Skills for Work: Jobs of the Future
Jobs of the future is a Pearson Skills for Work unit in which learners look at how the Welsh job market is changing, which jobs are likely to disappear or emerge, and what steps young people can take to become more employable, ending in an employability plan. It is one 10 hour unit that learners combine with others into a Pearson Skills for Work Award, Certificate or Diploma, at any level from Entry 1 to Level 2, graded pass or fail. Literacy sits in researching and summarising labour market information, describing or explaining changes, and writing the plan. Numeracy is light: Level 2 learners compare the scale of changes between types of jobs, and the plan uses timescales.
- 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 of Entry 1, Entry 2 and Entry 3, covering changes in the local, regional or Welsh job market, jobs likely to exist in the future, and steps young people can take to become more employable. Centres choose the type of evidence; it is internally assessed by the centre and quality assured by Pearson through standards verification. 10 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) changes in the Welsh job market and the jobs that will exist in the future, and produce a plan (Level 2: a detailed plan) showing how young people can become more employable for these roles. Centres choose the type of evidence; it is internally assessed by the centre and quality assured by Pearson through standards verification. 10 guided learning hours.
Skills that use Clarity and vocabulary
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Describing and explaining changes in the job market
Learners list, outline, identify, describe or explain changes in the job market and their impact on jobs, depending on level. Level 1 learners give examples to support their descriptions and Level 2 learners explain changes with detailed examples, relating them to specific industries and regions. This is required by the assessment criteria.
Literacy: Planning and organising for different purposes, audiences and context, Clarity and vocabulary
Getting pupils ready
- Year 7
- Pupils write three sentences describing how one job, such as a bank cashier, has changed, using the word because.
- Year 8
- Pupils explain to a partner how one change, such as more electric cars, affects jobs in Wales, using sector vocabulary from a word bank.
- Year 9
- Pupils write an explanation of two changes in the Welsh job market, each with a detailed example from a named industry and region.
Show the specification wording and the LNF statements
Where it is in the specification: Unit SfW 5, Assessment criteria, page 31; Essential information for assessment decisions, Level 1, page 32, and Level 2, page 33
“Learners can describe changes that are taking place within the Welsh job market”
Progression step 3
I can write a comprehensive account of a topic, theme or viewpoint.
I can express issues and ideas clearly using area of learning and experience/discipline-specific vocabulary and examples.
Progression step 4
I can use summary, discussion of issues, detailed explanations and logic when covering a topic.
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.
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Presenting findings about future jobs
The annex suggests learners share their findings as plans, guides, presentations, blogs or podcasts. Level 1 learners are responsible for presenting their findings clearly. Centres choose the evidence type, so a spoken presentation is one option rather than a requirement.
Literacy: Purpose, Clarity and vocabulary
Getting pupils ready
- Year 7
- Pupils give a one minute talk to their group about a job they would like and one way it might change.
- Year 8
- Pupils record a short podcast segment explaining a growing job in Wales, planning an opening, three points and a closing line.
- Year 9
- Pupils present a guide to future jobs in their region to a Year 8 class, adapting their language and answering questions.
Show the specification wording and the LNF statements
Where it is in the specification: Unit SfW 5, Levels of supervision and support, Level 1, page 33; Annexe C, Literacy Links, page 119
“labour market information; produce plans/guides; presentations/blogs/ podcasts”
Progression step 3
I can organise talk so that different audiences in different contexts can follow what is being said, including using formal language.
I can express issues and ideas clearly using area of learning and experience/discipline-specific vocabulary and examples.
Progression step 4
I can speak clearly, selecting and adapting my language appropriately for a range of audiences and purposes, conveying meaning effectively to the audience.
Good to know
- The unit is "SfW 5 Jobs of the future" with "10" guided learning hours (Unit summary, page 5), half the 20 hours of the WJEC Jobs of the future unit.
- A unit is achieved at one level only: "Learners can only achieve each unit once, at a single level" (Rules of Combination, page 6).
- Evidence is the centre's choice: "there are no mandatory evidence requirements and centres can select the type of evidence" (Essential information for assessment decisions, page 32), so learners need not produce long written work.
- Level 1 learners "are accountable for organising their findings and presenting them clearly, and for the accuracy of the information they present" (Levels of supervision and support, page 33).
- The teaching content is not printed in the specification: it "can be found in the Teaching and Learning Support document for this unit" (Unit content, page 32).
- AI may be used only if it is acknowledged, and "the final submission must be in the learner's own words" (Requirements relating to permitted/prohibited resources, page 34).
- The Skills for Work specification has two obvious errors: its assessment section says "Every unit in our Skills for Life qualifications includes an Authorised Assessment Brief" (page 8), and it points to "Section 6 Glossary" (page 11) when the glossary is section 7.
Links with other qualifications
WJEC also offers a Jobs of the future unit in its Skills Suite. The WJEC unit is 20 guided learning hours across four learning outcomes, asks Level 2 learners to evaluate trends and suggests interpreting labour market data; the Pearson unit is 10 hours with one criterion per level, and makes comparing the scale of change between types of jobs part of the Level 2 guidance. Both end in an employability plan. The research, summarising and explaining practise the non-fiction reading and writing of GCSE English Language and Literature, and the labour market data links to the WJEC Skills Suite unit Understanding the changing labour market and to interpreting data in GCSE Mathematics and Numeracy.
Source: Pearson Entry Level 1 to Level 2 Skills for Work Award, Certificate and Diploma Qualifications specification, Issue 1, August 2026, Unit SfW 5: Jobs of the future.