Skills for Life: Looking After Others
Looking after others is a Pearson Skills for Life unit in which learners identify their own needs and the physical, emotional, social and safety needs of others, then carry out practical caring tasks while following hygiene and safety procedures. It is one 20 hour unit that learners combine with others into a Pearson Skills for Life Award, Certificate or Diploma, from Entry 1 to Level 2. Literacy carries the assessment: stating, describing or explaining needs, following instructions, communicating respectfully with the person being cared for and, at Level 1 and Level 2, writing a plan of caring tasks. Numeracy is light and not assessed, limited to measuring temperatures and timing routines.
- 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: state, outline or identify own needs and the needs of others and carry out basic, simple or caring tasks in familiar settings. The essential information for assessment decisions says what learners show at each level. Centres choose the type of evidence and set and mark the assessment, adapting Pearson's Authorised Assignment Brief or devising their own, internally verified and quality assured by Pearson standards verification. 20 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) own needs and the needs of others, then independently plan for and carry out caring tasks that promote positive relationships and wellbeing, with Level 2 adapting the plan to changing circumstances and settings. Centres choose the type of evidence and set and mark the assessment, internally verified 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 hygiene and safety instructions
Learners follow instructions to carry out tasks that promote hygiene and safety, such as selecting and using PPE, handwashing and basic cleaning. Entry 1 learners follow simple instructions with support, and by Level 1 and Level 2 learners follow appropriate hygiene and safety procedures independently. This is required by the essential information for assessment decisions, and Annexe C names following instructions as a literacy link.
Literacy: Reading strategies, Understanding, response and analysis, Listening to understand
Getting pupils ready
- Year 7
- Pupils read a handwashing poster, number the steps in order on a blank copy and then follow them at the sink.
- Year 8
- Pupils read the instructions for putting on and taking off disposable gloves and an apron, highlight the key safety words and demonstrate the routine.
- Year 9
- Pupils read a short infection control procedure from a care setting, pick out the steps that matter most and turn them into a checklist for a new helper.
Show the specification wording and the LNF statements
Where it is in the specification: Unit SfL 17, Essential information for assessment decisions, Entry 1 to Level 2, pages 83 to 84; Annexe C, Literacy Links column, page 163
“follow simple instructions to carry out basic tasks that promote hygiene and safety”
Progression step 3
I can use a range of strategies for finding information, e.g. skimming for gist, scanning for detail.
I can read closely, identifying and noting features of texts, e.g. introduction, sequence, illustrations, formality, key vocabulary.
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 listen to and consider the relevance and significance of information and ideas presented to me.
Good to know
- The unit is listed as "SfL 17 Looking after others" with a Unit GLH of 20 (Unit summary, page 5). It counts towards the Pearson Skills for Life qualifications, for example C00/5444/4 "Pearson Level 1 Skills for Life Award" (Qualification titles, page 4).
- A unit counts only once: "Learners can only achieve each unit once, at a single level" (Rules of Combination, page 6, and Assessment of units, page 9), so schools should decide which level each learner is working towards.
- Spoken evidence is acceptable: "there are no mandatory evidence requirements and centres can select the type of evidence" (Essential information for assessment decisions, page 83), and at Entry 1 and Entry 2 learners can answer "by completing a matching activity" (page 83).
- Forms of evidence include "observation records, witness testimony, and products of learners' work", but "achievement cannot be inferred from performance" (Section 4, page 9), so communication during caring tasks must be recorded.
- The required teaching content is in a separate document: it "can be found in the Teaching and Learning Support document for this unit" (Unit content, page 83).
- AI must be acknowledged: "If AI is used, the final submission must be in the learner's own words" (Requirements relating to permitted/prohibited resources, page 85).
- Learners "can be assessed in Welsh or English", and in British Sign Language as a reasonable adjustment (Language of assessment, page 8).
- The unit says its cross-cutting theme experiences "can be found in Annexe E" (page 86), but Annexe E has no row for SfL 17: the table goes straight from SfL 5 to SfL 18 (page 172), although Annexe D ticks the themes for this unit (page 168).
Links with other qualifications
Describing and explaining care needs and communicating respectfully lead straight into WJEC GCSE Health and Social Care, and Childcare and the WJEC Foundation in Health and Social Care, and Childcare. Reading and following hygiene instructions and measuring temperatures link with GCSE Food and Nutrition and the VCSE in Hospitality and Catering. Within the WJEC Skills Suite, Mental Health and Wellbeing, Healthy Relationships and Basic First Aid share the communication and support work. Compared with the WJEC Looking after others unit, which spreads literacy across four learning outcomes including explaining why self-care matters, the Pearson unit concentrates literacy in describing needs, communicating while caring and, at Level 1 and Level 2, writing a plan for a given individual. Neither version assesses numeracy.
Source: Pearson Entry Level 1 to Level 2 Skills for Life Award, Certificate and Diploma Qualifications specification, Issue 1, August 2026, Unit SfL 17: Looking after others.