Making the most of your qualification support documentation

Teachers/lecturers across Wales are busy preparing to deliver our new suite of Made-for-Wales qualifications, where teaching will begin in September. Following their approval by Qualifications Wales in the autumn term, our subject teams have produced a series of support documentation, to aid in the preparation and delivery of these exciting new qualifications.

Delyth Jones, Assistant Director, Qualification Development, provides an overview of these support documents, explains how they should be utilised, and highlights the unique support that WJEC continues to provide to ensure that teachers can deliver these qualifications with confidence.

For each qualification, we provide three types of documents, which will aid in their delivery: a Specification, Sample Assessment Materials (SAMs) and Guidance for Teaching (GFT). These documents provide a comprehensive framework that teachers/lecturers can use to ensure successful delivery of the qualification.

Specification

The Specification is the key document which explains the structure, content and assessment for the qualification. Each Specification starts with a summary of the assessment which will outline the assessment and weighting of each unit, tell you whether the qualification is unitised or linear, tiered or untiered, and when assessments will be available. 

Our Specification then provide a breakdown of the subject content, describing the knowledge, skills and understanding that should be taught and which could be assessed. They also include key information such as the assessment objectives and weightings, an overview of arrangements for non-examination assessment and technical information relating to making entries, grading, awarding and reporting.  For unitised qualifications, the specification will explain the terminal rule and resitting arrangements.

Sample Assessment Materials (SAMs)

The Sample Assessment Materials (SAMs) provide examples of the types of tasks and questions that could appear in the live assessments. SAMs will give examples of different question types that may be included in an assessment, show how an assessment may look to help learners to familiarise themselves, and show mark schemes to explain how the work will be assessed. There are different types of SAMs:

Assessment by examination – this will be an example of an examination paper
Non-examination assessment (NEA) – we publish an assessment pack which will either be:
actual assessment pack, if the NEA that stays the same for the lifetime of the qualification
an example of an assessment pack, if the NEA tasks stay the same for the lifetime of the qualification but the brief or stimulus will change per series/set period, or if the NEA tasks themselves change from series to series

The assessment pack contains all the information teachers/lecturers need to manage the assessment, the mark schemes, all of the relevant forms and a candidate pack which includes the details of the tasks themselves.

SAMs can be used as part of teacher-directed activities or learner-directed activities. They can be used for examination practise once learning on a topic or unit has been completed. They can also be used as a guide for teachers/ learners to create their own questions to evaluate learning and identify areas for improvement. It is important to understand that the purpose of the SAMs is to illustrate what an assessment could look like in future examination series and therefore should be used once learning has been completed.  

Frequently asked questions in relation to SAMs are available from the following webpage.

Guidance for Teaching (GFT) 

Guidance for Teaching (GFT) supports teachers/lecturers in delivering the qualification, offering guidance on the requirements of the qualification and the assessment process.  It isn’t intended as a comprehensive reference, but as support for teachers/lecturers to develop stimulating and exciting courses tailored to the needs and skills of their learners. They offer possible classroom activities and links to useful resources (including our own, freely available digital materials) to provide ideas for immersive and engaging lessons.

The GfT shows how teachers/lecturers could build in opportunities for learning experiences and embed elements of the Curriculum for Wales, including the cross-cutting themes, cross-curricular skills and integral skills into their programmes of learning. This supports centres in delivering the Curriculum for Wales and supporting their learners in making progress towards the four purposes of the Curriculum for Wales.

FREE Digital Resources

We have already begun publishing these exciting new resources, the full 280 new packages across the first wave of qualifications will be published by September 2025. These resources will be invaluable tools for educators, enhancing the learning experience and facilitating engaging lessons.

To access these resources, visit our Digital Resources website.

Alongside the qualification documentation, in collaboration with Welsh Government, Qualifications Wales, and Adnodd we are leading in the creation of new teaching and learning resources to support our new GCSEs and related qualifications.

We strongly recommend that teachers/lecturers utilise the whole raft of support that are available when delivering our qualifications, which includes our Specification, SAMs, Guidance for Teaching and resources. 

Should you need any additional support, please contact our subject teams, contact details are available via your subject page.