ASDAN

ASDAN is an educational charity with awarding body status, providing courses to thousands of UK and international schools, colleges, youth centres and training providers. ASDAN’s programmes and qualifications offer flexible ways to develop, assess and accredit skills for learning, skills for employment and skills for life. ASDAN’s established Personal Development Programmes (Bronze, Silver and Gold) offer imaginative ways of developing, recording and certificating a wide range of young people’s personal qualities, abilities and achievements, as well as introducing them to new activities and challenges. All the programmes link to nationally recognised qualifications.

You will select a number of challenges, which cover a wide range of topics from the Personal Development Programme’s student book and then compile a portfolio of evidence to show what you have done. You will be required to plan and review your work at key points, explaining how you have developed your skills in six areas: Teamwork, Learning, Coping with Problems, Use of Maths, Use of English and Use of IT. There are pro forma recording documents (Skills Sheets) to guide and encourage learners to reflect on their skill development.

Assessment:

THERE IS NO EXAM!

You will build up a portfolio of evidence by completing sufficient challenges to gain credits. Students gain 1 or 2 credits for each section completed, with each credit representing about 10 hours of activity. Six credits are needed to achieve Bronze, 12 credits for Silver and 18 credits for Gold. Internally-moderated Bronze Credits certificates are available for any learner that completes less than 60 hours work. Portfolios of work are externally moderated. Progression from Bronze to Silver and then Gold is based solely on time spent and credits gained, but students are able to claim certification at each stage.

The Personal Development Programmes count as half of the curriculum credits (six) required for ASDAN’s Certificate of Personal Effectiveness (CoPE) at Levels 1 and 2, which is comparable to a GCSE.

Personal Development Programmes and the world of work:

The transferable skills developed through Personal Development Programmes are vital to future success:

• Problem solving – employers want you to use your initiative. They need you to be able to recognise problems and come up with solutions.
• Working with others – we must all work with others in some form. Good teamwork is vital to business success.
• Improving own learning and performance – we live in an ever-changing world. Employers value people who can learn new skills and acquire knowledge. Employers, colleges and universities greatly value Key Skills as they can help you achieve higher grades and do better at work.