Skills for Work: Career Creativity
Career creativity is a Pearson Skills for Work unit in which learners choose a 'dream job', look at ways of working and levels of responsibility, compare their own skills with what the job needs, and from Entry 3 complete a skills audit and development plan. It is one 20 hour unit that learners combine with others into a Pearson Skills for Work Award, Certificate or Diploma, from Entry 1 to Level 2. Literacy carries the unit: explaining why a job suits them, reading job information, discussing skills and writing a plan. Numeracy demand is low; Pearson lists no numeracy link, and the only number work is setting timescales at Level 1 and Level 2.
- 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: state, outline or identify a 'dream job' with reasons and, from Entry 2, its level of responsibility, compare own skills and attributes with those the job needs, and at Entry 3 complete a basic skills audit and plan. There are no mandatory evidence requirements; the centre sets and marks the assessment and Pearson quality assures it through standards verification. 20 guided learning hours.
- Level 1 and Level 2: One assessment criterion at each of Level 1 and Level 2: describe (Level 1) or explain (Level 2) how a career and 'dream job' match preferred ways of working, and complete a skills audit with a development plan, with timescales at Level 1 and a detailed, timebound plan showing progression through the career path at Level 2. The centre sets and marks the assessment and Pearson quality assures it through standards verification. 20 guided learning hours.
Skills that use Collaborative talk
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Discussing skills and attributes for a career
The support guidance expects learners to take part in discussions about the skills and attributes a job needs, giving personal examples from Entry 3 and leading sections of the discussion at Level 2. Discussion is how Pearson expects the work to be carried out, but there are no mandatory evidence requirements, so spoken evidence is not itself required.
Literacy: Collaborative talk, Listening as part of collaborative talk
Getting pupils ready
- Year 7
- Pupils discuss in pairs which skills a firefighter needs and each give one example of when they have shown one of those skills.
- Year 8
- Pupils take turns in a small group to describe a job they like while the others ask one question about the skills it needs.
- Year 9
- Pupils lead part of a group discussion on the attributes needed for a chosen career, inviting others to give examples and summarising the points agreed.
Show the specification wording and the LNF statements
Where it is in the specification: Unit SfW 11, Levels of supervision and support before and during assessment, pages 60 to 61
“participate in, and lead sections of, discussions about skills and attributes required to”
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 Unit SfW 11 and the unit summary lists it at 20 GLH (Unit summary, page 5), twice the 10 GLH of the WJEC Career creativity unit.
- A unit counts once: "Learners can only achieve each unit once, at a single level" (Rules of Combination, page 6).
- Evidence can be spoken, written or worksheet based: "no mandatory evidence requirements and centres can select the type of evidence" (page 59), and Entry responses "may be brief and rely heavily on structured worksheets or discussion" (Essential information for assessment decisions, page 59).
- The verbs set the literacy level, and the glossary defines them: Explain means learners "provide details and give reasons and/or evidence to support an opinion, view or argument" (Glossary, Part B, page 111).
- AI 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 61).
- The unit content is not in the specification; it "can be found in the Teaching and Learning Support document for this unit" (Unit content, page 59).
- Section 5 says "please refer to Section 6 Glossary" (page 11), but the glossary is section 7.
Links with other qualifications
Compared with the WJEC Career creativity unit, Pearson's version is 20 GLH rather than 10, with one assessment criterion per level built around a single 'dream job', a skills audit and a development plan, while the WJEC unit spreads across three learning outcomes on ways of working, personal strengths and an action plan. Both rest mainly on literacy and have little numeracy. Describing and explaining choices with reasons supports GCSE English Language and Literature, and the audit and plan overlap with the WJEC Skills Suite unit Personal Development Planning; researching and comparing job roles overlaps with WJEC Exploring Career Pathways and Jobs of the Future.
Source: Pearson Entry Level 1 to Level 2 Skills for Work Award, Certificate and Diploma Qualifications specification, Issue 1, August 2026, Unit SfW 11: Career creativity.