ASDAN qualification

New qualifications have been made available to young people wanting to do something a little different.

Run by ASDAN (Award Scheme Development and Accreditation Network), the Award of Personal Effectiveness (AoPE) Level 1 and the Volunteering at an Event Levels 1 and 2 qualifications aim to increase the skill set of those taking part whilst taking up only a fraction of the time of most other qualifications and courses.

The AoPE is a QCA kitemarked qualification and is available for anyone aged 14 and over.

Learners will choose activities from a flexible curriculum, developing their skills in a number of areas over a learning time of around 60 hours. Completing the course will earn them the equivalent of half a GCSE qualification.

Skills the course will address include working as part of a group, dealing with problems in daily life, and preparing for and giving presentations. Completion of the course will also enable the learner to progress to other qualifications such as the Certificate of Personal Effectiveness.

The Volunteering at an Event (VaaE) qualification is accredited by Ofqual, CCEA and DCELLS and is available for anyone over the age of 14 who is willing to volunteer their time at an event. This can be anything from summer play schemes and community festivals to sports tournaments or general fundraisers.

It will take around 20 learning hours to complete and covers the event arrangement and the role of volunteers, contributing to the event and contributing to the review of the event.

A portfolio of work relating to the event will then be assessed in order to receive the qualification. Like the AoPE, the VaaE will open the doors for further qualifications such as the Community Volunteering certificate.

Both the AoPE and the Volunteering at an Event qualification are also very reasonably priced at £21 and £12.50 respectively.

A Sussex ASDAN practitioner said of the programmes available: "They provide a framework for learning to take place to include personal development, life and independence skills in a professional way, and are at levels which are appropriate to and realistic for our learners."

For further information the following downloads are available:

AoPE Information Flyer (PDF 115Kb)
Event Volunteering Information Sheet (MS Word 38Kb)
Event Volunteering Standards (MS Word 49Kb)