LNF Cymru Literacy and numeracy for Wales

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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 Understanding, response and analysis

  1. Reading an assignment brief and applying knowledge to a scenario

    Assessed: In coursework (non-examination assessment, NEA)

    Every non-examination assessment is based on an externally set brief that changes each year. Unit 1 gives a hospitality scenario and a set of tasks, and Units 3 and 4 ask learners to plan and deliver dishes or an event in response to a brief, so learners must pick out the customer, constraints and requirements before they start.

    Literacy: Reading strategies, Understanding, response and analysis

    Getting pupils ready

    Year 7
    Pupils read a short brief for a children's party menu, highlight the customers, budget and dietary needs, and list three things their dish must do.
    Year 8
    Pupils read a café scenario with a vegan customer and a customer with coeliac disease and write down what each dish must avoid and include.
    Year 9
    Pupils read a full mock brief for an afternoon tea stall at the Royal Welsh Show, annotate every requirement, and turn it into a checklist they tick off while planning.
    Show the specification wording and the LNF statements

    Where it is in the specification: Section 3.2, pages 53 and 54; Summary of assessment, page 5

    “The brief will include a scenario based on a hospitality and catering provision and a set of tasks”
    Progression step 3

    • I can use a range of strategies for finding information, e.g. skimming for gist, scanning for detail.

    • I can show understanding of and use the main ideas and significant details in different texts on the same topic.

    • I can read closely, identifying and noting features of texts, e.g. introduction, sequence, illustrations, formality, key vocabulary.

    Progression step 4

    • I can use a range of strategies, e.g. speed reading, close reading, annotation, prediction, to skim texts for gist, key ideas and themes, and scan for detailed information.

    • I can read, with concentration, printed and digital texts that are new to me and update, broaden and deepen my understanding of information, ideas and issues.

    • I can read closely, follow up and use additional material in texts to extend my understanding.

    Progression step 5

    • I can read and analyse a range of unseen, printed and digital texts with concentration and independence.

    • I can read closely, analysing the content, language and impact of texts to deepen my understanding.

  2. Using hospitality, food safety and culinary terms precisely

    Assessed: In the exam and in coursework (NEA)

    The specification uses a large specialist vocabulary, from HACCP, cross-contamination and pathogenic bacteria in Unit 2 to mise en place, organoleptic properties and named knife cuts such as brunoise and julienne in Unit 3 and Appendix A. Learners need these terms to answer the Unit 2 questions and to write precise plans and evaluations.

    Literacy: Vocabulary, spelling, grammar, Understanding, response and analysis, Clarity and vocabulary

    Getting pupils ready

    Year 7
    Pupils build a word wall of kitchen terms (dice, slice, grate, simmer) and use each one correctly in a spoken sentence during a practical.
    Year 8
    Pupils describe a tasting of three breads using a bank of sensory words for appearance, taste and texture, spelling each word correctly.
    Year 9
    Pupils write a glossary of 15 food safety and culinary terms, such as cross-contamination, HACCP, mise en place and julienne, with a definition and an example sentence for each.
    Show the specification wording and the LNF statements

    Where it is in the specification: Unit 2, Sections 2.1.1 and 2.2.2, pages 24 and 31; Unit 3, Section 3.3.4, page 41; Appendix A, pages 60 to 62

    “Learners should understand the following organoleptic properties of food outcomes:”
    Progression step 3

    • I can use varied, appropriate and precise vocabulary including area of learning and experience/discipline-specific words for different purposes.

    • I can use strategies to correctly spell polysyllabic, complex and irregular words in the context of each area of learning and experience.

    • I can read to build my vocabulary and develop sentence structures, and use these in my own communication.

    Progression step 4

    • I have experienced a range of area of learning and experience/discipline-specific and general academic vocabulary, and can use them in my own communication.

    • I can use a variety of strategies and resources to spell familiar and unfamiliar vocabulary and area of learning and experience/discipline-specific words correctly.

    • I have experienced a range of area of learning and experience/discipline-specific and general academic vocabulary, and can use them in my own communication.

    Progression step 5

    • I can use a range of discipline-specific and general academic vocabulary accurately and precisely.

    • I can use strategies to spell discipline-specific and general academic words in appropriate contexts.

    • I can use a range of discipline-specific and general academic vocabulary in my own communication.

Good to know

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).