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
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 Interpreting data
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Interpreting data on engineering in the Welsh economy
Unit 1 covers engineering's contribution to the Welsh economy through jobs, investment, supply chains and exports, plus key employers and recent trends. Appendix A maps the statistics strand to all of Unit 1, so learners need to read and use figures and charts about the sector in the Unit 1 tasks.
Numeracy: Interpreting data
Getting pupils ready
- Year 7
- Pupils read a bar chart of jobs by industry in their local authority, taken from StatsWales, and find how many people work in manufacturing.
- Year 8
- Pupils describe the trend in a line graph of manufacturing jobs in Wales over several years, quoting the highest and lowest figures.
- Year 9
- Pupils compare a chart from StatsWales with a claim in a news article about an engineering sector in Wales, decide whether the data supports the claim and note one limitation of the data.
Show the specification wording and the LNF statements
Where it is in the specification: Unit 1, Section 1.1.1, page 13; Appendix A, page 46
“its contribution to the Welsh economy, such as:”
Progression step 3
I can extract and interpret information from an increasing range of diagrams, timetables and graphs (including pie charts).
I can draw conclusions from data and recognise that some conclusions may be misleading or uncertain.
Progression step 4
I can interpret graphs that describe real-life situations, including those used in the media, recognising that some graphs may be misleading.
I can interpret mathematical information; drawing inferences from graphs, diagrams and data, including discussion on limitations of data.
Progression step 5
I can interpret graphs that describe real-life situations, including those used in the media, recognising that some graphs may be misleading.
I can interpret mathematical information; drawing inferences from graphs, diagrams and data, including discussion on limitations of data.
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).