Skills for Work: Fairness and Inclusion in the Workplace
Fairness and inclusion in the workplace is a Skills for Work unit in which learners find out what makes a workplace inclusive and fair, such as respect, equal opportunities, accessible environments and inclusive language, and plan how to develop their own open communication skills in their setting. It is one 10 hour unit that learners combine with others into a Pearson Skills for Work Award, Certificate or Diploma, from Entry 1 to Level 2, and it is assessed internally by the centre. Literacy sits in reading given case studies, describing and explaining features with examples, using active listening and inclusive language, and writing a development plan. There is no numeracy in the criteria or guidance.
- 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 Entry level: learners state the meaning of (Entry 1), outline the key features of (Entry 2) or identify the features of (Entry 3) a fair and inclusive workplace, and give one way, ways, or at Entry 3 a simple plan, to develop their own skills to support open communication in their own setting. Evidence is assessed internally by the centre through a centre-devised assignment, which can be based on Pearson's Authorised Assignment Brief, and is quality assured by Pearson standards verification. 10 guided learning hours.
- Level 1 and Level 2: One assessment criterion at each level: learners describe (Level 1) or explain (Level 2) the features of an inclusive and fair workplace and produce an appropriate (Level 1) or detailed (Level 2) plan for developing skills and strategies to support open communication in their own setting. Evidence is assessed internally by the centre and quality assured by Pearson standards verification. 10 guided learning hours.
Skills that use Understanding, response and analysis
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Reading given workplace case studies
Entry 3 learners gather information from given simple sources such as workplace case studies, and Level 2 learners select relevant information from a limited range of given sources and check its accuracy. This reading underpins the examples the criteria require at every level.
Literacy: Reading strategies, Understanding, response and analysis
Getting pupils ready
- Year 7
- Pupils read a short story about a new worker and underline two things the employer did to make them feel welcome.
- Year 8
- Pupils read two workplace case studies and complete a table of what each employer does well and what it could improve.
- Year 9
- Pupils read three case studies, select the information that shows fair or unfair treatment, and summarise the measures each employer used.
Show the specification wording and the LNF statements
Where it is in the specification: Unit SfW 1, Levels of supervision and support before and during assessment, Entry 3 and Level 2, page 14
“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 show understanding of and use the main ideas and significant details in different texts on the same topic.
Progression step 4
I can evaluate the usefulness and reliability of texts.
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 listed as "SfW 1 Fairness and Inclusion in the Workplace 10", so it is only 10 guided learning hours (Unit summary, page 5), half the 20 hours of the WJEC unit with the same title.
- A unit can be passed only once: "Learners can only achieve each unit once, at a single level" (Rules of Combination, page 6).
- The number of examples rises with the level, from one at Entry 1 to "at least five examples, including why each is important" at Level 2 (Essential information for assessment decisions, page 13).
- Evidence can be practical or written: assignments "can include both practical and written tasks" (Assessment of units, page 9), and "there are no mandatory evidence requirements" for this unit (page 13).
- Pearson's Annexes B and C tick a numeracy link and give it as "cost" (pages 116 and 118), but nothing in the assessment criteria or the Essential information for assessment decisions involves cost or any other number work.
- The Entry 2 guidance has a stray comma in "using, inclusive language" (page 13), a small typing error that does not change the meaning.
Links with other qualifications
Describing and explaining equality and inclusion links to GCSE Social Studies and GCSE Religious Studies, and the active listening and open communication strand links to the oracy in GCSE English Language and Literature and to the WJEC Skills Suite units Customer service and Equality, diversity and inclusion. Compared with the WJEC Fairness and inclusion in the workplace unit, which is 20 guided learning hours with three learning outcomes and more reading about diversity, discrimination law and case studies, the Pearson unit is 10 guided learning hours and its literacy centres on describing features of an inclusive workplace with examples and writing a personal plan for open communication.
Source: Pearson Entry Level 1 to Level 2 Skills for Work Award, Certificate and Diploma Qualifications specification, Issue 1, August 2026, Unit SfW 1: Fairness and inclusion in the workplace.