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 Conceptual understanding

  1. Applying food safety temperatures and times

    Assessed: In the exam and in coursework (NEA)

    Unit 1 sets exact figures: cooking to 70°C for 2 minutes or 75°C for 30 seconds, chilled food below 5°C, frozen food below minus 18°C and handwashing for at least 20 seconds, which are tested in the examination. In Unit 2 learners use food probes or visual checks to make sure food is safely cooked.

    Numeracy: Measurement, Communicating with symbols, Conceptual understanding, Strategic competence

    Getting pupils ready

    Year 7
    Pupils use a probe thermometer to measure chilled, room temperature and hot water, record each reading in °C, and decide which would be safe for storing chilled food.
    Year 8
    Pupils mark the freezer, fridge, cooking and reheating temperatures on a vertical number line from minus 20°C to 80°C and work out the differences between them.
    Year 9
    Pupils probe a cooked chicken portion, record the reading and the time it was held, and decide in writing whether it meets the 70°C for 2 minutes or 75°C for 30 seconds rule.
    Show the specification wording and the LNF statements

    Where it is in the specification: Unit 1, LO2, sections 2.1 and 2.3, pages 38 and 42; Unit 2, LO2, section 2.5, page 62; assessment criteria 2.3 and 2.5, pages 53 and 71

    “Cook food to safe internal temperatures 70°C for 2 minutes or 75°C for 30 seconds”
    Progression step 3

    • I can read and interpret scales or divisions on a range of measuring instruments.

    • I can measure and record temperatures involving positive and negative readings.

    • I can use appropriate notation, symbols and units of measurement.

    Progression step 4

    • I can read and interpret scales on a range of measuring instruments.

    • I can use appropriate notation, symbols and units of measurement, including compound measures.

    • I can interpret answers within the context of the problem and consider whether answers, including calculator, analogue and digital displays, are sensible.

    Progression step 5

    • I can interpret answers within the context of the problem and consider whether answers, including calculator, analogue and digital displays, are sensible.

    • I can identify, measure or obtain required information to complete the task.

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.