WJEC GCSE Dance (Wales): complete guide to the units, the written exam and dance terminology

WJEC offers a GCSE in Dance for Wales, a new qualification approved by Qualifications Wales with first teaching from September 2026 and first award in 2028 (qualification code 3910QS). It supports the Curriculum for Wales and is built around three things: performing, choreography and dance appreciation. This page is the index: below is a map of the three units, an overview of the practical components, and the examinable theory of the written paper covered in depth on this site. WJEC's Wales qualification is distinct from its England-facing Eduqas brand, so always revise from the current WJEC specification and sample materials.

The three units

Dance is split into three units: two practical non-examined assessments and one written examination, all completed in the final year of the course.

• Unit 1: Choreography. A non-examined assessment. Learners respond to a stimulus to create their own dance, generating and developing movement material and structuring it into a complete piece, supported by a reflective log that records and explains their choreographic decisions.
• Unit 2: Performance. A non-examined assessment. Learners perform two contrasting pieces: at least one must be a solo, and the second may be a solo or a group piece. Performers must not perform an extract from the set works their centre has chosen for Unit 3.
• Unit 3: Interpreting Dance. A written examination, marked by WJEC. Learners describe, analyse and evaluate dance, including set works chosen by the centre and unseen works, using dance terminology.

Across the qualification, the assessment objectives reward performing a dance, creating a dance, demonstrating knowledge and understanding of choreographic processes and performing skills, and critically appreciating both your own work and professional works.

The practical units (overview)

The two practical units, Choreography and Performance, are completed under your teacher's supervision and assessed as non-examined work; the detail of how they are marked is set out in WJEC's guidance for centres. This site focuses on the written-exam theory, but the same knowledge underpins the practical units: choreography applies the choreographic processes and devices, and performance applies the performance skills and safe practice you revise for the written paper. Study the set works and tasks your own centre has chosen, because these vary between schools and colleges.

The written exam: the examinable theory

The written paper, Interpreting Dance, is where most revisable theory lives. It rewards a shared vocabulary for describing dance and the ability to interpret and evaluate it. The theory falls into two clusters, each covered dot point by dot point on this site.

The constituent features of dance (RADS)

The four constituent features are the core analytical vocabulary, remembered as RADS:

1. Action: what the body does (travel, turn, elevation, gesture, stillness, fall, transfer of weight, use of body parts).
2. Dynamics: how movement is performed (speed, energy, weight, flow, continuity).
3. Space: where movement happens (levels, directions, pathways, size, the use of the stage, formations).
4. Relationships: how dancers relate to each other (unison, canon, mirroring, contact, lead and follow, complementary and contrasting).

Analysing and appreciating dance

The wider appreciation content applies the features to whole works:

1. Choreographic processes and devices: stimulus, choreographic intention, motif and development, structure, and devices such as repetition, contrast and climax.
2. Physical and aural settings: set, staging, lighting, costume and props; music, song, spoken word, sound and silence.
3. Performance skills: physical, technical and expressive or mental skills.
4. Safe practice and the dancer's health: warm-up and cool-down, alignment, injury prevention, suitable kit, hydration, nutrition and rest.
5. Analysing and evaluating dance works: describing, interpreting and evaluating set and unseen works, and structuring an extended response.

How to study WJEC Dance

Dance rewards precise vocabulary and disciplined analysis as much as practical ability.

1. Learn the terminology cold. You cannot analyse what you cannot name, so drill the constituent features and the wider appreciation vocabulary until it is automatic.
2. Always link features to meaning. For every feature you spot, explain what it communicates. "Name it, then explain it" is the habit that lifts answers into the top band.
3. Practise on unseen material. The written paper tests transferable analysis, so practise describing short clips you have never met.
4. Build a fact file for each set work. Record its stimulus, intention, motifs, structure and settings, since these are exactly what extended questions reward.
5. Join up the practical and written sides. Apply the same processes, performance skills and safe practice in your own choreography and performance, and they will stick for the exam.

The units, dot point by dot point

Each theory cluster has an overview guide, dot-point answer pages and a quiz. Browse the full set at /wjec-gcse/dance/syllabus.

For the official specification

WJEC publishes the full GCSE Dance specification (teaching from 2026, first award 2028), sample assessment materials and guidance for teaching at wjec.co.uk. Always revise from the current specification and WJEC's own sample materials, and study the specific set works your centre has chosen, because the set works and the question style are board-specific.