Skills for Work: Business Finance
Business finance is a Skills for Work unit about how businesses get money, spend it, invest it and save costs, applied in a real enterprise activity such as a tuck shop, cake sale or fundraising stall. It is one 20 hour unit that learners combine with others into a Skills for Work, or Skills for Life and Work, Award, Certificate or Diploma, from Entry 1 to Level 2. Numeracy is central: counting and adding money at Entry Level, then budgets, records of income and expenditure, profit and loss, percentages, cash flow and break-even at Levels 1 and 2. Literacy sits in explaining and evaluating reasons and justifying money decisions.
- 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
- High
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 (unit codes S653E1, S653E2, S653E3). Evidence goes in a portfolio, internally assessed by the centre and externally quality assured by WJEC. 20 guided learning hours. Learners must take part in an enterprise activity.
- Level 1 and Level 2: Four learning outcomes with assessment criteria at Level 1 and Level 2 (unit codes S653L1, S653L2). Evidence goes in a portfolio, internally assessed by the centre and externally quality assured by WJEC. 20 guided learning hours. Learners must take part in an enterprise activity.
Skills that use Planning and organising for different purposes, audiences and context
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Explaining and analysing how businesses use money
Entry learners give and state ways a business gets, spends and saves money, Level 1 learners explain why each type of income, spending and investment matters, and Level 2 learners classify, analyse and evaluate investment and cost saving strategies. Evidence may be spoken or written, using vocabulary such as income, expenditure, investment and cash flow.
Literacy: Vocabulary, spelling, grammar, Clarity and vocabulary, Planning and organising for different purposes, audiences and context
Getting pupils ready
- Year 7
- Pupils sort cards into ways a shop gets money and ways it spends money, then write a sentence on each using the words income and expenditure.
- Year 8
- Pupils write a short paragraph explaining why a café invests in a new coffee machine, using because and so that to link cause and effect.
- Year 9
- Pupils write a balanced answer weighing up two ways a local business could cut costs, ending with a judgement on which works better.
Show the specification wording and the LNF statements
Where it is in the specification: Entry Level, learning outcomes 1 to 3, page 5; Level 1 and Level 2, learning outcomes 1 to 3, assessment criteria L1 1.2, L2 2.3, L2 3.1 and L2 3.2, page 7
“Evaluate strategies businesses could use to reduce costs and achieve savings effectively”
Progression step 3
I can use varied, appropriate and precise vocabulary including area of learning and experience/discipline-specific words for different purposes.
I can express issues and ideas clearly using area of learning and experience/discipline-specific vocabulary and examples.
I can use and adapt different structures within my writing, e.g. reporting an event, investigation or experiment.
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 can use summary, discussion of issues, detailed explanations and logic when covering a topic.
I can adapt my writing style, choosing and using the best structures for different contexts and purposes, e.g. to successfully describe, explain, persuade, discuss.
Good to know
- Unit codes are S653E1, S653E2, S653E3, S653L1 and S653L2, and the unit is 20 GLH in the Skills for Work suite (Unit overview, page 3).
- An enterprise activity is compulsory: "To achieve this unit, learners must take part in an enterprise activity." (Unit overview, page 3).
- The numeracy is set out level by level: Entry Level learners practise "recognising, counting and comparing amounts of money", and Level 1 and 2 learners "calculate income, costs, profit, loss, and break-even points" (Unit overview, page 4).
- Evidence may be "verbal, written, practical or visual", and judgements should not focus on "spelling or presentation unless specifically assessed" (Sources of evidence, page 13).
- The portfolio "is not limited to paper-based materials" and can include "photographic evidence" and "video/audio recordings" (Section 4.1, page 18).
- Suggested assessment tasks "are not mandatory"; teachers may use, adapt or replace them (Section 4.1, page 18).
- AI misuse is malpractice, including "Using AI to complete parts of the assessment so that the work does not reflect the learner's own work, analysis, evaluation or calculations." Use of AI tools must be acknowledged (Section 4.6, page 21).
- "Assessment of this unit should not require any specific resources" (Resources required for assessment, page 15).
Links with other qualifications
The pack names Enterprise venture, Financial literacy, Teamwork and Using IT in the workplace as closely related Skills Suite units, with Ethical choices for responsible business decisions, and points to the VCSE and Foundation qualifications in Retail and Customer Service and to GCSE Business. GCSE Business shares sources of finance, costs, profit, cash flow and break-even, and GCSE Mathematics and Numeracy covers the same money calculations, percentages and reading graphs. Explaining and evaluating business decisions in writing and speech supports GCSE English Language and Literature.
Source: WJEC Business finance 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).