Skills for Work: Building a Growth Mindset
Building a Growth Mindset is a Pearson Skills for Work unit in which learners find out which skills and strategies build a growth mindset and the benefits and opportunities it brings in learning, work and situations such as receiving critical feedback. 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, assessed internally by the centre. Literacy sits in listing, outlining, describing and explaining ideas with examples, applying them to personal situations, and selecting information from sources. There is no numeracy in the assessment criteria, and Pearson's own mapping records no direct numeracy link.
- 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 the skills needed to build a growth mindset and its benefits, to outlining skills, strategies, benefits and opportunities, to identifying ways to build a growth mindset and its benefits in different contexts. Evidence is internally assessed by the centre, which sets and marks the assessment, and quality assured by Pearson through standards verification. 10 guided learning hours. Graded Pass or Fail.
- Level 1 and Level 2: One assessment criterion at each of Level 1 and Level 2: describing, then explaining, how a growth mindset can be built and the benefits and opportunities it can have for an individual in different contexts and situations. Evidence is internally assessed by the centre, which sets and marks the assessment, and quality assured by Pearson through standards verification. 10 guided learning hours. Graded Pass or Fail.
Skills that use Reading strategies
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Selecting information from sources
Entry 3 learners gather information from given simple sources, Level 1 learners select relevant information from a limited range of given sources and organise it, and Level 2 learners identify, select and use information from a variety of sources. This is set out in the support guidance for assessment rather than the criteria, but learners need it to produce their evidence.
Literacy: Reading strategies, Understanding, response and analysis
Getting pupils ready
- Year 7
- Pupils scan a short article about growth mindset and underline two skills and two benefits it mentions.
- Year 8
- Pupils skim three given texts about resilience and complete a table of the main strategy in each.
- Year 9
- Pupils read a range of sources about growth mindset, summarise the main ideas in their own words and note where each idea came from.
Show the specification wording and the LNF statements
Where it is in the specification: Unit SfW 7, Levels of supervision and support before and during assessment, page 42
“They can select and use relevant information from a limited range of given sources.”
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 is Unit SfW 7 and is worth "10" guided learning hours (Unit summary, page 5), half the 20 hours of the WJEC unit of the same name.
- The criteria set minimum numbers of examples, for example Level 1 learners "describe at least four ways that individuals can develop a growth mindset to overcome barriers and improve outcomes" (Essential information for assessment decisions, page 41).
- Pearson records "No direct link" to numeracy for this unit (Annexe C, page 119), and the Annexe B table ticks only literacy and digital (page 116).
- Evidence is flexible: "there are no mandatory evidence requirements and centres can select the type of evidence" (Essential information for assessment decisions, page 41), so explanations can be written or spoken.
- AI tools must be acknowledged: "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 42).
- The Entry 2 guidance contains wording errors, "can have on for an individual" and "identify least two" (Essential information for assessment decisions, page 41).
Links with other qualifications
The WJEC Skills for Work unit Building a Growth Mindset covers similar ground but is 20 hours, has four learning outcomes and includes tracking a habit over a week, which gives it a small numeracy element that the 10 hour Pearson unit does not have. Writing and talking about thoughts, feelings and responses to setbacks builds on WJEC GCSE English Language and Literature, the wellbeing focus links to GCSE Physical Education and Health and the Skills for Life unit Mental health and wellbeing, and the reflective writing supports the WJEC Skills for Work units Overcoming barriers and Personal development planning, and the Personal Project.
Source: Pearson Entry Level 1 to Level 2 Skills for Work Award, Certificate and Diploma Qualifications specification, Issue 1, August 2026, Unit SfW 7: Building a growth mindset.