Skills for Life: Looking After Others
Looking after others is a 20 hour Skills for Life unit, running from Entry 1 to Level 2, on caring for other people: their physical, emotional and social needs, hygiene and safety, positive relationships and self-care. It is one unit that learners combine with others into a Skills for Life or Skills for Work Award, Certificate or Diploma. Literacy carries most of the assessment: describing and explaining needs, reading and following hygiene and safety procedures, communicating respectfully and explaining why self-care matters. Evidence can be spoken or written. Numeracy is light and untested, appearing in timings, temperatures and measures when following hygiene routines or preparing food.
- 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): Four learning outcomes with assessment criteria at Entry 1, Entry 2 and Entry 3 (needs of others, safety and hygiene, positive relationships, self-care). Evidence goes in a portfolio, internally assessed by the centre and externally quality assured by WJEC. 20 guided learning hours, unit codes S617E1, S617E2 and S617E3.
- Level 1 and Level 2: Four learning outcomes with assessment criteria at Level 1 and Level 2 (needs of others and ways to support them, hygiene and safety, positive and appropriate relationships, managing own self-care and wellbeing). Evidence goes in a portfolio, internally assessed by the centre and externally quality assured by WJEC. 20 guided learning hours, unit codes S617L1 and S617L2.
Skills that use Reading strategies
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Reading and following hygiene and safety procedures
Learners read instructions and procedures and then identify, describe and follow hygiene and safety routines for caring tasks. Entry learners recognise or describe hygiene routines and hazards, Level 1 learners describe how to follow procedures in everyday situations, and Level 2 learners explain their importance and assess risks. This is required by learning outcome 2.
Literacy: Reading strategies, Understanding, response and analysis
Getting pupils ready
- Year 7
- Pupils read a handwashing poster, put the steps in order on cards and then carry out the routine while a partner checks each step.
- Year 8
- Pupils scan a kitchen safety leaflet for hazards that matter for a young child and highlight each hazard and its control in two colours.
- Year 9
- Pupils read a simple care setting risk assessment, explain in writing how staff should follow two of its procedures and say why each one prevents illness or injury.
Show the specification wording and the LNF statements
Where it is in the specification: Level 1 and Level 2, learning outcome 2, assessment criteria 2.1 and 2.2, page 6; Unit overview, page 4
“Describe how to follow these hygiene and safety procedures in everyday situations”
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 read closely, follow up and use additional material in texts to extend my understanding.
Good to know
- The unit has five unit codes, one per level: "Unit Codes S617E1" to S617L2, and it is a 20 guided learning hour Skills for Life unit (Unit overview, page 3).
- Spelling and presentation are not judged and evidence can be spoken: "extended written work is not required unless appropriate" and assessor judgements should not focus on spelling or presentation (Sources of evidence, page 10).
- No special kit is needed: "Assessment of this unit should not require any specific resources" (Resources required for assessment, page 11).
- Suggested activities and assessment tasks are optional: "These tasks are not mandatory" (specification section 4.1, page 18).
- AI tools may be used only if acknowledged: "When properly referenced, this can be acceptable", but copying AI content or failing to acknowledge AI is malpractice (specification section 4.6, page 21).
- Literacy is named in the unit overview: "reading instructions, completing worksheets and communicating effectively with others" (page 4), and Appendix A of the specification maps both Literacy and Numeracy to this unit (page 28).
Links with other qualifications
The pack names GCSE Health and Social Care and Childcare as a linked WJEC qualification, and describing needs, explaining care practice and communicating respectfully lead straight into it and into the WJEC Foundation Health and Social Care, and Childcare. Reading hygiene procedures and measuring temperatures and quantities link with GCSE Food and Nutrition and VCSE Hospitality and Catering. Within the Skills Suite, the pack lists Basic first aid, Food planning and preparation, Healthy relationships, Mental health and wellbeing, Teamwork, Understanding self and others and Wellbeing and work among the closely related units, so communication and self-care work can be shared across them.
Source: WJEC Looking after others 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).