VCSE Performing Arts
RSL VCSE Performing Arts makes heavy literacy demands, much of them spoken. Learners research a genre and write or record a portfolio of up to 1500 words, analyse a live performance, interpret scripts, lyrics and repertoire, give a filmed evaluation, answer five questions in a filmed one-to-one Viva where communication skills earn half the marks, and justify their creative choices in a timed Audition presentation. Accurate discipline vocabulary runs through every unit. Numeracy is light and practical: rhythm, timing and counts for dance, music and musical theatre learners, keeping evidence within time and word limits, and planning 20 hours of Audition preparation.
- Awarding body
- RSL Awards
- Level
- Level 1 and Level 2
- First taught
- September 2027
- Amount of literacy work
- High
- Amount of numeracy work
- Low
- Specification
- Open the specification
How this qualification is assessed
- Unit 1: Creative Project: Non-examined assessment, 70 GLH (about 30 hours of assessment time), 50%, 100 marks: Section A research portfolio 30 marks, Section B live filmed performance 50 marks, Section C live filmed evaluation presentation 20 marks. Based on RSL instructions, marked by the centre and moderated by RSL in the summer series
- Unit 2: Viva: Non-examined assessment, 14 GLH, 10%, 40 marks: a private, filmed one-to-one interview of up to 10 minutes in which the tutor asks five questions drafted from RSL topic areas, with no resources allowed. Criterion A communication skills 20 marks, Criterion B self-reflection and discipline knowledge 20 marks. Marked by the centre and moderated by RSL
- Unit 3: Audition: External assessment, 56 GLH (35 hours of teaching and 20 hours of supervised preparation, both mandatory), 40%, 80 marks: in a 30 minute filmed slot learners record a solo audition piece of up to 6 minutes (50 marks) and a 3 to 5 minute presentation answering two questions from the annual RSL brief (30 marks). Set and marked by RSL, taken in a four-week summer window
Skills that use Planning and organising for different purposes, audiences and context
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Writing an analysis of a live performance
Section A also asks learners to reflect on one live or professionally filmed live performance, explaining how it represents the genre and what impact it had on them and why, informed by their research. The portfolio is capped at 1500 words, and learners may present some or all of it as audio or video instead of writing.
Literacy: Planning and organising for different purposes, audiences and context
Getting pupils ready
- Year 7
- After watching a filmed school or professional performance, pupils write a paragraph on the moment that affected them most and why.
- Year 8
- Pupils write a short review of a streamed Welsh performance from Theatr Cymru, explaining two features that show its genre and the effect on them as an audience member.
- Year 9
- Pupils write a structured 400 word analysis of a live or filmed performance, linking each point about its genre and its impact on the audience to something they found in their research.
Show the specification wording and the LNF statements
Where it is in the specification: Unit 1, Section A, page 21; Unit 1, Section A mark scheme and expected evidence, pages 27 and 28
“What impact did the performance have on you as an audience member?”
Progression step 3
I can write a comprehensive account of a topic, theme or viewpoint.
I can write about my thoughts, feelings and opinions, showing empathy and respect.
Progression step 4
I can use summary, discussion of issues, detailed explanations and logic when covering a topic.
I can use paragraphs and sections to give coherence to longer pieces of writing.
Progression step 5
I can write extended pieces which include detailed evidence and information for different purposes and audiences within and across different disciplines.
I can organise writing in an appropriate form, ensuring content is detailed within and between paragraphs or sections, developing and sustaining ideas coherently.
Good to know
- Communication is marked directly in the Viva: "Communication skills throughout the discussion are generally sound." is the Level 2 descriptor for Criterion A, worth 20 of the 40 Viva marks (Unit 2, page 47). No separate marks for spelling, punctuation and grammar are mentioned anywhere.
- Much of the evidence can be spoken rather than written: the portfolio "must not exceed 1500 words or 15 minutes audio/visual evidence" (Unit 1, Section A, page 21), and the Unit 1 evaluation, the Viva and the Unit 3 presentation are all spoken and filmed.
- The Viva is unscripted and unaided: "Learners will respond to five questions in their interview." (page 45) with no resources or phones, though "Asking follow up questions is permitted guidance" for the tutor (page 46). In the Unit 3 presentation "The teacher/tutor is not permitted to ask follow-up questions." (page 68).
- Assessment is "available in English and Welsh, or a combination of the two languages." (Section 5, page 76).
- Welsh content is compulsory: learners must "view and discuss at least one Welsh performance" in Unit 1 (page 13) and "explore the work of at least one Welsh practitioner" in Unit 3 (page 55).
- No calculation is assessed and calculator use is not mentioned. Numeracy appears only through timings and limits, such as "Performances must not exceed 6 minutes." (Unit 3, page 64).
- The Viva topic areas are listed differently in two places: page 45 includes "Understanding of their chosen discipline/s", while the Viva Assessor Record lists "Previous creative experiences" instead (Appendix e, page 104), so check the Viva Tutor Instructions before writing questions.
- No unit codes are printed: each unit page shows "Unit code:" with nothing after it (pages 13, 40 and 55), and the appendix letters cited in the text (A, B, C, D) do not match the printed appendices (b, c, d, e).
Links with other qualifications
Compared with WJEC VCSE Performing Arts, the RSL version is more spoken and less written: WJEC learners read job and creative briefs, write a CV and cover letter and answer short scenario questions in a sector test, while RSL learners write or record a research portfolio and are assessed on a spoken evaluation, a one-to-one Viva and an Audition presentation. WJEC also brings budgeting and measuring in through its costume, set and stage management pathways, which RSL does not offer. Analysing live performance and using subject vocabulary overlap with GCSE Drama, GCSE Dance and GCSE Music, the Viva closely matches the WJEC Skills Suite unit Interview and Confidence Techniques, and researching and referencing sources is shared with the WJEC Personal Project.
Source: RSL Level 1 / Level 2 VCSE Performing Arts Syllabus Specification, May 2026, covering qualifications from September 2027.