VCSE Hospitality and Catering
Hospitality and Catering asks learners to read annual assignment briefs closely, answer 30 multiple-choice questions on food safety on screen, and write justifications, proposals, production or event plans and evaluations in the 70% unit, while speaking and listening to customers, in Welsh where possible, at a Unit 4 event. Its numeracy is practical and applied: exact food safety temperatures and time limits, weighing, measuring and scaling quantities and portions, costing and budgeting, timing a plan, and using customer feedback. The single biggest thing Key Stage 3 should build is the habit of turning a brief into a clear, timed and costed plan, then writing an honest evaluation against it.
- Awarding body
- WJEC
- 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: Introduction to the Hospitality and Catering Industry: Mandatory external non-examination assessment 2 hours, 15%, 45 marks, set and marked by WJEC, tasks based on an assignment brief that changes annually
- Unit 2: Food Safety, Hygiene, and Allergens: Mandatory digital examination 1 hour, 15%, 30 marks, 30 multiple-choice questions, on screen only via Surpass, auto-marked and graded pass or fail
- Unit 3: Catering in Action (option): Non-examination assessment 12 hours, 70%, 105 marks, set by WJEC, marked by the centre and moderated by WJEC; centres choose Unit 3 or Unit 4
- Unit 4: Hospitality in Action (option): Non-examination assessment 12 hours, 70%, 105 marks, set by WJEC, marked by the centre and moderated by WJEC; centres choose Unit 3 or Unit 4
Skills that use Translanguaging
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Serving customers bilingually and using Welsh language skills
Welsh language provision is listed as a customer need and Welsh language skills as a work skill in Unit 1, and bilingual requirements are a factor when planning a Unit 4 event. In Unit 4 learners demonstrate effective communication using the customer's preferred language where possible.
Literacy: Translanguaging, Clarity and vocabulary
Getting pupils ready
- Year 7
- Pupils learn and use Welsh phrases to greet a customer and take a simple order, such as "Bore da" and "Beth hoffech chi?", in a café role-play.
- Year 8
- Pupils make a bilingual menu card for a class café, translating dish names and allergen warnings with help from a dictionary and a Welsh-speaking pupil or teacher.
- Year 9
- Pupils plan the bilingual signs, menu and spoken welcome for a school event and practise switching between Welsh and English when serving guests.
Show the specification wording and the LNF statements
Where it is in the specification: Unit 1, Sections 1.1.2 and 1.2.1, pages 16 and 20; Unit 4, Sections 4.2.1 and 4.3.1, pages 46 and 48
“effective communication and using the preferred language where possible”
Progression step 3
I can receive information in one language and adapt it for various purposes in another language.
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.
Progression step 4
I can apply my translanguaging skills to support my learning in familiar and new languages.
I can speak clearly, selecting and adapting my language appropriately for a range of audiences and purposes, conveying meaning effectively to the audience.
Progression step 5
I can independently identify translanguaging opportunities to enhance my learning and communication in my languages.
I can present ideas and issues to meet the demands of different audiences.
Good to know
- No marks for spelling, punctuation and grammar are mentioned. AO3, "Interpret and evaluate information/ideas/evidence of the hospitality and catering industry", is 15% of the qualification (Section 3.1, page 52).
- Calculator use is not stated. Section 3 says "The Assessment Pack will include all detailed information relating to assessment." (page 52), so check the Assessment Pack for each unit.
- Unit 2 can be awarded as a standalone Level 2 Certificate, for which "candidates are required to achieve a minimum score of approximately 75%" (Summary of assessment, page 5), and "Special consideration cannot be applied for the awarding of Unit 2" (Section 3.2, page 53).
- Written evidence may be handwritten: "The assessment must be submitted digitally, either as scanned handwritten responses or completed digitally." (Section 3.2, page 53).
- Speaking can be credited through observation: "performance evidence (for example, presentations) must be documented using observation records that include descriptive and summative comments" (Section 3.3, page 55). Teachers "must not provide feedback on the evidence being produced" (page 55).
- Appendix C (pages 65 and 66) maps reading and writing to all sections of every unit, speaking only to section 1.2.2 and parts of Unit 4, numeracy to no section of Unit 1, and the statistics strand to no unit at all.
Links with other qualifications
Food safety temperatures, recipe scaling, timed plans and evaluating practical outcomes overlap with GCSE Food and Nutrition, and costing, budgeting and customer feedback overlap with GCSE Business, so shared KS3 routines for scaling recipes and writing evaluations would serve all three.
Source: WJEC Level 1/Level 2 VCSE Hospitality and Catering specification, approved by Qualifications Wales, teaching from September 2027, for award from 2029 (© WJEC CBAC Ltd 2026).