VCSE Sport and Leisure
Literacy in this VCSE is mostly practical and work-related: reading short scenarios in the sector test, using set definitions accurately, writing session plans and evaluations, and speaking clearly when coaching or interviewing performers. Numeracy is centred on data, with every learner collecting, charting and interpreting participation data in the Unit 2 NEA, and Unit 3 adding fitness testing, normative tables, energy balance and a six-week training plan, while Unit 1 has little numerical content. The single biggest thing KS3 should build is the habit of collecting real activity data, putting it in a correct chart and writing a short judgement that quotes the figures.
- 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 Sport and Leisure, Entry Level and Level 1
How this qualification is assessed
- Unit 1: Introduction to the Engineering Sector: Non-examination assessment 8 hours, 20%, 40 marks, set and marked by WJEC, available via Portal
- Unit 2: Applying Engineering Processes: Non-examination assessment 26 hours, 60%, 145 marks, set by WJEC, marked by the centre and moderated by WJEC
- Unit 3: Engineering Principles: Written test 1 hour, 20%, 60 marks, set and marked by WJEC, paper format only
Skills that use Understanding, response and analysis
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Reading short scenarios and answering applied questions
Section B of the Unit 1 sector test asks learners to apply knowledge to applied situations, and short stimulus scenarios may be given as part of the questions. Learners need to read a short text about a club, centre or person closely and pick out what the question needs.
Literacy: Reading strategies, Understanding, response and analysis
Getting pupils ready
- Year 7
- Pupils read a short paragraph about a family that wants to get more active and underline two barriers and one thing that would help them.
- Year 8
- Pupils read a half-page case study about a leisure centre in their local authority and answer three short questions, highlighting the line in the text that gave each answer.
- Year 9
- Pupils answer four timed scenario questions about a community club, then swap with a partner to check whether each answer used details from the scenario rather than general knowledge.
Show the specification wording and the LNF statements
Where it is in the specification: Summary of assessment, page 5; Section 3.2, Unit 1, page 44
“Short stimulus scenarios may be provided as part of these questions.”
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.
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 use inference and deduction to understand more complex texts, and can consider the reliability and impact of what I read.
Progression step 5
I can read and analyse a range of unseen, printed and digital texts with concentration and independence.
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, extracting and commenting maturely on key ideas and themes.
Good to know
- No marks for spelling, punctuation and grammar are mentioned. All marks sit under AO1 to AO4, and AO3 "Interpret and evaluate, for example, information/ideas/evidence in sport and leisure" carries 25% overall (Section 3.1, page 44).
- Calculator use is not stated. Section 3 says "The Assessment Pack will include all detailed information relating to assessment" (page 44), so check the assessment packs.
- Unit 2 adds reading time: "A further one hour should be scheduled for reading time." (Section 3.2, page 45)
- Written NEA work is annotated by the teacher, and spoken work is recorded on observation records: "Written evidence must be annotated to show how it meets the marking criteria." (Section 3.3, page 47)
- Teachers "must not provide feedback on the evidence being produced" during NEA (Section 3.3, page 47), so pupils need to be used to reviewing their own writing and data.
- The Unit 3 training programme sits outside the supervised hours: "The time taken to carry out the six-week training programme can be outside of the specified supervised assessment time" (page 32).
Links with other qualifications
Fitness measurement, normative tables and training plans overlap with GCSE Physical Education and Health, and collecting and charting survey data overlaps with GCSE Mathematics and Numeracy and GCSE Social Studies.
Source: WJEC Level 1/Level 2 VCSE Sport and Leisure specification, approved by Qualifications Wales, teaching from September 2027, for award from 2029 (© WJEC CBAC Ltd 2026).