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