Achieving ASDAN accreditation
ASDAN
(Award Scheme Development and Accreditation Network)
is a Qualifications and Curriculum Authority (QCA)
approved awarding body offering a number of programmes
and qualifications to recognise and develop personal
and social development skills which can contribute
considerably to a person’s employability..
Trident Edexcel and ASDAN have closely together
to enable this programme to contribute to achieving
various ASDAN awards and the Certificate in Personal
Effectiveness (CoPE) as it becomes generally available.
Active Citizenship
Award Programme.
ASDAN has an Award called the Active
Citizenship Award. ASDAN and  Trident
staff have made sure that in completing The Active
Citizenship Programme learners can achieve the
ASDAN Citizenship Award via a process akin to
the accreditation of prior learning. ASDAN awards
work on a credit based system where learners have
to undertake a certain number of 'challenges'
and complete Action Plans and Reviews (APR's)
to gain ASDAN credits. Two ASDAN credits are needed
to get the Citizenship Award and those credits
are for;
Completing a Citizen Project E–Folio
including 3 APR's Total: 2 credits
Upon satisfactory completion of the above (as
agreed by Trident staff) certificates for the
Active Citizenship Award can be issued by ASDAN.
Other ASDAN awards
ASDAN has other awards that these 2 credits can
be counted towards. The main award programme (in
both it's Bronze/Silver/Gold and FE routes is
in about 3,000 schools and colleges and the ASDAN
credits gained from The Citizen Project
can be used towards these awards.
The first (preparatory) level within the main
award scheme is Bronze or Level
Up. This needs 2 ASDAN credits and learners can
count one of their Citizen Project credits towards
this.
The next level of the main award scheme is Silver
or FE Level 1. This needs 4 credits in total and
learners can count both of their 2 Citizen Project
credits towards this.
The same goes for Gold or FE
Level 2.
Whilst the The Active Citizenship Award
certificate is awarded without moderation,
in order to achieve any of the main ASDAN awards
the student portfolio would need to be submitted
for moderation. Trident staff are advised to discuss
this with the member of staff who is the ASDAN
coordinator for that school or centre.
The main award scheme is recognised by FE and
training providers at the following National Qualifications
Framework (NQF) levels.
Bronze / Level Up Preparatory to the NQF
Silver / FE Level 1 Level 1 (GCSE D-G equivalence)
Gold / FE Level 2 Level 2 (GCSE A*-C equivalence)
Staff must be aware that this is not a formal
QCA equivalence but one that is given locally
because of the benefits to the learner of the
style of learning and the nature of the activities
that make up ASDAN awards.
ASDAN's new qualification is called the Certificate
in Personal Effectiveness and you can
use your ASDAN credits towards this in the same
way as for the ASDAN main award scheme. The CoPE
is a QCA approved NQF qualification (in 'pilot'
status at the time of writing) and has full (and
automatic) NQF equivalence and will be included
in the re-modelled school and college performance
(league) tables.
Wider Key Skills
ASDAN and Trident have also built into this programme
the opportunity for learners to use their work
to get Wider Key Skill  (WKS)
- Working with Others. Working
with Others is a qualification that is equivalent
to half a GCSE and is accepted by FE and training
providers as well as employers. At Level 1, Working
with Others will give you a ½ GCSE which
will be half way between a D and a G. At Level
2 the Working with Others qualification will be
equivalent to a grade B at GCSE. The Wider Key
Skills enter the NQF (and thereby the new league
tables) from September 2004. Staff who are aiming
for WKS accreditation are required to undergo
awarding body (i.e. ASDAN) WKS training.
Quality Assurance
In order to ensure consistency across all participating
centres the following quality assurance framework
has been agreed by Trident and ASDAN
- An identified Trident member of staff in
each county will be trained to monitor, support
and assess the local delivery of The Citizen
Project.
- Each school using The Citizen Project for
ASDAN accreditation should register with their
local Trident Office.
- The identified Trident member of staff will
monitor the delivery of the programme (as agreed
between the school and Trident) and assess 3
portfolios per programme.
- The identified Trident member of staff will
apply for the Active Citizenship Certificates
on behalf of the school. The Certificates will
be issued by The Citizen Project Manager
Visit the ASDAN website at www.asdan.co.uk
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