Skills for Work: Customer Service
Customer service is a 20 hour Skills for Work unit, from Entry 1 to Level 2, about good customer service, its benefits to a business, communicating with customers and teamwork. It is one unit that learners combine with other 10 or 20 hour units into a Skills for Work, or Skills for Life and Work, Award, Certificate or Diploma. Literacy is the heart of the unit: learners explain and discuss customer service, show verbal and non-verbal communication in role play, adapt their style to different customers, handle complaints at Level 2 and read case studies. Numeracy demand is low, as no criterion asks for any calculation or data.
- Awarding body
- WJEC
- Level
- Entry Level 1 to Level 2
- Guided learning hours
- 20
- First taught
- September 2027
- Amount of literacy work
- High
- Amount of numeracy work
- Low
How this unit is assessed
- Entry Level (Entry 1, Entry 2, Entry 3): Three learning outcomes (know what good customer service is, communicate with customers, work as part of a team to provide customer service), with separate assessment criteria at Entry 1, Entry 2 and Entry 3. Evidence goes in a portfolio, internally assessed by the centre and externally quality assured by WJEC. 20 guided learning hours.
- Level 1 and Level 2: Three learning outcomes (understand how to deliver excellent customer service, communicate effectively with customers in various scenarios including complaints, understand the importance of teamwork), with separate assessment criteria at Level 1 and Level 2. Evidence goes in a portfolio, internally assessed by the centre and externally quality assured by WJEC. 20 guided learning hours.
Skills that use Questioning
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Listening and questioning to find out what a customer needs
The amplification says Level 1 and Level 2 learners should know how to identify customer needs through questioning, listening and reading body language, and that poor communication includes not listening and talking over the customer. This content is taught to support the communication demonstrations, but listening and questioning are not named in the assessment criteria themselves.
Literacy: Listening for meaning, Questioning, Listening to understand
Getting pupils ready
- Year 7
- Pupils listen to a partner describe what they want for lunch and repeat it back accurately before choosing from a menu.
- Year 8
- Pupils practise open questions as a shoe shop assistant, such as what will you use them for, and note the customer's answers.
- Year 9
- Pupils listen to a recorded customer phone call, note what the customer actually needs, including what is implied, and suggest the best questions to ask next.
Show the specification wording and the LNF statements
Where it is in the specification: Amplification of LO2, pages 10 and 11
“how to identify customer needs through questioning skills, listening skills and understanding body language”
Progression step 3
I can listen to, understand, infer, interpret and recall the general meaning of what I have heard.
I can respond to others’ points of view by seeking clarity, summarising and explaining what I have heard, read or seen.
Progression step 4
I can understand and analyse general meaning and implied ideas.
I can use different techniques to help me remember, record and respond to what I hear.
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Evaluating experiences and discussing 'the customer is always right'
At Level 2 learners evaluate times when they have received good and bad customer service, and discuss the idea that the customer is always right, including when further help or support should be sought. Both are required at Level 2, and suggested role plays can stretch learners to identify unacceptable customer behaviour.
Literacy: Purpose, Questioning, Planning and organising for different purposes, audiences and context
Getting pupils ready
- Year 7
- Pupils tell a partner about a time they were served in a shop or cafe and say one thing that was good and one thing that could have been better.
- Year 8
- Pupils write a short review of a real visit to a shop or attraction, giving reasons for their opinion of the service.
- Year 9
- Pupils debate whether the customer is always right, using examples of rude or unsafe customer behaviour, and respond to the other side's points.
Show the specification wording and the LNF statements
Where it is in the specification: Level 1 and Level 2, assessment criteria L2 1.4 and L2 2.4, page 7; Amplification of LO2, page 11
“Evaluate times when you have received good and bad customer service”
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 ask and answer questions, building on and developing the ideas of others in group discussions.
Progression step 4
I can sustain a convincing point of view, anticipating and responding to other perspectives.
I can share, talk and write about my thoughts, feelings and opinions showing empathy and respect.
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.
Good to know
- The unit codes are S655E1, S655E2, S655E3, S655L1 and S655L2, and the unit is 20 guided learning hours in the Skills for Work suite (Unit overview, page 3).
- Spelling and presentation are not judged: "Assessor judgements should focus on meeting the standard, not spelling or presentation unless specifically assessed." (Sources of evidence, page 13).
- Long writing is not needed: "extended written work is not required unless appropriate" (Sources of evidence, page 13), so oral and role play evidence, recorded or observed, can meet the criteria.
- No special equipment is needed: "Assessment of this unit should not require any specific resources." (Resources required for assessment, page 14).
- Suggested assessment tasks are optional: "These tasks are not mandatory." (Skills for Life and Work specification, section 4.1, page 18).
- AI use must be acknowledged. Properly referenced AI use "can be acceptable", but "Copying or paraphrasing whole responses of AI-generated content" is malpractice (Skills for Life and Work specification, section 4.6, page 21).
- There is no numeracy in the criteria. Appendix A of the specification maps the unit to Literacy only among the integral skills (page 29).
Links with other qualifications
Customer service builds the speaking, listening and explaining skills of GCSE English Language and Literature in a work setting, and links closely with VCSE Retail and Customer Service and Foundation Retail and Customer Service, where communicating with customers and handling complaints are covered in more depth. VCSE Hospitality and Catering, VCSE Travel and Tourism and VCSE Sport and Leisure also involve serving customers, and GCSE Business covers why reputation and customer loyalty matter. Role play links with GCSE Drama. The pack names Fairness and inclusion in the workplace, Rights and responsibilities in the workplace, Understanding the changing labour market, Working in Wales and Wellbeing and work as closely related Skills Suite units, and Teamwork links through LO3.
Source: WJEC Customer service 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).