Skills for Life: Science and Technology in Everyday Life
Science and Technology in Everyday Life is a Pearson Skills for Life unit in which learners use everyday technology for personal tasks such as online forms, shopping and comparing deals, and consider the benefits, risks and legal, ethical and social issues of doing so. It is one 10 hour unit that learners combine with others into a Pearson Skills for Life Award, Certificate or Diploma, from Entry 1 to Level 2, assessed internally through a centre set assignment. Literacy sits in reading and following on-screen steps, entering details accurately, judging whether online and AI information is reliable, and describing and explaining benefits, risks and choices. Numeracy is light: comparing prices and keeping within a budget, mainly at Level 2.
- 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, moving from listing familiar technologies and taking part in a very simple activity with one, to identifying common technologies, their uses, benefits and risks and completing a basic personal task using technology. Evidence is chosen by the centre, which sets and marks the assessment; Pearson quality assures it through standards verification. 10 guided learning hours.
- Level 1 and Level 2: One assessment criterion at Level 1 (describe) and one at Level 2 (explain) how technology supports everyday tasks, including risks and considerations and, at Level 2, how technology influences personal choices, plus using technology to complete personal tasks. Evidence is chosen by the centre, which sets and marks the assessment; Pearson quality assures it through standards verification. 10 guided learning hours.
Skills that use Financial literacy
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Comparing prices and keeping within a budget
Entry 3 and Level 1 learners compare prices and product details online. Level 2 learners compare two similar products by price, features and brand, decide which offers best value, compare mobile phone deals and choose a product within a given budget. Pearson notes there is no explicit calculation focus, but the Level 2 guidance requires these comparisons.
Numeracy: Financial literacy, Strategic competence
Getting pupils ready
- Year 7
- Pupils compare the price of the same item in three online shops, add delivery costs, and circle the cheapest total.
- Year 8
- Pupils choose items for a picnic from an online supermarket within a £15 budget and check the basket total is under budget.
- Year 9
- Pupils compare two phone contracts over 24 months, including any discount or special offer, and decide which is better value for a given user.
Show the specification wording and the LNF statements
Where it is in the specification: Unit SfL 23, Essential information for assessment decisions, Entry 3 to Level 2, pages 108 to 109; Annexe C, SfL 23 row, page 164
“deciding which offers the best value based on price and other features”
Progression step 3
I can manage money, compare costs from different retailers and determine what can be bought within a given budget.
I can make comparisons between prices and understand which is best value for money.
Progression step 4
I can make informed decisions relating to discounts and special offers.
I can identify, measure or obtain required information to complete the task.
Good to know
- The unit is Unit SfL 23 and carries 10 guided learning hours: "SfL 23 Science and technology in everyday life 10" (Unit summary, page 5). The WJEC unit of the same name is 20 guided learning hours.
- A unit counts once only: "Learners can only achieve each unit once, at a single level" (Rules of Combination, page 6).
- Pearson's mapping limits the numeracy to "Entering information accurately; comparing prices/features; no explicit calculation focus" (Annexe C, page 164).
- Entry 1 learners may work from "pictures, symbols, and repetition" (Essential information for assessment decisions, page 108), so the literacy demand rises steeply from Entry 1 to Level 2.
- Evidence is the centre's choice: "there are no mandatory evidence requirements and centres can select the type of evidence" (page 108), so explanations can be spoken, recorded or written.
- AI may be used, but "the final submission must be in the learner's own words and reflect their own effort" (Requirements relating to permitted/prohibited resources, page 111).
Links with other qualifications
Reading on-screen instructions and judging the reliability of online and AI information supports the non-fiction reading in GCSE English Language and Literature and GCSE Cymraeg Language and Literature, and explaining legal and ethical issues of technology is shared with GCSE Digital Technology and GCSE Computer Science. Comparing prices and choosing within a budget links to the financial literacy in GCSE Mathematics and Numeracy, and the Financial Literacy unit carries fuller numeracy. Compared with the WJEC Science and Technology in Everyday Life unit, the Pearson unit is half the size (10 rather than 20 guided learning hours), and its Level 2 guidance makes price comparison within a budget part of the assessed task, where in the WJEC unit money appears only as examples.
Source: Pearson Entry Level 1 to Level 2 Skills for Life Award, Certificate and Diploma Qualifications specification, Issue 1, August 2026, Unit SfL 23: Science and technology in everyday life.