Skills for Work: Work Experience
Work Experience is a Pearson Skills for Work unit in which learners find out about types of work experience, describe what they and employers expect, plan their travel and first day, and take part safely in a placement or work-related activities. It is one 20 hour unit that learners combine with others into a Pearson Skills for Work Award, Certificate or Diploma, from Entry 1 to Level 2, assessed internally by the centre. Literacy sits in describing and explaining expectations and benefits, reading sources of information, completing planning documents and a first-day checklist, and communicating and following instructions at work. Numeracy is light but practical: planning journey times and, at Level 1 and Level 2, travel costs.
- Awarding body
- Pearson
- 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
- 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 types, activities and expectations of work experience and preparing for and taking part in at least two (Entry 1 and Entry 2) or three (Entry 3) work-related activities or a placement. There are no mandatory evidence requirements. Internally assessed by the centre through a centre-devised assignment or Pearson's adaptable Authorised Assignment Brief, subject to Pearson standards verification, graded Pass or Fail. 20 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) types, activities, benefits and expectations of work experience, and plan, prepare for and take part in a work experience placement or a range of work-related activities. There are no mandatory evidence requirements. Internally assessed by the centre through a centre-devised assignment or Pearson's adaptable Authorised Assignment Brief, subject to Pearson standards verification, graded Pass or Fail. 20 guided learning hours.
Skills that use Reading strategies
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Reading sources of information about work experience
From Entry 3 learners identify sources of information about work experience, and Level 1 and Level 2 learners describe or explain them. Learners read placement details and information from organisations to find types of work experience and what is expected. This is required by the assessment criteria from Entry 3.
Literacy: Reading strategies, Understanding, response and analysis
Getting pupils ready
- Year 7
- Pupils scan a leaflet about a local volunteering scheme to find the age limit, hours and contact details.
- Year 8
- Pupils skim three work experience web pages and complete a table of what each offers and who it is for.
- Year 9
- Pupils research placements with two Welsh employers and summarise in their own words what each expects of a young person.
Show the specification wording and the LNF statements
Where it is in the specification: Essential information for assessment decisions, Entry 3 and Level 1, page 74, Level 2, page 75
“identify sources of information about work experience”
Progression step 3
I can use a range of strategies for finding information, e.g. skimming for gist, scanning for detail.
I can make use of reference/digital sources to select, summarise and synthesise information, referencing as appropriate.
Progression step 4
I can research a wide range of reference and digital sources to develop a full understanding of a topic or issue.
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 "SfW 14" with 20 guided learning hours (Unit summary, page 5), and "Learners can only achieve each unit once, at a single level" (Rules of Combination, page 6).
- Entry 2 planning is scaffolded: learners complete "a pre-populated worksheet" (Essential information for assessment decisions, Entry 2, page 73), while Level 2 learners produce "accurate and well-structured planning documentation" (page 75).
- Travel numeracy is assessed at Level 1 but qualified: learners plan "travel arrangements (including timing and costs where appropriate)" (Essential information for assessment decisions, Level 1, page 74).
- Communication is assessed in the activity itself: learners "demonstrate basic communication and work skills" at Entry 3 (page 74), and evidence can be "observation records, witness testimony" (Assessment requirements, page 9).
- If AI is used, "the final submission must be in the learner's own words and reflect their own effort" (Requirements relating to permitted/prohibited resources, page 76).
- Teaching content is in Pearson's separate Teaching and Learning Support document (Unit content, page 73), and the specification lists numeracy, literacy and digital links in Annexe C (page 121).
Links with other qualifications
Describing workplace expectations and writing planning documents support GCSE English Language and Literature and GCSE Business, and timetable and cost planning practise the everyday numeracy in GCSE Mathematics and Numeracy. Customer-facing work-related activities link with VCSE Retail and Customer Service and VCSE Hospitality and Catering, and Annexe E names Transport for Wales and NHS Wales as Welsh work experience sources (page 129). Within the WJEC Skills Suite, Applying for jobs and Interview and confidence techniques carry the CV and interview writing and talk. Compared with the WJEC Work experience unit, the Pearson unit has the same 20 hours, asks for more travel planning numeracy, including costs at Level 1 and contingency plans at Level 2, and does not ask for a CV, application form or written review of the placement.
Source: Pearson Entry Level 1 to Level 2 Skills for Work Award, Certificate and Diploma Qualifications Specification, Issue 1, August 2026, Unit SfW 14: Work experience.