Skills for Life: Online Safety
Online Safety is a Skills for Life unit in which learners find out what online safety means, recognise risks such as scams, phishing and cyberbullying, protect their personal information, and learn how to report unsafe activity. It is one 20 hour unit that learners combine with others into a Skills for Life or Skills for Work Award, Certificate or Diploma, from Entry 1 to Level 2. Literacy sits in reading suspicious messages and sources critically, using vocabulary such as phishing and malware, and describing and explaining risks, consequences and reporting routes in speech or writing. There is no numeracy in the assessment criteria.
- 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 covering what online safety means, online risks and unsafe behaviour, staying safe online, and getting help and reporting. Evidence goes in a portfolio, internally assessed by the centre and externally quality assured by WJEC. 20 guided learning hours.
- Level 1 and Level 2: Four learning outcomes covering online safety in different contexts including the Children's Code, recognising online risks, demonstrating safe online practices and explaining why they matter, and getting help and reporting. Evidence goes in a portfolio, internally assessed by the centre and externally quality assured by WJEC. 20 guided learning hours.
The literacy and numeracy skills in this qualification
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Reading online messages and sources critically
Learners read messages, friend requests, adverts and websites to decide whether they are genuine, looking for clues of phishing, scams and fake profiles. Entry learners pick out examples of risk, and Level 1 and Level 2 learners show and demonstrate how suspicious or harmful online activity can be recognised. This is required by the assessment criteria.
Literacy: Reading strategies, Understanding, response and analysis
Getting pupils ready
- Year 7
- Pupils read three short text messages and underline the words that make one of them look like a scam, such as urgent requests for a code.
- Year 8
- Pupils read two adverts for the same prize competition, one fake, and write down the evidence in the wording and layout that shows which one to trust.
- Year 9
- Pupils evaluate a mock social media profile and its posts, judge how reliable it is, and justify their judgement with quotations from the profile.
Show the specification wording and the LNF statements
Where it is in the specification: Entry Level, learning outcome 2, assessment criterion 2.1, page 5; Level 1 and Level 2, learning outcome 2, assessment criteria 2.3 and 2.4, page 7
“fake websites, adverts, or social media profiles designed to mislead users”
Progression step 3
I can use inference and deduction to understand the text, and can consider the reliability of what I read.
I can distinguish between facts, theories and opinions.
Progression step 4
I can use inference and deduction to understand more complex texts, and can consider the reliability and impact of what I read.
I can evaluate the usefulness and reliability of texts.
Progression step 5
I can use printed and digital texts to search selectively, assessing the reliability, significance and accuracy of what I find.
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Explaining risks, unsafe behaviour and consequences
Learners describe what online safety means and explain why it matters, how risks and unsafe behaviours could affect people, and at Level 2 why risks are harmful and what the consequences of unsafe behaviour can be. Evidence can be spoken, written, recorded or a case study. 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 fake friend requests, could hurt someone, using the word because.
- Year 8
- Pupils give a one minute talk to a partner explaining phishing, malware and cyberbullying, using a word bank of correct terms.
- Year 9
- Pupils write a case study explanation of a cyberbullying incident, covering the risk, why it was harmful and its consequences, in organised paragraphs.
Show the specification wording and the LNF statements
Where it is in the specification: Entry Level, learning outcomes 1 and 2, assessment criteria 1.2 and 2.3, page 5; Level 1 and Level 2, learning outcomes 1 and 2, assessment criteria 1.1, 1.2, 2.1 and 2.2, page 7
“Identify and explain different types of online risks and why they are harmful”
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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Talking through help, reporting and safe responses
Learners discuss and state when to ask for help, who can help and how to report unsafe activity, and at Level 2 explain different reporting methods and their potential outcomes. Suggested activities use role play, scenario discussions and group presentations, but the criteria only require that learners can give the information in some form.
Literacy: Collaborative talk, Purpose
Getting pupils ready
- Year 7
- Pupils role play a conversation in which one tells a trusted adult about an upsetting message and the other asks helpful questions.
- Year 8
- Pupils discuss scenario cards in groups and agree who to tell and how to report each one, then share their decision with the class.
- Year 9
- Pupils present to the class the reporting routes for one platform and one organisation such as Childline, explaining what happens after a report and answering questions.
Show the specification wording and the LNF statements
Where it is in the specification: Entry Level, learning outcome 4, assessment criteria 4.1 to 4.3, page 6; Level 1 and Level 2, learning outcome 4, assessment criteria 4.1 to 4.3, page 8; suggested activities, page 13
“group discussion and presentation: explain different reporting methods and potential outcomes”
Progression step 3
I can contribute to group discussion in different roles, taking responsibility for completing the task well.
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 recognise a range of options for action and reach agreement to achieve the aims of the group.
I can organise talk effectively to respond to how listeners are reacting by adapting what I say and how I say it.
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Researching sources of help and advice
Level 2 learners identify sources of help or advice for unsafe activity and how they can help, and Entry 3 learners give examples of people or organisations and state how they help. The pack names CEOP, Childline and the UK Safer Internet Centre and points to websites such as Thinkuknow, so learners read information from these sources. This is required by the assessment criteria.
Literacy: Reading strategies, Understanding, response and analysis
Getting pupils ready
- Year 7
- Pupils scan the Childline website for the ways to contact it and copy them into a help card.
- Year 8
- Pupils skim the Thinkuknow and UK Safer Internet Centre websites and complete a table of what each one offers young people.
- Year 9
- Pupils research three sources of help, summarise in their own words how each one helps and when to use it, and note where they found the information.
Show the specification wording and the LNF statements
Where it is in the specification: Entry Level, learning outcome 4, assessment criterion 4.2, page 6; Level 1 and Level 2, learning outcome 4, assessment criterion 4.2, page 8; amplification, page 12
“Identify sources of help or advice for unsafe activity online and how they can help”
Progression step 3
I can use a range of strategies for finding information, e.g. skimming for gist, scanning for detail.
I can make use of reference/digital sources to select, summarise and synthesise information, referencing as appropriate.
Progression step 4
I can research a wide range of reference and digital sources to develop a full understanding of a topic or issue.
I can summarise, synthesise and analyse information to gain in-depth understanding, e.g. of causes, consequences, patterns, using different sources.
Good to know
- The unit codes are S620E1, S620E2, S620E3, S620L1 and S620L2, and the overview lists "GLH 20" (Unit overview, page 3).
- Written work can be short: "extended written work is not required unless appropriate", and judgements should not focus "on spelling or presentation unless specifically assessed" (Sources of evidence, page 13).
- Evidence can be spoken or recorded, for example "Audio or video description of actions taken in scenario tasks" (Sources of evidence, page 13).
- Suggested assessment tasks "are not mandatory", and teachers may adapt them or devise their own (Skills for Life and Work specification, section 4.1, page 18).
- AI tools may be used only if acknowledged: "Copying or paraphrasing whole responses of AI-generated content" is malpractice (Skills for Life and Work specification, section 4.6, page 21).
Links with other qualifications
Online Safety sits closest to GCSE Digital Technology and GCSE Computer Science, which both teach data protection and cyber security threats such as phishing and malware; the pack also names the General Foundation Qualification in Digital Technology. Reading online texts critically for bias and misinformation links to GCSE English Language and Literature and GCSE Social Studies, and the wellbeing and reporting content links to GCSE Physical Education and Health. Within the Skills Suite the pack names Science and technology in everyday life, Digital film and media, Mental health and wellbeing, Personal safety, and Using IT in the workplace as closely related units.
Source: WJEC Online safety 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).