LNF Cymru Literacy and numeracy for Wales

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VCSE Hospitality and Catering

The VTCT Skills VCSE Hospitality and Catering has a 28 mark multiple-choice examination on Unit 1, covering the industry, food safety, nutrition, customer care and sustainability, and a 12 hour Unit 2 Non-Examined Assessment in which learners plan, cook and serve a dish. Literacy sits mainly in Unit 2: reading the brief, writing a meal and service plan, justifying dish choices, evaluating their work from a reflective journal, and speaking and listening to guests during table service, with Welsh greetings where appropriate. Numeracy is practical: safe temperatures and times, weighing and portioning, costing a dish within budget, timing a plan, and reading nutrition labels. Key Stage 3 should build timed, costed plans and honest written evaluations.

Awarding body
VTCT Skills
Level
Level 1 and Level 2
First taught
September 2027
Amount of literacy work
Medium
Amount of numeracy work
Medium
Specification
Open the specification
Step before
Foundation Hospitality and Catering, Entry Level and Level 1
How this qualification is assessed
  • Unit 1 (UWHC1): Introduction to the Hospitality and Catering industry: MCQ External theory examination 60 minutes, 30%, 28 marks, multiple-choice questions on LO1 to LO5, set and marked by VTCT Skills, taken on screen with a paper option, sat in the April or May series at the end of Year 10 with one resit in Year 11 (best result counts); 40 GLH
  • Unit 2 (UWHC2): Planning, preparing and serving a meal: Non-Examined Assessment, maximum 12 hours, 70%, four tasks worth 8, 12, 16 and 12 marks, set by VTCT Skills with a new brief each year, released in December of Year 11 and submitted in April, marked and internally quality assured by the centre with a level-based mark scheme, externally moderated by VTCT Skills, no resit; 100 GLH

Skills that use Clarity and vocabulary

  1. Speaking and listening to guests during table service

    Assessed: In the exam and in coursework (NEA)

    In the Unit 2 table service learners greet guests politely, speak clearly, listen carefully to dietary requirements and requests, ask clarifying questions, repeat orders back and check allergen information with the kitchen. Unit 1 also covers communication style and active listening, which is tested in the multiple-choice examination.

    Literacy: Clarity and vocabulary, Questioning, Listening to understand, Purpose, Collaborative talk

    Getting pupils ready

    Year 7
    In a café role-play pupils take a spoken order for a drink and a snack from a partner, write it down and read it back politely to check it is right.
    Year 8
    Pupils role-play a guest who mentions a nut allergy, and the server asks two clarifying questions, repeats the order back and says they will check with the kitchen.
    Year 9
    At a class tasting event pupils serve visitors, describe each dish and its allergens, and check in politely during the meal, while a partner notes their clarity and listening on a checklist.
    Show the specification wording and the LNF statements

    Where it is in the specification: Unit 2, LO3, section 3.3, pages 66 and 67; assessment criterion 3.3, page 71; Unit 1, LO4, section 4.1, pages 47 and 48

    “Ask clarifying questions when needed and repeat orders back to confirm accuracy”
    Progression step 3

    • I can speak clearly, recognising the appropriate language for different audiences and purposes, and varying my expression, vocabulary, tone and gestures to engage the audience.

    • I can respond to others’ points of view by seeking clarity, summarising and explaining what I have heard, read or seen.

    • I can use techniques to remember the main points of presentations, e.g. make notes, summarising, reviewing.

    Progression step 4

    • I can speak clearly, selecting and adapting my language appropriately for a range of audiences and purposes, conveying meaning effectively to the audience.

    • I can organise talk effectively to respond to how listeners are reacting by adapting what I say and how I say it.

    • I can use different techniques to help me remember, record and respond to what I hear.

    Progression step 5

    • I can respond confidently to how listeners react, adapting my language in a wide range of contexts and for different purposes.

    • I can use different techniques to help me remember, record and respond to what I hear.

Good to know

Links with other qualifications

Compared with the WJEC VCSE Hospitality and Catering, where learners write either a justified menu and production plan or an event proposal and event plan in a chosen 70% unit, sit an on-screen food safety examination and complete a separate externally set Unit 1 assignment, the VTCT Skills version asks every learner to plan, cook and serve, with all extended writing, costing and timing in one NEA and only a multiple-choice examination for Unit 1. Temperatures, weighing, nutrition and evaluating practical work overlap with GCSE Food and Nutrition, costing overlaps with GCSE Business, and the Skills for Work topics VTCT suggests, Customer Service and Working in Wales, match WJEC Skills Suite units already on the page.

Source: VTCT Skills Level 1/2 VCSE Hospitality and Catering Qualification Specification, HC2W1 (qualification number C00/5368/9), Version P1, issued 01/09/2026.