Skills for Work: Overcoming Barriers
Overcoming barriers is a Pearson Skills for Work unit in which learners identify emotional, situational and communication barriers at work, explain their effects on confidence, teamwork and task performance, and suggest strategies and communication methods to overcome them. It is one 10 hour unit that learners combine with others into a Pearson Skills for Life or Skills for Work Award, Certificate or Diploma. The centre sets and marks the assignment. Literacy sits in describing and explaining barriers, professional talk in role play, asking questions to seek help and a structured written response. Numeracy is light: setting out steps and a simple timeline for a task.
- 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, rising from listing a few workplace barriers, their effects on task performance and basic ways to overcome them (Entry 1) to identifying a range of barriers, their effects on teamwork and task performance, and strategies to overcome them (Entry 3). Assessed internally by the centre through a centre-devised assignment, often using role play or a workplace scenario, with Pearson standards verification. 10 guided learning hours, graded Pass or Fail.
- Level 1 and Level 2: One assessment criterion at each level: learners describe (Level 1) or explain (Level 2) a range of workplace barriers, their impact on confidence, teamwork and task performance, and suggest suitable strategies and communication methods to overcome them. The guidance also expects a plan with steps, roles based on personal strengths and a timeline. Assessed internally by the centre, with Pearson standards verification. 10 guided learning hours, graded Pass or Fail.
Skills that use Questioning
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Asking questions to clarify and seek help
Learners ask for help, from a rehearsed question at Entry 1 and brief repeat-backs to confirm understanding at Entry 2, to specific task-related questions at Entry 3 and Level 1. Level 2 learners ask questions to clarify their responsibilities and seek effective help. This is described in the guidance and support descriptors as part of meeting the criteria.
Literacy: Questioning, Listening as part of collaborative talk
Getting pupils ready
- Year 7
- Pupils listen to a set of spoken instructions, then repeat them back in their own words to check they have understood.
- Year 8
- Pupils plan a class event in groups and each write two specific questions they need answered before they can start their part.
- Year 9
- Pupils take part in a role play where instructions are unclear and must ask questions to clarify their responsibilities before acting.
Show the specification wording and the LNF statements
Where it is in the specification: Unit SfW 10, Essential information for assessment decisions, Entry 1 to Level 1, pages 54 to 55; Levels of supervision and support, Level 1 and Level 2, page 56
“ask specific, task-related questions to seek help”
Progression step 3
I can ask and answer questions, building on and developing the ideas of others in group discussions.
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 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 SfW 10 and is worth 10 guided learning hours (Unit summary, page 5). A unit counts once: "Learners can only achieve each unit once, at a single level" (Rules of Combination, page 6).
- Spoken evidence counts: teachers "may record oral responses in single words or short phrases" at Entry 1 (page 54) and "may observe professional communication in role-play or workplace simulation" at Level 1 (page 55).
- Written support is allowed at Entry 2: "Written sentences may use sentence starters or visual prompts" (page 55).
- Pearson's own mapping gives literacy as explaining barriers, role play communication and producing tables, reports, charts and plans, and numeracy as "No direct link" apart from minor use in confidence graphs or sequencing steps (Annexe C, page 120).
- The unit aim mentions "communicating choices, preferences and points of view" (Purpose and Aim, page 53), but the criteria do not assess giving a point of view or challenging others, which the WJEC unit does.
- AI must be acknowledged: "If AI is used, the final submission must be in the learner's own words" (Requirements relating to permitted/prohibited resources, page 57).
- Document slips: the units section points to "Section 6 Glossary" when the glossary is Section 7 (page 11), and Annexe E has the typo "eduation" in this unit's row (page 128).
Links with other qualifications
Overcoming barriers links with the WJEC Skills Suite units Interview and confidence techniques and Teamwork, which share clear professional speaking and listening, and with Building a growth mindset and Wellbeing and work, which share describing feelings and coping strategies. Explaining causes and effects of barriers supports extended explanation in GCSE Social Studies. Compared with the WJEC Overcoming barriers unit, both are 10 guided learning hours, but WJEC's literacy centres on giving choices and points of view and challenging others respectfully, while Pearson's centres on explaining barriers and their effects, professional role play communication, asking task questions and a short written plan with roles and a timeline.
Source: Pearson Entry Level 1 to Level 2 Skills for Work Award, Certificate and Diploma Qualifications Specification, Issue 1, August 2026, Unit SfW 10: Overcoming barriers.