Word Processing Software

Be able to create and edit information in word processed documents for specific purposes.

Learners should recognise the requirements of the document and select and use the most efficient tools and techniques to meet purpose.

Documents should have a clear purpose and occupy multiple pages so that learners can apply a good range of skills, examples include, CV and covering letter, news article, formal report, questionnaire etc.

AC 1.1:

• Blank document, report, letter, invoice, agenda, memo, online template, custom template.
• Local guidelines: organisations, such as the learner's college or place of work, will have a house style which will include specific colour sets, font families, image positioning, for example, publications such as newspapers and magazines have very specific guidelines to follow.

AC 1.2:

• Edit: select, copy, cut, paste, undo, redo, find and replace, insert, delete size, crop, position.

AC 1.3:

• Organise information from a range of sources: mail merge letters and address labels, insert merge data fields, print merge outputs, insert charts created in spreadsheet software, insert images, insert, size, position, wrap, order, group, copy, paste, links, layout, house style.

AC 1.4:

• Save and retrieve documents in line with local guidelines and conventions where available: save, save as, save as, search, open, print, share, export, close, version control, file size, My Documents, local storage/external storage devices (hard drive, USB), remote storage (Dropbox, Google Drive).

Assessment Criteria

• 1.1

  Use appropriate templates to create a variety of documents in line with local guidelines.

• 1.2

  Use editing tools to enhance document content.

• 1.3

  Arrange information from a range of sources in documents.

• 1.4

  Save and retrieve documents using local and remote storage methods.

Be able to modify style and layout to enhance document presentation. 

AC 2.1:

• Format: font size, font style, colour, bold, underline, italic, subscript, superscript, change case, special characters and symbols, alignment, bullets, numbering, line space, borders, shading, tabs, indents, hyphenation, format painter.
• Styles: heading styles, change existing styles to a heading, word, line, paragraph or section.

AC 2.2:

• Page and section breaks, paper size and type, page orientation, margins, page numbering, header and footer, arrange text in two columns, adjust page setup for printing, house style, heading styles.

AC 2.3:

• Create table, insert and delete rows and columns, insert and edit data, adjust row height and column width, merge and split cells, add borders and shading.

AC 2.4:

• Graphics: images, photographs, resize (maintain aspect ratio), crop, position, rotate, add border, drawing tools to add text boxes linking text flow.

AC 2.5:

• Advanced features include using outline features, mail merge, linking and embedding documents from another source, creating an index, a contents table or cross references, use of footnotes or end notes, macros to automate tasks.
• Outline features: headings at different levels, moving headings and associated sub-headings and body text, apply multi-level numbering to headings and sub-headings or paragraphs.
• Mail merge (using a data file of variable data and creating a standard document to merge with the data file).
• Macros: inserting pre-formatted tables, creating custom document formats, changes the style of text that is selected and inserts a heading above it.
• Linking/embedding objects: such as a spreadsheet, graph or chart, ensuring changes to the source are automatically update in the document.
• Password protecting a document.

Assessment Criteria

• 2.1

  Apply appropriate formatting and styles to enhance document.

• 2.2

  Use page and section layouts.

• 2.3

  Insert and modify tables.

• 2.4

  Insert and edit graphics.

• 2.5

  Use advanced word processing features.

Be able to proof and print documents.

AC 3.1:

• Accuracy: spell check, grammar check, manual techniques (proof reading/peer review).
• Consistency: font style and size, page layout, margins, space, line and page breaks, figures, times, dates, measurements, punctuation.

AC 3.2:

• Formats: printing specific page numbers of a document, print odd and even pages to enable double-side printing, print a data file, print copies of merged documents including variable data.

Assessment Criteria

• 3.1

  Use tools to check documents for accuracy and consistency, making changes where necessary.

• 3.2

  Print a variety of documents in appropriate formats.