LNF Cymru Literacy and numeracy for Wales

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Skills for Work: Building a Growth Mindset

Building a growth mindset covers overcoming setbacks and building resilience, managing stress in the moment, the difference between a fixed and a growth mindset, and building helpful long term habits. It is one 20 hour Skills for Work unit that learners combine with other units into a Skills for Work, or Skills for Life and Work, Award, Certificate or Diploma. Literacy is the main cross-curricular skill: learners talk and write about their own setbacks and feelings, explain words such as resilience and habit, compare fixed and growth mindsets and reflect on strategies. Numeracy is only incidental, through tracking a habit over a week.

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
Unit pack
Open the unit delivery and assessment pack
How this unit is assessed
  • Entry Level (Entry 1, Entry 2, Entry 3): Four learning outcomes with assessment criteria at Entry 1, Entry 2 and Entry 3. Evidence is compiled into a portfolio, internally assessed by the centre and externally quality assured by WJEC. 20 guided learning hours, Skills for Work group.
  • Level 1 and Level 2: Four learning outcomes with assessment criteria at Level 1 and Level 2. Evidence is compiled into a portfolio, internally assessed by the centre and externally quality assured by WJEC. 20 guided learning hours, Skills for Work group.

The literacy and numeracy skills in this qualification

  1. Talking about setbacks, challenges and stress

    Assessed: In coursework (non-examination assessment, NEA)

    Learners name or make a statement about a challenge at Entry 1 and 2, describe a setback or a stressful situation at Entry 3 and Level 1, and at Level 2 discuss a time when they or someone they know faced a setback. This is required by the assessment criteria and can be evidenced through recorded discussion, one to one talk or role play.

    Literacy: Purpose, Listening to understand, Listening as part of collaborative talk

    Getting pupils ready

    Year 7
    Pupils tell a partner about a time something went wrong, such as losing a match, using a sentence starter like I felt, then I.
    Year 8
    Pupils discuss a short case study of a pupil who failed a test in a small group, each suggesting what the pupil could do next and responding to one another's ideas.
    Year 9
    Pupils give a short spoken account of a setback they or a famous person faced, what helped them bounce back and what they learned, then answer questions from the class.
    Show the specification wording and the LNF statements

    Where it is in the specification: Entry Level, learning outcomes 1 and 2, assessment criteria 1.1 and 2.1, page 5; Level 1 and Level 2, learning outcomes 1 and 2, assessment criteria 1.1 and 2.1, page 7; sources of evidence, page 14

    “Discuss a time when you or someone you know”
    Progression step 3

    • I can share, talk and write about my thoughts, feelings and opinions using a range of techniques to show impact.

    • I can listen to others’ ideas/presentations, and understand that they may have a different perspective to my own, in order to respond appropriately.

    Progression step 4

    • I can share, talk and write about my thoughts, feelings and opinions showing empathy and respect.

    • I can listen to and respond to others with questions, comments and suggestions in order to develop collaborative talk and reach compromise/consensus.

  2. Explaining resilience, mindset and habit in own words

    Assessed: In coursework (non-examination assessment, NEA)

    Learners give a description of what resilience means at Entry 3, explain why it is important to show resilience at Level 1, and explain in their own words what a habit is and how resilience helps with learning at Level 2. These explanations are required by the assessment criteria, and the pack expects learners to use discipline-specific vocabulary such as setback, resilience, fixed mindset and growth mindset.

    Literacy: Clarity and vocabulary, Vocabulary, spelling, grammar

    Getting pupils ready

    Year 7
    Pupils match the words challenge, setback, resilience and habit to simple definitions, then use each in a sentence about school life.
    Year 8
    Pupils write a short explanation of what resilience means, with one example from sport or music, using at least three key words from a word wall.
    Year 9
    Pupils write a paragraph explaining how a habit is formed and why it helps learning, using connectives such as because and therefore and the terms habit, persistence and growth mindset.
    Show the specification wording and the LNF statements

    Where it is in the specification: Entry Level, learning outcome 1, assessment criterion 1.2, page 5; Level 1 and Level 2, learning outcomes 1 and 4, assessment criteria 1.3 and 4.1, pages 7 and 8; Unit overview, page 4

    “Explain in your own words what a habit is.”
    Progression step 3

    • I can express issues and ideas clearly using area of learning and experience/discipline-specific vocabulary and examples.

    • I can use varied, appropriate and precise vocabulary including area of learning and experience/discipline-specific words for different purposes.

    Progression step 4

    • 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.

    • 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.

  3. Comparing fixed and growth mindsets

    Assessed: In coursework (non-examination assessment, NEA)

    Learners recognise the difference between a growth and a fixed mindset from examples at Entry 2, compare what each person might do at Entry 3, describe the difference at Level 1, and compare them and say why they are different at Level 2. This is required by the assessment criteria; sorting phrases and reading short real life stories are suggested ways in.

    Literacy: Understanding, response and analysis, Connectives and syntax, Planning and organising for different purposes, audiences and context

    Getting pupils ready

    Year 7
    Pupils sort printed phrases such as I give up and I will try another way into fixed and growth mindset columns and explain one choice to the class.
    Year 8
    Pupils read two short stories about learners facing a hard maths test and write which character shows a growth mindset and which words show it.
    Year 9
    Pupils write a short comparison of a fixed and a growth mindset using whereas and however, with an example of how each would react to the same setback.
    Show the specification wording and the LNF statements

    Where it is in the specification: Entry Level, learning outcome 3, assessment criteria 3.1 and 3.2, page 6; Level 1 and Level 2, learning outcome 3, assessment criteria 3.1 and 3.2, page 7; suggested activities, page 13

    “Compare a growth mindset and fixed mindset”
    Progression step 3

    • I can read to identify different people’s viewpoints on various subjects and develop empathy.

    • I can use an increasing range of connectives to organise my ideas in sentences, paragraphs and whole texts.

    Progression step 4

    • I can read to identify different people’s viewpoints on various subjects, using them to arrive at my own conclusions.

    • I can use summary, discussion of issues, detailed explanations and logic when covering a topic.

  4. Writing reflections on strategies and habits

    Assessed: In coursework (non-examination assessment, NEA)

    Learners reflect on how they would overcome a setback and how a habit has made a difference at Entry 3, and at Level 2 reflect on how a stress management strategy helped them feel calmer and how a helpful habit has made, or could make, a difference over time. Reflection is required by the assessment criteria, and a journal or tracker is a suggested format.

    Literacy: Planning and organising for different purposes, audiences and context

    Getting pupils ready

    Year 7
    Pupils write three sentences in a journal about something they found hard this week and what they did to keep going.
    Year 8
    Pupils try deep breathing before a test, then write a short entry saying how they felt before and after and whether they would use it again.
    Year 9
    Pupils keep a two week reflective journal on a new revision habit and write a final entry on what changed, what was hard and what they will do next.
    Show the specification wording and the LNF statements

    Where it is in the specification: Entry Level, learning outcomes 1 and 4, assessment criteria 1.3 and 4.2, pages 5 and 6; Level 1 and Level 2, learning outcomes 2 and 4, assessment criteria 2.3 and 4.4, pages 7 and 8; suggested activities, pages 13 and 14

    “Reflect on how building this helpful habit has”
    Progression step 3

    • I can write about my thoughts, feelings and opinions, showing empathy and respect.

    • I can write a comprehensive account of a topic, theme or viewpoint.

    Progression step 4

    • I can write about my thoughts, feelings and opinions, using a range of techniques, e.g. emotive language, hyperbole, choice of pronouns (you, we), to show impact.

    • I can organise and construct my writing effectively, connecting and developing my ideas for a range of different contexts.

  5. Tracking a habit over a week

    Assessed: Taught, but not assessed

    A suggested activity is to create a simple tracker for one habit, such as revising for ten minutes a day, and use it for a week, then reflect on progress. No assessment criterion asks for counting, measuring or calculating, and the specification maps no Numeracy to this unit, so this is the only numeracy and it is taught, not assessed.

    Numeracy: Representing data, Interpreting data

    Getting pupils ready

    Year 7
    Pupils use a tally chart to record each day they practise a habit for a week and count the total days.
    Year 8
    Pupils record the minutes they practise a skill each day for a week in a table, draw a bar chart and find the total and the mean.
    Year 9
    Pupils compare two weeks of habit data in a chart, work out the change in total minutes and decide whether the data shows the habit is becoming regular.
    Show the specification wording and the LNF statements

    Where it is in the specification: Suggested activities, pages 13 and 14

    “create a simple tracker (paper or digital) for one habit”
    Progression step 3

    • I can represent data using:

      • lists, tally charts, tables, diagrams and frequency tables
      • bar charts, grouped data charts, line graphs and conversion graphs
      • pictograms where one symbol represents more than one unit using a key
      • Venn and Carroll diagrams.
    Progression step 4

    • I can draw conclusions from data and recognise that some conclusions may be misleading or uncertain.

Good to know

Links with other qualifications

The pack names Fairness and inclusion in the workplace, Wellbeing and work, Personal development planning, Interview and confidence techniques and Overcoming barriers as Skills Suite units to deliver alongside it, and the Skills for Life unit Mental health and wellbeing covers stress and coping in more depth. Talking and writing about personal experience, feelings and opinions builds on the speaking, listening and reflective writing in GCSE English Language and Literature and, in Welsh, GCSE Core Cymraeg and GCSE Cymraeg Language and Literature. The work on stress and healthy habits links with the Health and well-being Area of Learning and Experience and so with GCSE Physical Education and Health.

Source: WJEC Building a growth mindset 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).