VCSE Travel and Tourism
VCSE Travel and Tourism is heavy on literacy: learners read and compare sources, write a destination fact file, a trip proposal, an itinerary and marketing materials using persuasive language tailored to an audience, present their trip and answer questions, and write a reflection on their own performance. Numeracy is lighter but real, with the Unit 1 sector test asking learners to extract information, spot trends and make calculations from Welsh tourism data, and Unit 3 needing a trip budget, costings, a schedule and a feedback survey whose responses are collated. The single biggest thing KS3 should build is persuasive, well-structured writing for a named audience, backed by accurate facts and simple costings.
- Awarding body
- WJEC
- Level
- Level 1 and Level 2
- First taught
- September 2027
- Amount of literacy work
- High
- Amount of numeracy work
- Medium
- Specification
- Open the specification
- Step before
- Foundation Travel and Tourism, Entry Level and Level 1
How this qualification is assessed
- Unit 1: Introduction to the Travel and Tourism Industry: External assessment (sector test) 1 hour, 50 marks, 20%, set and marked by WJEC, paper-based or onscreen
- Unit 2: Tourist Destinations: External non-examination assessment 6 hours (plus 2 hours of research beforehand), three tasks based on an assignment brief that changes every year, 50 marks, 20%, set and marked by WJEC
- Unit 3: Travel and Tourism in Action: Non-examination assessment 15 hours, five tasks based on an assignment brief, 90 marks, 60%, set by WJEC, marked by the centre and externally moderated by WJEC
Skills that use Measurement
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Reading and presenting climate data
In Unit 2 learners must understand climate information for destinations, including climate graphs and weather patterns, and present accurate climate data in their destination fact file.
Numeracy: Interpreting data, Representing data, Measurement
Getting pupils ready
- Year 7
- Pupils read a climate graph for Aberystwyth and find the warmest month, the wettest month and the temperature range across the year.
- Year 8
- Pupils draw a climate graph for a Mediterranean resort with rainfall bars and a temperature line on suitable scales, then compare it with a Welsh resort.
- Year 9
- Pupils choose the best month to visit two destinations for different tourist groups using climate graphs, converting any Fahrenheit figures to Celsius, and justify their choice with the data.
Show the specification wording and the LNF statements
Where it is in the specification: Unit 2, Section 2.1.2, page 21; Unit 2, Section 2.4.1, page 24
“climate information, including climate graphs and weather patterns”
Progression step 3
I can extract and interpret information from an increasing range of diagrams, timetables and graphs (including pie charts).
I can represent data using:
- lists, tally charts, tables, diagrams and frequency tables
- bar charts, grouped data charts, line graphs and conversion graphs
- pictograms where one symbol represents more than one unit using a key
- Venn and Carroll diagrams.
I can measure and record temperatures involving positive and negative readings.
Progression step 4
I can construct and interpret graphs and diagrams (including pie charts) to represent discrete or continuous data, choosing an appropriate scale.
I can interpret mathematical information; drawing inferences from graphs, diagrams and data, including discussion on limitations of data.
I can convert temperatures between appropriate temperature scales.
Progression step 5
I can select and construct appropriate charts, diagrams and graphs with suitable scales.
I can interpret mathematical information; drawing inferences from graphs, diagrams and data, including discussion on limitations of data.
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Scheduling dates, times and durations
Learners set the duration and dates of their trip, sequence activities in a logical order and produce an itinerary with a schedule. This needs accurate times, durations and use of transport timetables.
Numeracy: Measurement, Strategic competence
Getting pupils ready
- Year 7
- Pupils use a bus timetable to plan a morning trip to a nearby town, working out departure and arrival times and how long they will have there.
- Year 8
- Pupils build a one-day itinerary for a visit to Swansea with 24-hour times, journey lengths and activity durations that add up to the school day.
- Year 9
- Pupils plan a two-day trip including a train connection, work out total travel time and waiting time, and adjust the schedule if a train is delayed by 40 minutes.
Show the specification wording and the LNF statements
Where it is in the specification: Unit 3, Section 3.2.1, page 28; Unit 3, Section 3.2.2, page 28; Unit 3, Section 3.3.2, page 29
“duration and dates: such as start and end times, seasonal considerations”
Progression step 3
I can use and interpret calendars, timetables and schedules to plan events and activities, and make calculations as part of the planning journey.
I can estimate how long a journey takes.
Progression step 4
I can use timetables and time zones to calculate travel time.
I can prioritise and organise the relevant steps needed to complete the task or reach a solution.
Progression step 5
I can prioritise and organise the relevant steps needed to complete the task or reach a solution.
I can select, trial and evaluate a variety of possible approaches and break complex problems into a series of tasks.
Good to know
- Written NEA evidence can be handwritten: Unit 2 'must be submitted digitally, either as scanned handwritten responses or completed digitally.' (page 32).
- Spoken work is assessed through observation: 'performance evidence (for example, presentations) must be documented using observation records' (page 34).
- Learners get a research window before Unit 2: 'A further two hours should be scheduled for research prior to the completion of tasks.' (page 32).
- Teachers may not coach the writing during NEA: 'Teachers may clarify task requirements but must not provide feedback on the evidence being produced.' (page 34).
- Appendix A maps Listening, Reading, Speaking and Writing to all or almost all sections of every unit, but maps no section to geometry and measurement (pages 39 and 40).
- The specification does not say whether a calculator may be used in the Unit 1 sector test, which includes 'make calculations using a range of data' (Unit 1, Section 1.3.3, page 19).
Links with other qualifications
Climate graphs, places and tourism impacts overlap with GCSE Geography, persuasive marketing and budgeting overlap with GCSE Business, and the trip budget and timetable work draws on Mathematics, so KS3 departments could share one model of a costed, persuasive trip plan.
Source: WJEC Level 1/Level 2 VCSE Travel and Tourism specification, approved by Qualifications Wales, teaching from September 2027, for award from 2029 (© WJEC CBAC Ltd 2026).