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This occupation is found in the British and International animation industries, providing animated content for film, television, advertising, games, corporate and immersive reality industries. Animation companies and studios vary in size and the number of employees they have, and are described as small, medium or large companies. They are to be found across England and the UK. The output and remit of an animation studio is varied, and they will produce work for a range of clients across advertising, film, television and commercial. Some studios specialise in one area, particularly children’s media, which is the largest area of the industry. There are a number of studios who also provide service work to other creative industries to diversify their revenue streams, providing visual effects, animated content, live action or interactive content production.
Animation is the process of displaying still images in a rapid sequence to create the illusion of movement. The animation the Junior Animator is required to create may vary and can include dialogue or non-dialogue. These images can be created using various process including: hand drawn, computer generated, or pictures of 3D objects.
The broad purpose of the Junior Animator’s role is to create animated assets and content, by producing the motions, gestures, expressions and performance of two or three dimensional characters and inanimate objects.
This is a junior level role, in their daily work, an employee in this occupation works closely with the Animator, Animation Lead, Supervisor and Director, along with clients and team members. They must be able to take direction and feedback, in order to create the actions of their animated character, according to the story and the director's wishes. To support this, they must also be able to interpret a storyboard and any character layout/scene planning that has been done in advance.
An employee in this occupation will be responsible for animating characters or scenes. The junior animator should have an excellent knowledge of timing and spacing within the story being animated and have excellent drawing skills. Using model sheets, and any given reference material, they will be able to visualise the character/object/creature in any number of poses, and stage the character/object/creature effectively according to the layout/scene plan.
Junior Animators must also know and understand how characters develop, and their role in that development, the principles of anatomy and how these affect movement, shot construction and composition, shot breakdown and continuity. They must also be aware of the brand guidelines, design or subject matter of the animation being created.
They are a highly creative individual who must be able to focus on their own work for long periods, but also be able to work in collaboration within a team.
The Junior Animator should understand their place within the production workflow process, and be able to organise their animation files and filing system accordingly. They should be able to use the equipment required of a given project, learn and keep up-to-date with animation software, and be able to use traditional techniques such as hand drawn as required. They should be able to export their work for review, and to work within a given schedule. This role may include out of hours or irregular working patterns when collaborating on international projects.
This Standard has a core and four options, with the option taken dependant on the animation specialism of the employer.
Core duties:
Research information, resources and tools such as real-world objects from the world around you and find appropriate visual, written, empirical and physical references in order to create credible animation
Improve own knowledge and performance in animation by seeking out information about emerging practice in the animation industry such as new tools, software, data and other related technology
Work effectively in collaboration with colleagues, partners and suppliers in the animation industry
Work autonomously and communicate effectively with clients or customers in the animation industry, effectively prioritising and meeting deadlines in order to meet agreed production requirements
Prepare to create animated characters/objects/creatures by assessing the requirements set by the brief by adapting to meet the required creative, narrative and technical demands of the production
Plan and present ideas and tell stories to dramatise a narrative, plan shots and demonstrate action to meet animation production requirements to clients or colleagues in the animation industry
Create animated assets in line with production requirements, ensuring output is correct and meets the requirements for the next stage of the process
Follow your organisations policies and procedures to organise, store and retrieve animated assets
Undertake basic compositing and rendering of an animation to meet organisational requirements
Option duties: 2D Animation – including the creation of hand drawn images onto cells or computer animations
Create 2D Animated content by producing a series of sequential 2d images, which, when played back, produce the illusion of movement
Test 2D animated sequences to confirm and check continuity
Stop Motion Animation – including the posing and movement of models such as clay figures
Make characters move in stop motion animation in line with production requirements and ensure continuity throughout the shots
Evaluate characters and sequences in line with feedback to ensure requirements are met
3D Animation – including the creation of Visual Effects and post production assets
Create 3D Animation by producing accurate key frames and in-betweens, breathing life into the character/ object/creature where necessary
Evaluate 3D animations created in line with feedback to ensure requirements are met
Interactive media and immersive reality - including Augmented Reality/Virtual Reality (AR/VR) and Games animation creation
Create animated assets for use in computer games, interactive media or immersive reality
Evaluate animations created for use in computer games, interactive media or immersive reality in line with feedback to ensure requirements are met
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Duty 1 Research information, resources and tools such as real-world objects from the world around you and find appropriate visual, written, empirical and physical references in order to create credible animation. |
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Duty 2 Improve own knowledge and performance in animation by seeking out information about emerging practice in the animation industry such as new tools, software, data and other related technology. |
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Duty 3 Work effectively in collaboration with colleagues, partners and suppliers in the animation industry. |
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Duty 4 Work autonomously and communicate effectively with clients or customers in the animation industry, effectively prioritising and meeting deadlines in order to meet agreed production requirements. |
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Duty 5 Prepare to create animated characters/objects/creatures by assessing the requirements set by the brief by adapting to meet the required creative, narrative and technical demands of the production. |
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Duty 6 Plan and present ideas and tell stories to dramatise a narrative, plan shots and demonstrate action to meet animation production requirements to clients or colleagues in the animation industry. |
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Duty 7 Create animated assets in line with production requirements, ensuring output is correct and meets the requirements for the next stage of the process. |
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Duty 8 Follow your organisations policies and procedures to organise, store and retrieve animated assets. |
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Duty 9 Undertake basic compositing and rendering of an animation to meet organisational requirements. |
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Duty 16 Create animated assets for use in computer games, interactive media or immersive reality. |
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Duty 17 Evaluate animations created for use in computer games, interactive media or immersive reality in line with feedback to ensure requirements are met. |
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K1: How to use own surroundings and research of visual, written and empirical and physical references to inspire and inform animated creations.
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K2: Know and understand the traditional and digital methods for producing animated sequences such as hand drawn or computer generated animation.
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K3: Understand the brand guidelines or subject matter of the animation to be created.
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K4: Understand the history and development of the animation industry and animation genres including, but not limited to, children's, family, adult, experimental, information content.
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K5: Know and understand the different animation styles, core techniques and technologies used such as 2D, 3D and stop motion.
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K6: Understand the dynamics of the animation sector and current and future trends in animation.
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K7: Know and understand own responsibility for identifying and reporting risks relating to health and safety.
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K8: How to work effectively, both individually and as part of a team.
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K9: Understand the context within the production of own role, the department they are working in, and the subsequent stages of the workflow process.
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K10: Understand the animation production pipeline and how own role interacts with this.
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K11: Know and understand the technical and production parameters and client requirements for the project, such as; the schedule, timelines, budget, animation medium, frame count, field size, aspect ratio and format.
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K12: Understand the particular operational and technical standards of others departments and the challenges they face.
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K13: How good, timely communication can contribute to productive working relationships with clients and customers.
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K14: Understand the brand, market position, departments, communication methods, financial processes, culture and ways of working for animation productions you work on.
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K15: How live action reference can influence your ability to animate characters/objects/creatures.
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K16: Understand character/object/creature development and your role in that development.
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K17: The principles of anatomy and how these affect movement.
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K18: Understand shot construction and composition.
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K19: Understand shot breakdown and continuity.
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K20: How to present ideas and information effectively using story/playboards or story telling.
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K21: How to use language which is clear, avoids jargon and is appropriate to the audience.
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K22: Understand the effect your voice tone, pace, volume and body language can have on your audience during presentations.
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K23: How to encourage questions in both oral and written presentations.
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K24: Understand the creative style, overall concept and level of animation required for the production.
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K25: Understand any performance guidelines for the characters/objects/creatures they are working on, such as how they may react and behave in different situations.
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K26: Understand the logic of physical motion, weight, balance, texture and form.
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K27: Understand character/object/creature movement and lip sync.
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K28: Know how to use the relevant graphics, animation and compositing software for an animation production.
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K29: How to maintain record systems of drawings and associated information.
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K30: Understand the possibilities and constraints offered by the software you are using for the animation production.
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K31: Understand the importance of maintaining data security and following your organisation's guidelines and file structures for storage.
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K32: The legal and regulatory requirements which apply to animated assets such as copyright and intellectual property rights.
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K33: Understand the rendering requirements for the production.
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K34: Understand the intended appearance and required degree of realism of the finished image you are working on.
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K35: Know and understand the factors affecting render speed, such as size of texture map, ray and reflection depth, global illumination, ambient occlusion, anti-aliasing, blurry reflections or area shadows.
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K36: Know and understand rendering techniques, such as: ray tracing, texture mapping to define the colour, texture and reflectance of objects and environments, exposure depth of field to alter the sense of depth or focus on objects and environments, toon rendering and stereo rendering.
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K37: How to use z-buffering techniques to simulate a sense of perspective to describe the distance between objects and environments.
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K38: How creative blurring and transforms give the appearance of live-action.
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K39: Understand the surface properties and how shading models can be applied to represent variations in different materials.
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K40: How to save and duplicate render settings across multiple files.
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K50: Understand why it is important to evaluate progress and seek feedback on your work in animation.
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K59: Understand the need to work methodically in an organised and concentrated manner, paying attention to detail.
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K67: Understand the requirements and expectations of other team members who will use the animations you create.
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K68: Understand relevant standards and conventions relating to user-interface design.
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K69: Understand the principles of interaction design, especially regarding usability and accessibility.
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K70: When and why an animation might be cut-off prematurely, and how to minimise the risk of this adversely affecting the user’s experience of the product.
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K71: Understand the impact on own work of technical parameters such as the processing power, memory, bandwidth, screen size, resolution, colour depth or physical user interface of the target platform(s).
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K72: Which of the events or user interactions will trigger your animations.
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K73: How each animation will be used in the product such as whether it will play once, loop several times or indefinitely.
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K74: Understand the purpose and target users for the animated assets being created.
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S1: Determine what is required for their own work as a junior animator by analysing briefs, specifications, visual references, technical and production parameters.
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S2: Research ideas and information for the animation being created.
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S3: Read and interpret the relevant sources of information for the production, such as; the script, animatic, x-sheet or dope-sheet, character/object/creature, colour and model reference and soundtrack.
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S4: Continue to update own animation skills, use new tools, software, data and other related technology.
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S5: Adapt and be able to meet the requirements of the animation style or genre specified for the production.
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S6: Use reliable information to keep-up-to date with the laws, regulations, codes of practice, standards and guidelines that govern animation and how they affect your work.
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S7: Maintain an awareness of the current priorities, constraints and opportunities of your work as junior animator at all times.
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S8: Comply with relevant legislation and organisational policies and procedures such as health and safety.
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S9: Work methodically in an organised and concentrated manner, paying particular attention to detail.
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S10: Identify the information you need to carry out your work to expected standards on each animation production.
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S11: Work effectively both individually and as part of a wider animation team.
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S12: Operate within and adhere to agreed organisational policies, standards and procedures.
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S13: Maintain an awareness of the current priorities, constraints and opportunities of the client's budget or production requirements at all times.
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S14: Move characters/objects/creatures in whatever style is required to meet the creative, narrative and technical demands of the production.
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S15: Respond to feedback about the animated material you create in a positive way, making refinements as requested by clients or supervisors.
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S16: Deliver good customer service in a creative environment.
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S17: Develop an animated character/object/creature through its movement and timing.
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S18: Contribute ideas to aid the creative development of the character/object/creature, shot and overall production.
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S19: Create animations using given camera angles, or make adjustments to camera animations according to the production demands and schedule.
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S20: Create the assets that meet the requirements of the animation department.
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S21: Plan story/playboards to communicate key ideas with the team or clients.
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S22: Create story/playboards that depict the script and narrative.
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S23: Present work in progress, or completed animations to colleagues or clients.
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S24: Respond carefully to questions, making sure you provide the information the audience is asking for.
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S25: Animate primary and secondary characters/objects/creatures and elements.
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S26: Interpret the personality and traits of the character/object/creature, conveying the emotions, behaviours and actions within a scene.
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S27: Ensure that animations are in sync with the soundtrack.
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S28: Create animation in line with production demands, and ensure the output is correct for the next stage of the process.
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S29: Select and use the industry standard software package required by the particular animation production.
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S30: Adapt to the various styles, techniques, procedures and software that may be required by the animation production.
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S31: Prepare and store files in line with production requirements, to enable the next stage of animation production to run efficiently.
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S32: Undertake test renders at appropriate times to determine the length of time required for rendering and check for errors.
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S33: Establish the render settings that gain the required appearance and create sufficient flexibility for compositing.
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S34: Apply render settings that enable the required degree of realism.
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S35: Prioritise renders in accordance with production priorities.
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S36: Calculate render times and storage space required to meet production requirements.
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S56: Review animations created with the relevant people, offering suggestions to assist others with the production.
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S58: Remain constantly flexible and adaptable to changes in the creative requirements of the production.
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S59: Prepare and store assets and files in line with production requirements to enable the next stage of production to run efficiently.
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S67: Design animations within specified parameters and constraints relating to the target platform andmedium.
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S68: Create animations that are attractive, easy to use and fit for purpose.
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S69: Save your animations in appropriate formats so that they can be easily incorporated into the product.
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S70: Provide clear documentation for others to incorporate your animations into the product.
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S71: Organise animations using appropriate filing and naming conventions so that they can be located easily by others.
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S72: Liaise with colleagues, such as designers and developers, to ensure your animations are appropriate and meet requirements.
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S73: Test the animated assets you have created against the production specifications and to ensure they are easy to use and fit-for-purpose.
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S74: Review assets created with the relevant people, offering suggestions to assist others with the production.
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S75: Respond positively to feedback about the assets you create, making refinements as needed
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B1: Self motivation - a self-starter, with a proactive approach to tasks and managing own development.
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B2: Adaptability- adapts positively to changing work priorities and patterns, ensuring productions deadlines continue to be met.
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B3: Flexibility – A positive approach to working independently and collaboratively as part of a team.
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B4: Strong work ethic - motivated, proactive, committed punctual and reliable
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B5: Maintains company and customer confidentiality, acting as an ambassador for their employer.
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B6: Displays a passion for animation and creative media creation.
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B7: Displays a positive attitude - constructive thinking and motivated to succeed.
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Awarding body: Luminate Education Group
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