VCSE Engineering
VCSE Engineering asks learners to read engineering drawings and technical sources closely, use precise technical vocabulary, write an operations plan and risk assessment, report faults and evaluate the quality of their own work, while the Unit 1 tasks ask them to read a case study and weigh the benefits and challenges of an engineering project in Wales. Numeracy runs through every unit: measuring to tolerances with callipers and micrometers, finding missing dimensions and angles on drawings, converting units, and calculating area, volume, waste, feeds and speeds and Ohm's law, much of it tested in the one hour Unit 3 written test. The single biggest thing KS3 should build is accurate measuring in millimetres against a stated tolerance, together with the confidence to use a formula such as spindle speed or Ohm's law with the right units.
- Awarding body
- WJEC
- Level
- Level 1 and Level 2
- First taught
- September 2027
- Amount of literacy work
- Medium
- Amount of numeracy work
- High
- Specification
- Open the specification
- Step before
- Foundation Engineering, Entry Level and Level 1
How this qualification is assessed
- Unit 1: Introduction to the Engineering Sector: Non-examination assessment 8 hours, 20%, 40 marks, set and marked by WJEC, available via Portal
- Unit 2: Applying Engineering Processes: Non-examination assessment 26 hours, 60%, 145 marks, set by WJEC, marked by the centre and moderated by WJEC
- Unit 3: Engineering Principles: Written test 1 hour, 20%, 60 marks, set and marked by WJEC, paper format only
Skills that use Connectives and syntax
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Evaluating quality and suggesting improvements in writing
Learners evaluate the quality of their components against drawing tolerances, judge how well their chosen processes worked and whether they finished in the planned time, and suggest realistic improvements. This evaluation sits in the Unit 2 tasks, where AO3, interpreting and evaluating, carries 10% of the qualification.
Literacy: Planning and organising for different purposes, audiences and context, Connectives and syntax
Getting pupils ready
- Year 7
- Pupils write three sentences about their finished project: one thing that went well, one that did not, and what they would do differently next time.
- Year 8
- Pupils write a paragraph evaluating their part using measurements as evidence and connectives such as because, however and as a result.
- Year 9
- Pupils write a structured evaluation with sections on accuracy, finish, process choice and time, ending with two realistic improvements that each name a process, tool or material.
Show the specification wording and the LNF statements
Where it is in the specification: Unit 2, Sections 2.4.2 and 2.4.3, page 26; Section 3.1, page 37
“how to suggest realistic improvements that would benefit”
Progression step 3
I can use and adapt different structures within my writing, e.g. reporting an event, investigation or experiment.
I can use an increasing range of connectives to organise my ideas in sentences, paragraphs and whole texts.
Progression step 4
I can use summary, discussion of issues, detailed explanations and logic when covering a topic.
I can use a range of connectives specifically when organising my ideas in whole texts for different purposes.
Progression step 5
I can write extended pieces which include detailed evidence and information for different purposes and audiences within and across different disciplines.
I can convey objectivity and impartiality on complex topics, using a range of linguistic devices.
Good to know
- Numeracy is named in the content itself: learners use "applying numeracy skills to calculate or determine missing or incorrect dimensions where required" (Unit 2, Section 2.1.1, page 19), and Unit 3 lists "GCSE Mathematics and Numeracy" as a linked qualification (page 28).
- No marks for spelling, punctuation and grammar are mentioned. All marks sit under AO1 to AO4 (Section 3.1, page 37), and "The Assessment Pack will include all detailed information relating to assessment." (page 37).
- Calculator use is not stated, although Unit 3 includes feeds and speeds and Ohm's law calculations and "Unit 3 is a written test, available in paper format only." (page 5). Check the Assessment Pack.
- NEA writing may be handwritten: evidence "must be submitted digitally, either as scanned handwritten responses or completed digitally." (page 38).
- Spoken and practical work is evidenced by the teacher: "performance evidence (for example, presentations) must be documented using observation records" (Section 3.3, page 40).
- Appendix A (pages 45 to 47) maps literacy to all three units but the numeracy statistics strand to Unit 1 only, and it lists section "3.4.5" (page 47), which does not exist in the content.
Links with other qualifications
Measuring to tolerances, unit conversions, area and volume and Ohm's law overlap with Mathematics and Numeracy, The Sciences and GCSE Design and Technology. Reading drawings, risk assessments and sector case studies in Wales are shared with VCSE Built Environment.
Source: WJEC Level 1/Level 2 VCSE Engineering specification, approved by Qualifications Wales, teaching from September 2027, for award from 2029 (© WJEC CBAC Ltd 2026).