Skills for Life: Online Safety
Online safety is a Pearson Skills for Life unit in which learners recognise online risks, use safe practices to protect personal information, and follow, and at Level 2 write and adapt, an online safety plan. It is one 10 hour unit that learners combine with others into a Pearson Skills for Life or Skills for Work Award, Certificate or Diploma, achieved at one level from Entry 1 to Level 2. The centre sets and marks the assignment. Literacy sits in reading guidelines and suspicious messages, outlining, describing or explaining risks, writing a safety plan for other users and discussing plans with peers. There is no numeracy.
- Awarding body
- Pearson
- Level
- Entry Level 1 to Level 2
- Guided learning hours
- 10
- 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, rising from using basic safe online practices by following support cues (Entry 1) to outlining at least three risks and three safe practices (Entry 2) and identifying at least four risks and applying four safe practices by following a basic plan (Entry 3). Assessed internally by the centre through a centre-devised assignment, with Pearson standards verification. 10 guided learning hours, graded Pass or Fail.
- Level 1 and Level 2: One assessment criterion at each level: Level 1 learners describe a range of common online risks and safe practices and help to identify and implement them through a structured safety plan; Level 2 learners explain a range of online risks and safe practices, create online safety plans tailored to different users and adapt them when required. Assessed internally by the centre through a centre-devised assignment, with Pearson standards verification. 10 guided learning hours, graded Pass or Fail.
Skills that use Planning and organising for different purposes, audiences and context
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Describing and explaining online risks and safe practices
Learners outline at least three risks and safe practices at Entry 2, describe a range of common risks and link each to a safe practice at Level 1, and explain a range of risks and practices at Level 2, giving reasons. Evidence can be written or spoken. This is required by the assessment criteria.
Literacy: Planning and organising for different purposes, audiences and context, Clarity and vocabulary
Getting pupils ready
- Year 7
- Pupils write three sentences explaining why one online risk, such as a fake friend request, could hurt someone, using the word because.
- Year 8
- Pupils give a one minute talk to a partner explaining phishing and how to avoid it, using a word bank of correct terms.
- Year 9
- Pupils write a short explanation of three online risks, each in its own paragraph with the safe practice that reduces it and the reason it works.
Show the specification wording and the LNF statements
Where it is in the specification: Unit SfL 20, assessment criteria Entry 2 to Level 2, page 95; Essential information for assessment decisions, Entry 2 to Level 2, page 96
“Explain a range of online risks and safe online practices”
Progression step 3
I can write a comprehensive account of a topic, theme or viewpoint.
I can express issues and ideas clearly using area of learning and experience/discipline-specific vocabulary and examples.
Progression step 4
I can use summary, discussion of issues, detailed explanations and logic when covering a topic.
I have experienced a range of area of learning and experience/discipline-specific and general academic vocabulary, and can use them in my own communication.
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Writing an online safety plan for different users
Level 2 learners create structured online safety plans tailored to the needs and abilities of different users, considering age, online activities and risks, and revise them for new situations. Level 1 learners input into a structured plan with others. This is required by the Level 1 and Level 2 criteria and guidance.
Literacy: Planning and organising for different purposes, audiences and context
Getting pupils ready
- Year 7
- Pupils write a five point online safety checklist for themselves using clear instructions and a heading for each point.
- Year 8
- Pupils write a short safety plan for a younger pupil starting to game online, choosing simple words and layout to suit that reader.
- Year 9
- Pupils write two safety plans on the same topic for different readers, such as a Year 7 pupil and a grandparent, and explain how they changed the language and content.
Show the specification wording and the LNF statements
Where it is in the specification: Unit SfL 20, assessment criteria Level 1 and Level 2, page 95; Essential information for assessment decisions, Level 1 and Level 2, pages 96 to 97
“create structured online safety plans tailored to the needs and abilities of different online users”
Progression step 3
I can adapt my writing style and structure to suit the audience, purpose and context, e.g. suitable balance between facts and viewpoints, a precise conclusion.
I can explore different ways to plan, draft and present my work appropriately.
Progression step 4
I can adapt my writing style, choosing and using the best structures for different contexts and purposes, e.g. to successfully describe, explain, persuade, discuss.
I can select and use appropriate strategies to plan and develop my writing for different purposes and audiences.
Good to know
- The unit is SfL 20 and is worth 10 guided learning hours, half the size of the WJEC Online safety unit: the unit summary lists "SfL 20 Online safety 10" (Unit summary, page 5).
- A unit counts once, at one level: "Learners can only achieve each unit once, at a single level" (Rules of Combination, page 6).
- The command verbs set the literacy level: Entry 2 learners "Outline", Entry 3 learners "Identify", Level 1 learners "Describe" and Level 2 learners "Explain" (assessment criteria, page 95), and the glossary defines Explain as giving "reasons and/or evidence" (Glossary, page 152).
- Centres choose the evidence: "there are no mandatory evidence requirements and centres can select the type of evidence" (Essential information for assessment decisions, page 96), so spoken or recorded evidence is acceptable. Learners may be assessed "in Welsh or English" (page 8).
- Pearson's own mapping gives literacy as "Reading guidelines, writing reflections, reporting incidents" and numeracy as "No direct link" (Annexe C, page 164).
- 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 98).
- Document slips: the units section says to "refer to Section 6 Glossary" (page 11), but the glossary is Section 7 (page 151), and the Entry 3 guidance reads "when a applying safe online practices" (page 96).
Links with other qualifications
Online safety links with GCSE Digital Technology and GCSE Computer Science, which both teach phishing and protecting personal data, and its reading of suspicious messages for reliability supports the critical reading in GCSE English Language and Literature. Within the WJEC Skills Suite, Personal safety shares recognising online risks and planning safety actions, so its written safety plans use the same skills. Compared with the WJEC Online safety unit, the Pearson unit is 10 rather than 20 guided learning hours with one criterion per level, so there is less written work overall; WJEC's four learning outcomes ask learners to explain the Children's Code and reporting routes, while the main Pearson writing task is a structured online safety plan, which Level 2 learners tailor to different users.
Source: Pearson Entry Level 1 to Level 2 Skills for Life Award, Certificate and Diploma Qualifications Specification, Issue 1, August 2026, Unit SfL 20: Online safety.