Skills for Work: International Language: Education and Employment (Written)
International language (written): education and employment is a 10 hour Skills for Work unit, from Entry 1 to Level 2, offered in French, German, Italian, Japanese, Mandarin and Spanish. It is one unit learners combine with other 10 or 20 hour units into a Skills for Work, or Skills for Life and Work, Award, Certificate or Diploma. The whole unit is reading and writing about school, college, jobs and the workplace: finding information in short texts, writing words, phrases and sentences, spelling at Entry Level, and at Levels 1 and 2 giving opinions, answering questions and making written requests. Numeracy demand is low, limited to numbers and times as vocabulary.
- Awarding body
- WJEC
- Level
- Entry Level 1 to Level 2
- Guided learning hours
- 10
- 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): Two learning outcomes (understand information relating to education and employment, write about education and employment), with assessment criteria at Entry 1, Entry 2 and Entry 3, including correct spelling. Entry Level reflects pre-A1 to A1 of the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages. Evidence goes in a portfolio, internally assessed by the centre and externally quality assured by WJEC. 10 guided learning hours.
- Level 1 and Level 2: Two learning outcomes (understand key facts and information in texts relating to education and employment, produce texts about education and employment), with one reading criterion and four writing criteria at each of Level 1 and Level 2: facts and information, opinions, answers to questions and written requests. Levels 1 and 2 reflect A2 to B1 of the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages. Evidence goes in a portfolio, internally assessed by the centre and externally quality assured by WJEC. 10 guided learning hours.
Skills that use Proofreading, editing and improving
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Spelling topic words correctly
At Entry Level learners must spell correctly: some individual words at Entry 1, some words within phrases at Entry 2 and most words within set sentences at Entry 3. Level 1 and Level 2 have no separate spelling criterion, and the pack says judgements should not focus on spelling unless it is specifically assessed. This is required by the Entry Level assessment criteria.
Literacy: Vocabulary, spelling, grammar, Proofreading, editing and improving
Getting pupils ready
- Year 7
- Pupils fill in the missing vowels in school subject words in the target language and check them against the class word list.
- Year 8
- Pupils learn ten job titles with look, cover, write, check and spot the deliberate mistake when the teacher spells one wrongly.
- Year 9
- Pupils write four sentences about their school day, then check every word against a vocabulary list or dictionary and correct the spellings and accents.
Show the specification wording and the LNF statements
Where it is in the specification: Entry Level, learning outcome 2, assessment criteria E1 2.2, E2 2.2 and E3 2.2, page 5; Sources of evidence, page 15
“Respond with the correct spelling for most words within set sentences relating to education and employment.”
Progression step 3
I can use strategies to correctly spell polysyllabic, complex and irregular words in the context of each area of learning and experience.
I can reflect on, edit and redraft to improve the quality of my expression, and use a range of strategies to ensure greater clarity.
Progression step 4
I can use a variety of strategies and resources to spell familiar and unfamiliar vocabulary and area of learning and experience/discipline-specific words correctly.
I can improve writing through independent review and redrafting.
Good to know
- Unit codes are not printed in the pack, which says "Please refer to the Skills for Life and Work qualifications specification" (Unit overview, page 3). The specification lists each language version separately with the code "TBC" (Specification section 3.1, pages 15 and 16).
- The unit runs in six languages: "This unit is available in French, German, Italian, Japanese, Mandarin and Spanish." The title on the certificate shows the language achieved (Unit overview, page 3).
- The criteria "assume that learners have no previous experience of the language being learnt", and teachers should assess a learner who already has some of the language to choose the right level (Planning courses, page 7).
- Spelling counts only where a criterion says so: "Assessor judgements should focus on meeting the standard, not spelling or presentation unless specifically assessed" (Sources of evidence, page 15). The Entry Level criteria E1 2.2 to E3 2.2 do assess spelling. The pack also says "extended written work is not required unless appropriate" (page 15).
- Evidence can be photographed: possible sources include "photographic evidence / photocopies of mini whiteboards", worksheets, a gap-fill exercise and teacher observation notes (Sources of evidence, page 15).
- Suggested assessment tasks "are not mandatory"; teachers may use, adapt or replace them as long as learners can meet all the criteria (Specification section 4.1, page 18).
- AI misuse is malpractice. Misuse includes "Using AI to complete parts of the assessment so that the work does not reflect the learner's own work", and learners "cannot be credited for any work they produce for assessment which is not their own" (Specification section 4.6, page 21).
- Teachers and assessors need language expertise: assessors "should have subject-specific expertise in language teaching and assessment" (Resources required for assessment, page 18).
- Appendix A maps the unit to Literacy only, not Numeracy (Specification, page 29), which fits a unit where numbers and times are vocabulary rather than calculation.
Links with other qualifications
The pack pairs this unit with the other WJEC international language units, Education and employment (spoken) and the spoken and written units in Social activities and Communicating personal information, and suggests it can complement VCSE Travel and Tourism and GCSE Business. It covers school and jobs topics also found in GCSE French, GCSE German and GCSE Spanish, but at a lower level, and the pack suggests GCSE learners try a different language rather than repeat one. Noting the main points of a text in English or Cymraeg draws on the same skills as GCSE English Language and Literature, GCSE Core Cymraeg and GCSE Cymraeg Language and Literature. The Level 2 formal letter and job application phrases link with the Applying for Jobs unit.
Source: WJEC International language (written): education and employment 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).