Skills for Work: Personal Development Planning
Personal development planning is an Entry 1 to Level 2 Skills for Work unit in which learners identify their skills, interests and experiences, use feedback to find strengths and areas to develop, set goals, write an action plan and review their progress. It is one 20 hour 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 sits in talking and writing about themselves, responding to feedback, writing goals and plans, and reflective journals. Numeracy is light: setting timescales for SMART goals at Level 2 and measuring progress.
- Awarding body
- WJEC
- Level
- Entry Level 1 to Level 2
- Guided learning hours
- 20
- First taught
- September 2027
- Amount of literacy work
- Medium
- Amount of numeracy work
- Low
How this unit is assessed
- Entry Level (Entry 1, Entry 2, Entry 3): Four learning outcomes (personal skills, interests and experiences, areas for personal development, simple personal goals, and taking part in activities to develop personal skills), each with separate Entry 1, Entry 2 and Entry 3 assessment criteria. 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: Four learning outcomes (personal skills, interests and experiences, strengths and areas for development, planning personal development goals, and reviewing progress and skills developed), each with separate Level 1 and Level 2 assessment criteria. Evidence goes in a portfolio, internally assessed by the centre and externally quality assured by WJEC. 20 guided learning hours.
Skills that use Interpreting data
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Measuring progress with ratings and simple data
The pack says numeracy skills are applied in planning steps, managing time and evaluating progress. Learners may rate their skills before and after activities in a skills audit and compare the scores when they review progress at Level 1 and Level 2. No criterion requires numbers, so this is a suggested approach only.
Numeracy: Representing data, Interpreting data
Getting pupils ready
- Year 7
- Pupils rate their confidence in five skills from 1 to 5 in a table at the start and end of a half term and circle the biggest change.
- Year 8
- Pupils draw a bar chart of their skill ratings before and after a project and write one sentence about what it shows.
- Year 9
- Pupils track weekly scores towards a goal on a line graph, describe the trend and explain why a self rating might give a misleading picture of progress.
Show the specification wording and the LNF statements
Where it is in the specification: Curriculum for Wales, pages 3 and 4; suggested activities, page 9; Level 1 and Level 2, learning outcome 4, assessment criterion 4.1, page 6
“skills are applied in planning steps, managing time, and evaluating progress”
Progression step 3
I can represent data using:
- lists, tally charts, tables, diagrams and frequency tables
- bar charts, grouped data charts, line graphs and conversion graphs
- pictograms where one symbol represents more than one unit using a key
- Venn and Carroll diagrams.
I can draw conclusions from data and recognise that some conclusions may be misleading or uncertain.
Progression step 4
I can select and construct appropriate charts, diagrams and graphs with suitable scales.
I can draw conclusions from data and recognise that some conclusions may be misleading or uncertain.
Good to know
- The unit codes are S662E1, S662E2, S662E3, S662L1 and S662L2, one for each level, and the unit is 20 guided learning hours: "GLH 20" (Unit overview, page 3).
- Spoken and visual evidence counts: "extended written work is not required unless appropriate" and judgements should not focus on "spelling or presentation unless specifically assessed" (Sources of evidence, page 9).
- The pack says "Literacy is embedded through reading and writing tasks such as journals, worksheets, and action plans" (Curriculum for Wales, page 4), and evidence includes "learner journals, logs or reflective diaries" and "records of professional discussions or questioning" (Sources of evidence, page 9).
- Support depends on level: Entry 1 learners may need "use of symbols, or assistive technology" and Entry 2 learners "may require prompts, guided questioning or scaffolded templates" (specification Section 4.2, page 19).
- AI use is allowed only when acknowledged: "When properly referenced, this can be acceptable", but misuse includes "Using AI to complete parts of the assessment so that the work does not reflect the learner's own work" (specification Section 4.6, page 21).
- Suggested assessment tasks "are not mandatory". Teachers "may choose to use these suggestions, adapt them, or develop their own alternatives" (specification Section 4.1, page 18).
- Appendix A of the specification (page 29) ticks Literacy, Numeracy, Digital Competence, Critical thinking and problem solving, and Planning and organisation for this unit.
Links with other qualifications
The pack names GCSE Business as a linked WJEC qualification. Within the Skills Suite it lists Exploring career pathways, Overcoming barriers, Work experience, Teamwork, Applying for jobs, Interview confidence and techniques, Working in Wales and Building a growth mindset as closely related units. Overcoming barriers shares reflective writing and action planning, Exploring career pathways shares reading and presenting information about jobs and training, and Applying for jobs and Interview and confidence techniques give a reason to describe skills and experiences clearly in writing and speech.
Source: WJEC Personal development planning 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).