qualifications specification, Issue 1, August 2026, Unit SfL 29: Leading a sport activity session.