Skills for Life: Personal Safety
Personal safety is Pearson Skills for Life Unit SfL 21, in which learners recognise hazards and dangers that could affect their safety and plan actions to stay safe. It is one 20 hour unit that learners combine with others into a Pearson Skills for Life or Skills for Work Award, Certificate or Diploma, achieved once at a single level from Entry 1 to Level 2. Literacy sits in the criteria: stating, outlining and identifying risks and actions at Entry level, then writing a structured risk assessment and safety plan at Level 1 and Level 2 and explaining how it keeps learners safe. Numeracy demand is low: Pearson maps risk rating and prioritising actions, but no criterion asks for calculation.
- 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: learners state, outline or identify reasons why their personal safety might be at risk and actions they can take to stay safe or reduce the risks. There are no mandatory evidence requirements; the centre sets its own assignment (Pearson's Authorised Assignment Brief is optional), assesses it internally, and Pearson quality assures it through standards verification. Graded Pass or Fail. 20 guided learning hours.
- Level 1 and Level 2: One assessment criterion at each level: at Level 1 learners create a simple personal safety risk assessment and basic plan for some different settings, and at Level 2 a detailed risk assessment and plan for home, the community and online, explaining how it keeps them safe. Evidence type is chosen by the centre, internally assessed by the centre and quality assured by Pearson through standards verification. Graded Pass or Fail. 20 guided learning hours.
Skills that use Collaborative talk
-
Taking part in group discussions about personal safety
The support guidance expects Entry 1 learners to contribute to group discussions about basic personal safety, Entry 3 learners to contribute ideas in group problem solving, Level 1 learners to take a leading role, and Level 2 learners to lead and facilitate discussions. This describes how learners work during assessment; it is not an assessment criterion.
Literacy: Collaborative talk, Listening as part of collaborative talk
Getting pupils ready
- Year 7
- Pupils discuss in groups of four what makes a park feel safe or unsafe, with each pupil taking a turn to give an idea and respond to the last speaker.
- Year 8
- Pupils work through scenario cards in groups and agree the safest action for each, with one pupil chairing and another recording the decision.
- Year 9
- Pupils lead a small group discussion on staying safe on a night out, asking questions to draw out different views and summarising the group's agreed advice.
Show the specification wording and the LNF statements
Where it is in the specification: Unit SfL 21, Levels of supervision and support before and during assessment, page 101
“contribute to group discussions about basic personal safety”
Progression step 3
I can contribute to group discussion in different roles, taking responsibility for completing the task well.
I can listen to and respond to others with questions and comments which focus on reasons, implications and next steps.
Progression step 4
I can undertake a range of responsibilities to structure and develop group talk, including in more formal situations.
I can listen to and respond to others with questions, comments and suggestions in order to develop collaborative talk and reach compromise/consensus.
Good to know
- The unit is "SfL 21" with "20" guided learning hours in the unit summary table (Section 3, page 5), and "Learners can only achieve each unit once, at a single level" (Rules of Combination, page 6).
- Each level sets a minimum number of examples, from "at least three familiar hazards" at Entry 1 to "three detailed risk assessments" at Level 2 (Essential information for assessment decisions, page 100).
- Centres choose the evidence: "there are no mandatory evidence requirements and centres can select the type of evidence" (Essential information for assessment decisions, page 100), so Entry learners can show their understanding orally or visually.
- Assessments "can include both practical and written tasks" and are "independently completed as a distinct activity after the required teaching has taken place" (Assessment of units, page 9).
- Learners can be assessed "in Welsh or English" (Language of assessment, page 8).
- AI must be acknowledged and work must be in learners' own words: "If AI is used, the final submission must be in the learner's own words and reflect their own effort" (Requirements relating to permitted/prohibited resources, page 101).
Links with other qualifications
WJEC also offers a Personal safety Skills for Life unit, also 20 guided learning hours. The WJEC unit spreads its literacy across four learning outcomes, from explaining what personal safety means to analysing and evaluating safety actions at Level 2. The Pearson unit has one criterion per level and concentrates the writing in a personal safety risk assessment and plan at Level 1 and Level 2. GCSE Health and Social Care and Childcare shares writing about hazards and how to keep people safe, and GCSE English Language and Literature and GCSE Cymraeg Language and Literature share explaining and organising information for a reader. Within the Skills Suite, Basic first aid and Online safety share describing hazards and the actions that reduce them.
Source: Pearson Entry Level 1 to Level 2 Skills for Life Award, Certificate and Diploma specification, Issue 1, August 2026, Unit SfL 21: Personal safety.