Qualifications in development
  • - Essential Skills Wales

Essential Skills Wales

Reforming our Essential Skills Wales qualifications

Qualifications Wales recently consulted on their proposals to reform the suite of Essential Skills Wales qualifications and will be publishing their findings and decisions during the summer term 2026. You can read more about their proposals here. Alongside these reports Qualifications Wales will also publish the final approval criteria that awarding bodies will use to develop the qualifications. 

 

In response, we will shortly begin work to redevelop our Essential Skills Wales qualifications to ensure they align with the new approval criteria. We are therefore inviting expressions of interest from stakeholders who would like to engage with and support this redevelopment work. 

 

Join our Advisory Groups
 

We will be establishing Qualification Development Advisory Groups for each of the three skill areas – Literacy, Numeracy and Digital. 

 

Advisory group members will play a central role in advising, informing and constructively challenging the development of the new qualifications. 

 

Members will be asked to: 

  • share sector, delivery and learner insight 

  • act as a critical friend to early qualification proposals 

  • advise on qualification content and assessment approaches 

  • identify opportunities and potential challenges in delivery. 

We are particularly keen to hear from: 

  • further education and work‑based learning providers 

  • practitioners delivering the current Essential Skills Wales qualifications 

  • employers and employer representative bodies 

  • other organisations with an interest in the qualifications. 

 

We anticipate that our first Qualification Development Advisory Groups will be held in July (date to be confirmed). These meetings will provide an opportunity to inform new content and innovative approaches to assessment for the new qualifications. 


Register your interest in joining our Qualification Development Advisory Groups by completing this form Join our ESW Development Advisory Groups! – Fill in form. Tell us which skill area(s) you are interested in and (in no more than 300 words) a little about your skills and experience and why you are interested in this opportunity. 


Closing date for expressions of interest: 29th June 2026 


Places on advisory groups may be limited, and we will aim to ensure a balanced range of perspectives across sectors and learning contexts. 

 

Qualification writer and reviewer opportunities

We are recruiting qualification writers and reviewers to support the development of the reformed qualifications. 

In this role you will be asked to undertake some or all the following: 

  • produce content that meets subject content requirements published by Qualifications Wales 

  • produce sample assessments (question papers/ non-examination assessment tasks and mark schemes) that meet qualification and assessment specification requirements 

  • review content/ sample assessments to ensure that they meet qualification and assessment specification requirements 

  • ensure unit and assessment content meets all commissioning instructions, as agreed with the qualification development officer 

  • provide additional assessment content as required, including document/image sources and details of copyright permission. 

  • attend assessment review panel days and training sessions, as required (which will be held via Microsoft Teams, online). 

We are looking for individuals with: 

  • teaching and/or professional qualifications/experience relevant to the specific skill area 

  • good written communication skills 

  • confident use of ICT 

  • ability to pick up new skills quickly and apply them 

  • ability to work to a tight deadline. 

 

For further information, please contact qualificationdevelopment@wjec.co.uk. The closing date for applications is 29th June 2026. 

  

How to apply 

If you wish to apply for the role and are not currently working for the WJEC please go to https://amp.wjec.co.uk/ and click 'Apply’ to fill out the application form.  

 

If you currently work for WJEC, please log in to your Appointees Portal Account and click on the 'My Application' icon on the home screen. Please ensure you add the role of Specification Developer for:  Essential Application of Number or Essential Communication Skills or Essential Digital Literacy Skills on the 'subject area' tab and fill in all the other fields of the application. It is important that you update your Supporting Statement on the application.  

 

If you require any further assistance in completing the application please contact Rob Reynolds (rob.reynolds@wjec.co.uk) or Rabina Chowdhury (rabina.chowdhury@wjec.co.uk).   

 

What happens next 

Over the coming months, we will: 

  • confirm the final scope and timelines for qualification development 

  • establish advisory groups and agree ways of working 

  • provide further updates as the reform progresses. 

 

This page will be updated regularly as new information becomes available.