VCSE Creative and Media Production, and Technology
VCSE Creative and Media Production, and Technology asks learners to analyse existing media products, write a proposal that explains their creative choices, evaluate ideas against a brief, write scripts and copy in a suitable style and tone, keep a production journal and act on focus group and peer feedback, while the Unit 1 sector test needs precise subject vocabulary in objective and short answer questions rather than extended writing. Numeracy is light and practical: planning a production budget and schedule, reading audience data and viewing figures, collecting feedback through surveys, and working with layout measurements and image resolution, with no calculations named for the sector test. The single biggest thing Key Stage 3 should build is writing that explains and justifies a creative choice for a named audience and purpose.
- Awarding body
- WJEC
- Level
- Level 1 and Level 2
- First taught
- September 2027
- Amount of literacy work
- Medium
- Amount of numeracy work
- Low
- Specification
- Open the specification
- Step before
- Foundation Creative and Media Production, and Technology, Entry Level and Level 1
How this qualification is assessed
- Unit 1: Introduction to the creative and media production, and technology industries: External assessment (sector test) 1 hour, 50 marks, 20%, set and marked by WJEC, paper-based or on-screen
- Unit 2: Pre-production tools, processes and skills: External non-examination assessment 14 hours, 58 marks, 20%, set and marked by WJEC; a set client brief and five tasks, creating pre-production materials for one media product chosen from eleven
- Unit 3: Production and post-production tools, processes and skills: Non-examination assessment, recommended time of 32 hours, 90 marks, 60%, set by WJEC, marked by the centre and moderated by WJEC; a set production brief and three tasks, producing a multi-modal promotional campaign for one event chosen from three
Skills that use Strategic competence
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Planning a production budget
Learners create a budget sheet as a pre-production tool, consider personnel and budgetary constraints in their proposal, and plan a budget covering staff, equipment, talent, props, costume, locations, software, licensing, post-production, marketing and distribution. Budget is also one of the factors used to select ideas and compare media platforms.
Numeracy: Financial literacy, Calculation, Strategic competence, Communicating with symbols, Conceptual understanding
Getting pupils ready
- Year 7
- Pupils cost a class photo shoot from a price list for props, printing and travel and check that the total stays under £50.
- Year 8
- Pupils build a simple Excel budget for a school video with rows for equipment hire, props and music licences, using SUM to keep a running total.
- Year 9
- Pupils produce a budget for a short promotional film within a set limit, compare two quotes for equipment hire, add a 10% contingency and justify what they would cut if costs rose.
Show the specification wording and the LNF statements
Where it is in the specification: Unit 2, Sections 2.1.1, 2.1.2 and 2.2.3, pages 26, 27 and 29
“such as for staff, equipment, talent, props, costume, locations, software, licensing, post-production and marketing and distribution”
Progression step 3
I can manage money, compare costs from different retailers and determine what can be bought within a given budget.
I can realise that budgeting is important.
I can add and subtract totals less than £100 using correct notation, e.g. £28.18 + £33.45.
Progression step 4
I can appreciate the basic principles of budgeting, saving (including understanding compound interest) and borrowing.
I can use efficient written methods to add and subtract numbers and decimals of any size, including a mixture of large and small numbers with differing numbers of decimal places.
I can prioritise and organise the relevant steps needed to complete the task or reach a solution.
Progression step 5
I can prioritise and organise the relevant steps needed to complete the task or reach a solution.
I can refine methods of recording calculations.
I can interpret answers within the context of the problem and consider whether answers, including calculator, analogue and digital displays, are sensible.
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Scheduling a production with timelines and milestones
Learners plan a timeline with key milestones for pre-production, production, post-production and release, and use production schedules and call sheets. In Unit 3 their production journal records how they managed time and deadlines.
Numeracy: Measurement, Strategic competence
Getting pupils ready
- Year 7
- Pupils plan a three-lesson poster project on a calendar, working back from the deadline to set a date for each stage.
- Year 8
- Pupils write a call sheet for a 40-minute filming session, timing each shot in minutes and checking that the total fits.
- Year 9
- Pupils build a production schedule in Excel for a four-week project with milestones for planning, filming, editing and release, and adjust it when one stage overruns.
Show the specification wording and the LNF statements
Where it is in the specification: Unit 2, Sections 2.1.1 and 2.2.3, pages 26 and 29; Unit 3, Section 3.1.1, page 34
“key milestones of pre-production, production, post-production and release”
Progression step 3
I can use and interpret calendars, timetables and schedules to plan events and activities, and make calculations as part of the planning journey.
I can carry out practical activities involving timed events and explain which unit of time is the most appropriate.
Progression step 4
I can prioritise and organise the relevant steps needed to complete the task or reach a solution.
I can select, trial and evaluate a variety of possible approaches and break complex problems into a series of tasks.
Progression step 5
I can prioritise and organise the relevant steps needed to complete the task or reach a solution.
I can select, trial and evaluate a variety of possible approaches and break complex problems into a series of tasks.
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Collecting feedback data with surveys and focus groups
Learners use surveys, focus groups and other feedback on their work in progress to identify areas for refinement in Unit 3, and use focus group feedback in Unit 2. The specification names surveys but does not ask for statistical analysis of the results.
Numeracy: Collecting data, Strategic competence
Getting pupils ready
- Year 7
- Pupils collect class votes on three logo designs in a tally chart and say which design won and by how much.
- Year 8
- Pupils write a five-question survey with rating scales about a draft advert and record the answers in a table.
- Year 9
- Pupils design a short Microsoft Forms survey with closed and open questions, collect responses from another class, and summarise the numbers and comments before deciding what to change.
Show the specification wording and the LNF statements
Where it is in the specification: Unit 3, Section 3.1.2, page 35; Unit 2, Section 2.3.1, page 30
“use feedback on their work in progress to identify areas for refinement”
Progression step 3
I can collect relevant data to answer posed questions.
I can identify, measure or obtain required information to complete the task.
Progression step 4
I can collect own data for a survey, e.g. through designing a questionnaire.
I can collect both quantitative and qualitative data.
Progression step 5
I can collect data in a suitable way according to my hypothesis.
Good to know
- No marks for spelling, punctuation and grammar are stated. The assessment objectives cover knowledge, application, evaluation and practical skills, with AO3 "Interpret and evaluate outcomes of own and/or others work to explore and/or refine creative ideas or media products" worth 21% (Section 3.1, page 41).
- The sector test has no extended writing: Section A uses "multiple choice, multiple response, fill-in-the-blank, drag-and-drop, and hot spot questions" and Section B "includes short answer questions some of which could be based on short industry scenarios" (Section 3.2, page 42).
- Calculator use is not stated in the specification; "The Assessment Pack will include all detailed information relating to assessment." (Section 3, page 41).
- Written NEA work may be handwritten: Unit 2 "must be submitted digitally, either as scanned handwritten responses or completed digitally." (Section 3.2, page 42), and the same applies to Unit 3 evidence (page 43).
- Teachers "must not provide feedback on the evidence being produced" (Section 3.3, page 43), so feedback during NEA must come from focus groups, peers and audiences rather than the teacher.
- Appendix A maps all four literacy strands to "All sections" of every unit (page 49) and numeracy to many sections (page 50), but the only number work the content itself names is budgeting, scheduling, viewing figures and survey feedback.
Links with other qualifications
Writing for an audience and purpose overlaps with English Language and Literature, and analysing media products overlaps with GCSE Digital Media and Film. Budgeting and scheduling overlap with Business and with Mathematics and Numeracy.
Source: WJEC Level 1/Level 2 VCSE Creative and Media Production, and Technology specification, approved by Qualifications Wales, teaching from September 2027, for award from 2029 (© WJEC CBAC Ltd 2026).