VCSE Retail and Customer Service
VCSE Retail and Customer Service is mainly a literacy qualification: learners read a case study and customer evidence such as reviews and live chat transcripts, write a report, staff guidance and customer replies in the right tone, research a real retailer, write promotional copy and deliver a pitch with questions. Numeracy is light and centres on data, covering customer satisfaction and response time data, primary research and pricing strategies, with no calculations stated anywhere in the specification. The single biggest thing Key Stage 3 should build is writing for a real reader: turning evidence into clear, well-organised reports, guidance and customer messages in a tone that suits the audience.
- Awarding body
- WJEC
- Level
- Level 1 and Level 2
- First taught
- September 2027
- Amount of literacy work
- High
- Amount of numeracy work
- Low
- Specification
- Open the specification
- Step before
- Foundation Retail and Customer Service, Entry Level and Level 1
How this qualification is assessed
- Unit 1: Introduction to the Retail and Customer Service Sector: Sector test 1 hour, 20%, 50 marks, set and marked by WJEC, paper or on screen, objective and short answer questions in two sections of 25 marks
- Unit 2: Developing Customer Service Skills: External non-examination assessment 6 hours 30 minutes, 20%, 60 marks (30 for AO3 and 30 for AO4), set and marked by WJEC, tasks based on a case study
- Unit 3: Retail Marketing and Promotion: Non-examination assessment 19 hours plus 2 hours supervised research, 60%, 90 marks (15 for AO3 and 75 for AO4), set by WJEC, marked by the centre and externally moderated by WJEC
Skills that use Collecting data
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Collecting primary research data with questionnaires and observations
Learners support their analysis of an existing retail business with research data from primary methods such as observations, mystery shopper activities, questionnaires, interviews and focus groups. Their Retail Business Analysis Report includes the target market, customer profile information and demographics.
Numeracy: Collecting data, Strategic competence
Getting pupils ready
- Year 7
- Pupils tally how many pupils use each till in the school canteen at lunch to answer a question set by the canteen manager.
- Year 8
- Pupils design a short questionnaire with closed and open questions on what pupils want from the school shop and trial it on another class.
- Year 9
- Pupils plan an observation and a questionnaire to find out who shops at a local store, collecting both numbers, such as age groups, and comments.
Show the specification wording and the LNF statements
Where it is in the specification: Unit 3, Section 3.1.1, page 35
“use a range of suitable research data/information to support analysis”
Progression step 3
I can collect relevant data to answer posed questions.
I can identify, measure or obtain required information to complete the task.
Progression step 4
I can collect own data for a survey, e.g. through designing a questionnaire.
I can collect both quantitative and qualitative data.
Progression step 5
I can collect data in a suitable way according to my hypothesis.
I can identify, measure or obtain required information to complete the task.
Good to know
- No marks for spelling, punctuation and grammar are stated. The assessment objectives (page 42) are knowledge, application, 'Interpret and evaluate e.g. information/ideas/evidence in retail and/or customer service' and 'Demonstrate and apply skills in retail and/or customer service'.
- The Unit 1 sector test uses objective question types 'such as multiple choice, multiple response, fill-in-the-blank, drag-and-drop, hot spot questions', and Section B adds 'short answer questions' (page 42), so there is no extended writing in the test.
- Calculations and calculator use are not stated anywhere. Pricing is about understanding 'the different pricing strategies used by businesses' (page 36), not working out prices.
- Unit 2 'will take six hours and 30 minutes to complete' and Unit 3 is 'designed to take approximately 19 hours', and centres may deliver each 'in a single sitting or across multiple shorter sessions' (page 43). No word limits are given.
- Handwriting is accepted: Unit 2 'must be submitted digitally, either as scanned handwritten responses or completed electronically' (page 43).
- Pitches are assessed live: 'performance evidence (for example, presentations) must be documented using observation records' (page 45).
Links with other qualifications
Appendix A (pages 50 and 51) maps listening, reading and writing across all three units but speaking only to 1.3.3, all of Unit 2 and 3.3.2, and maps numeracy to mathematical proficiency, number (3.1.4 only) and statistics, with nothing for geometry or measurement. Report writing from data and pricing overlap with GCSE Business, and the complaint handling and bilingual customer service content overlaps with the VCSE in Hospitality and Catering.
Source: WJEC Level 1/Level 2 VCSE Retail and Customer Service specification, approved by Qualifications Wales, teaching from September 2027, for award from 2029 (© WJEC CBAC Ltd 2026).