You can be employed, seeking work, self-employed, working as a volunteer or someone who just wants to improve their knowledge and practical work-related skills and achieve a qualification.
Please note this may vary from college to college depending upon government funding criteria.
Each WorkSkills unit has a credit value. You will need to build up a minimum of 3 credit values for an Edexcel Level 1 BTEC Award in WorkSkills (QCF) and a minimum of 13 credit values to achieve an Edexcel Level 1 Certificate in WorkSkills (QCF). The units and their individual credit values are summarised below.
Click on each title for more information.
Level 1 units:
This unit will help you to make informed decisions about the alternatives to paid work. You will understand how the skills gained from participating in unpaid work will be relevant and transferable to other career paths. You will be expected to:
This unit will help you to develop the skills needed to successfully manage a budget. You will understand how to manage your outgoings and will consider the benefits of saving money. You will be expected to:
This unit will help you to identify a range of potential sources of employment and equip you with the skills to match potential job roles to your own strengths and abilities. You will be expected to:
This unit will equip you with the skills to identify and apply for jobs that are matched to your abilities. You will know how to present information in an appropriate format depending on the type of application. You will be expected to:
This unit will equip learners with the skills to prepare for a successful interview. You will know how to anticipate an interviewer’s questions and prepare appropriate responses. You will be expected to:
This unit will help you to develop the skills to undertake a successful interview. You will know how to conduct yourself at an interview and understand the importance of both verbal and non-verbal communication. You will be expected to:
This unit will help you to prepare for a work placement. You will find out key facts about the organisation providing the placement, the role you will be undertaking, the working hours and the attitudes and behaviours that will be expected of you. You will be expected to:
Work placement provides you with the ideal opportunity to gain valuable workplace skills and increase your knowledge of a vocational area. This unit has been designed to help you reflect on the work placement and identify how the experience can be used to further your career development. You will be expected to:
Although WorkSkills is free, your commitment is time. As you get started on your course we ask you to complete a short course induction. From this the vision2learn system will provide you with an Action Plan, which will tell you when you need to submit your assessments to your tutor and help you to plan your study time into your busy lifestyle. Each unit requires approximately 10-20 hours of study time.
You will be assigned to an online tutor who will help you and assess the work you submit as your assessments during the course. These assessments will form your portfolio of evidence. This demonstrates that you have met the learning outcomes of the course. You can contact your tutor at any time using vision2learn’s own internal messaging system or by telephone or email too.
The course is offered online with vision2learn – an innovative web-based learning system, which you can access via your internet-connected PC. The online course contains all of the learning content needed to meet the assessment requirements of the course, as well as activities to enable you to practise your skills and test your learning. In addition, you will receive help and support from an online tutor – who is always just a click away.
In order to study this course, you will need:
WorkSkills courses are eligible for government funding. This means that the Level 1 courses are normally free of charge to anyone over the age of 16 and who has been ordinarily resident in the EU for 3 years or more, as long as this residency has been for purposes other than full-time study.
It’s important that you log on to your study area regularly, keep in contact with your tutor and complete the assessments as you work through your course. If you don’t do this you may lose your free place. If you are experiencing any problems with your learning please let your tutor know and they can help you and ensure that you remain enrolled on the course.
After you have completed our online registration form, we will need to confirm the availability of support from our network of partner colleges/training providers and tutors. When we have confirmed that there is support available for you from a college/training provider in your area you’ll receive an enrolment form from the college/training provider that you will need to complete and return immediately. Please remember to sign your form, as it is crucial in securing your free place. Once this form has been processed, your vision2learn study area will be activated and your chosen course will become available. You will then be able to log on and get started.
