Frequently asked questions

Browse the Courses page by setting: SEND, secondary, post-16 and community and informal, or contact us (info@asdan.org.uk or 0117 941 1126). We will put you in touch with one of our curriculum experts who can discuss your needs and recommend the best fit for you and your learners.

Individual course pages contain detailed information on each of our courses, including the learners they are targeted towards. Use the to find your chosen course.

Complete the membership application form for your chosen membership type in the Membership page. We will check our database and reinstate your historic account if it was closed within the last five years. If it was closed more than five years ago, we will create a new account for you.

There is an annual membership fee dependent on the level of membership. Select here for membership fees.

Organisations who join at the Qualifications level of membership are also required to pay a one-off centre approval fee, which is part of our mandatory quality assurance process as an awarding organisation. Find out more about centre approval here.

Each course is costed differently and some include additional teacher packs that can be purchased to help deliver the course. Course costs can be found on individual course pages.

A detailed list of all costs associated with delivering ASDAN programmes and qualifications are included in our pricing and fees document.

Many ASDAN qualifications are fully funded by the UK Government. If public funding is of interest to you, follow the below links to help you find out more about eligibility conditions and the types of funding available:

• England = Education and Skills Funding Agency, ESFA
• Wales = Qualifications in Wales, QiW
• Northern Ireland = Department for the Economy

ASDAN offers customised accreditation, a bespoke arrangement in which we will review to see if we can accredit and certificate a course that your organisation has created. Read more about customised accreditation.

Unfortunately, ASDAN cannot accept registrations from individual candidates; students must access these courses through a registered provider (e.g. a school or college). Our advice to candidates looking to complete an ASDAN qualification is to contact their local school or college, who will answer any queries relating to the delivery of the course (e.g. time, cost). ASDAN does not publish a list of our registered centres.

The best way to obtain a log in is for an existing contact to add you, for example a colleague of yours who is already able to log in to the ASDAN website. They can sign in to the members’ area, Centre Contacts page, and select Add new contact.

If there are no colleagues in your organisation with a log in, please email your name, the name of your organisation and ASDAN centre number to info@asdan.org.uk.

Select ‘forgotten password’ on the sign in page to reset your password. Please note the link will expire after 24 hours. If your link expires, you can request another by following the ‘forgotten password’ link again.

Your centre number is the same as your account number with ASDAN. You can find this on the members' dashboard.

When signed in to the website, select on your username in the top right corner and select Cohorts to view your live cohorts, and the ASDAN courses that your learners are working on.

You can access all courses within your membership tier. Sign in to the website, go to your Account Settings and then Membership details to check your membership tier. Here you can View Courses to confirm the courses available to you.

If you wish to deliver a new qualification, sign in to the website, go to the Centre Qualifications page and select Request Qualification next to the course you would like to deliver. You will be contacted by our Compliance team who will advise on what documentation we will need to see in order to approve your organisation to deliver the new course.

If you wish to deliver a course that is not currently included in your membership tier, you can upgrade your membership.

Please note that if you are a Programmes or Programmes Plus member upgrading to Qualifications membership, you will need to go through the Centre Approval process before you can purchase learner registrations. Find out more about the Qualifications approval process.

If you would like to change your type of membership or cancel your membership, you will need to firstly log into the ASDAN website and then select your email address in a purple box on the top right of the webpage.

Select ‘Account Settings’ on the drop-down menu. On this page, under the 'Centre details' section, select  ‘Membership details’. This will take you to the page where you can change or cancel your membership.

You will need to create a Purchase Order (PO) number to reference this change of membership to your finance team on the invoice produced (if you are downgrading or cancelling your membership this will not be relevant). Your current membership will be shown towards the bottom of the page by highlighting the current membership (Qualifications, Programmes Plus and Programmes) in purple.

If you wish to cancel your membership, please select the ‘Cancel membership’ button on your current membership level (outlined in purple) and follow the instructions. This may include a list of currently active tasks. If you wish to proceed with cancelling your membership, please select ‘Yes, please end our membership’ towards the end of this information. The relevant department will then be in touch to review your leaving process and ensure all tasks are cancelled before this is actioned.

If you wish to change your type of membership, please select ‘Change membership’ on the chosen type of membership and follow the instructions given. If there are active tasks, this will prompt you to contact our centre support team for further advice before processing this change or you will have the option to confirm this change at the bottom of the page. You will also see details of any cost attached to upgrading your membership type from Programmes to Programmes Plus, Programmes to Qualifications or Programmes Plus to Qualifications.

Please note that if you are a Programmes or Programmes Plus member upgrading to Qualifications membership, you will need to go through the Centre Approval process before you can purchase learner registrations. Find out more about the Qualifications approval process.

If you would like to cancel your membership, you will need to firstly log into the ASDAN website and then select your email address in a purple box on the top right of the webpage.

You will see ‘Account Settings’ on the drop-down list. On this page under the 'Centre details' section, select ‘Membership details’ and this will take you to the page where you can cancel your membership.

If you would like to change your type of International membership, you will need to email info@asdan.org.uk and ASDAN will change this for you.  

Accounts are placed on hold when an invoice is over 45 days overdue or a credit limit has been exceeded. Please contact finance@asdan.org.uk to arrange payment of any outstanding invoices and gain access to your account.

Accounts may also be placed on hold if there have been any incidents of malpractice or maladministration. If this is applicable to you, please contact compliance@asdan.org.uk to discuss.

You can purchase products in three ways:

• Materials for learners, including student books, should be purchased when you create a new cohort in Cohorts in the members' area.
• Staff reference copies of student books and other course-related products can be purchased from individual course pages.
• Relevant resources can also be purchased from within an existing cohort. Select View Cohort under Cohorts in the members’ area. Select View course and buy resources.

Go to the Course page for your chosen course and scroll down to the Course Resources section to access teaching and learning resources as well as assessment and recording documents.

Go to the Course page for your chosen course and scroll down to the Course Resources section to access assessment and recording documents.

Once you have purchased the resource pack in hard copy form, you can request a digital copy of the resource pack by emailing design@asdan.org.uk.

We have removed the Orb website and brought all resources together into one place under each course page. Go to the Course page for your chosen course, then scroll down to the Course Resources section to access teaching and learning resources as well as assessment and recording documents.

The message centre has been removed and replaced by the member dashboard. This is the screen you first see when you sign in to the website and it displays your active cohorts and upcoming events. Select your email in the top right purple button to start and manage new courses, edit learner details, manage your account settings and find FAQs and video guides in our new help centre.

Important updates will be sent by email to contacts on your organisation’s account.

A cohort is a group of learners working on the same ASDAN course to the same completion date.

We ask members to create a cohort at the start of a course. This is how you register your learners and purchase registrations and/or student books.

Once you have created a cohort, you will be able to log your learners’ progress on their course and book moderation or request certificates.

The expected completion date is an indication of when you expect your cohort to complete their course. This date is not a commitment or a moderation booking and by giving us this date you have not booked moderation.

Moderation windows for Personal Development Programmes and Preparing for Adulthood programmes are set termly. To book, sign in and go to the Cohort page, select View Cohort on the relevant group, then Book moderation.

If no dates are displayed, deadlines for the current term have passed; there will be another opportunity to moderate the following term.

Moderation for Qualifications (CoPE, AoPE, PSD, Personal Progress, Employability and PSE) is arranged by request. To request a moderation, go to the Cohort page, select View Cohort on the relevant group, then Request moderation. This will create a screen on which you can choose your moderation date and the expected number of learners for the moderation. We must have a minimum of five weeks’ notice of your preferred moderation date.

Once you have booked moderation, the 'request moderation' button (for qualifications) or 'book moderation' button (for programmes) will be greyed out. 

Please note moderation for qualifications within the current academic year should be requested by 31 October to avoid late fees. Your learners do not need to be ready for moderation at this point.

The co-ordinator is the person with overall responsibility for the administration of the cohort, including booking moderation and entering learners and units. It does not need to be the person teaching the course, or the assessor.

Once signed in, you can add new learners when you set up a cohort in the Cohort page. Select the Create new cohort button and choose Add new learner on the Add learners page, or use the Learner bulk upload link to add a large number of learners at once.

Learners can be managed in the Learners section.

Learners are registered at the start of their course. This allows you to enter completed units throughout the course, rather than at the end. To register your learners for a course, navigate to the Cohort page and select Create a new cohort. You can choose to purchase resources as part of this process.

Learners can be added to cohorts that have already been created by selecting View Cohort on your chosen group, then Add new learners.

If you are registering learners for a programme and you already have student books, please do not add books to your course registration – leave the quantity on the products page as 0.

We will check your balance at the point of certification and if there aren’t enough valid, unused books in hand, we’ll invoice at that point.

If you are registering learners for a qualification and have registrations in hand, please complete the course registration process but choose to pay by invoice and note “already paid” in the payment reference box. Any unused, valid learner registrations will be credited from your invoice. If you would like to check your balance of qualifications learner registrations, please email qualifications@asdan.org.uk

Sign in to the website, navigate to the Cohort page and select the cohort in which you want to change a learner's name. Find the learner and select View learner details; from here you will be able to edit the learner’s details.

You can edit learners up until your moderation deadline, four weeks before your booked moderation date.

To cancel a moderation for a programme (Personal Development Programmes or Preparing for Adulthood programmes), email programmes@asdan.org.uk to request the cancellation. Please include your organisation name, ASDAN centre number, the date of your moderation and the course it is for.

To cancel a moderation for a qualification, email qualifications@asdan.org.uk to request the cancellation. Please include your organisation name, ASDAN centre number, the date of your moderation and the course it is for.

Cancellation may be subject to a fee if the request is made within seven days of the moderation date.

Select here for instructions on moderation for Personal Development Programmes or Preparing for Adulthood programmes (Transition Challenge, Towards Independence, New Horizons and Workright).

If you wish to enter several cohorts for qualifications moderation, please email qualifications@asdan.org.uk

Sign in to the website, go to the Cohort page and select View Cohort for your chosen group. The Booked Moderations list includes all relevant moderations booked or requested by your organisation.

Sign in to the website, go to the Cohort page and select View Cohort for your chosen group. From the Booked Moderations list, select View Details.

Sign in to the website, go to the Cohort page and select View Cohort for your chosen group. In the Learners section, select Update learner units. You will be able to see the units you have entered your learners for, and make amendments.

Please note, this button will not be available once your moderation deadline date has passed.

You will be contacted around two weeks before your moderation date confirming the portfolios you should send for moderation, which will include a full list of the learners and units entered for the moderation.

We will email the cohort co-ordinator around two weeks before your moderation date confirming the learner work we would like to see, and the address to which you should send your portfolios. 

To view your sample and the details of your upcoming moderation, sign in to the website, go to the Cohort page and select View Cohort for your chosen group. From the Booked Moderations list, select View Details. This will list the moderation date, the EQA (External Quality Assurer) assigned to your moderation as well as the sample, which can be downloaded directly from the website.

The cohort co-ordinator will receive an email when it is available to view, usually around two weeks before your moderation date.

Sign in to the website and go to the Cohort page. The Past Moderations tab contains historic moderation feedback reports (MFR) for your centre.

Please contact compliance@asdan.org.uk if you cannot see the MFR you are looking for.

Sign in to the website and go to the Teaching page. Choose the Results tab to download a list of your learners’ achievements.

We can organise replacement certificates at a charge of £14 for each certificate. Please email info@asdan.org.uk with the learner name(s), the course the certificate is for, the organisation the learner completed the course with and the moderation date if known, and the reason for the request. Please return the original to us if you have it.

Sign in to the website, go to Account settings and select Centre Contacts. From your list of Centre Contacts, choose the colleague you wish to name as an assessor, and select the right-facing arrow. From the next page, Edit Contact, choose all courses they will be assessing from the first list then Save changes.

Sign in to the website, go to Account settings and select Centre Contacts. From your list of Centre Contacts, choose the colleague you wish to name as an internal moderator from the second list, and select the right-facing arrow. From the next page, Edit Contact, choose all courses they will be assessing then Save changes.

Sign in to the main ASDAN website. Go to the Cohort page by selecting the button with your email on.

Select Create a cohort, choose Short Courses (e-portfolio) rather than Short Courses (student books). This will allow you to register your learners with ASDAN and purchase e-portfolio registrations. Then go to the e-portfolio.

Your cohort will appear on the homepage. If they are existing learners you will be able to assign challenges immediately.

If they are new learners, you should Generate usernames and passwords from this page. Please ensure you download the usernames and passwords generated as you will not have an opportunity to do this again. Passwords can be amended by individual learners’ edit pages at a later point if necessary.

Go to the tutor site where you can create usernames and passwords for learners, assign challenges and request certificates.

Go to the learner site; Learners should log into the learner portfolio to complete the challenges set, skills sheets and summary of achievement.

All learners must have an assigned tutor in order for challenges to be assigned and usernames and passwords generated. If your learners do not have a tutor assigned, sign in to the tutor site, select e-portfolio, then View all learners for a list of your learner names. Choose the new learner, and then the ‘actions’, select a tutor and select ‘add’.

Lifeskills Challenge is delivered entirely through www.lifeskillschallenge.org.uk. Go to the website and log in, choose the Learners tab then select Add a learner. When you have added all learners, select Proceed with Registration to create a new group or add your learners to an existing one and enter a payment reference number.

Lifeskills Challenge is delivered entirely through www.lifeskillschallenge.org.uk. Your username and password are the same for all ASDAN sites.

Sign in to the website, go to Account settings and select ‘View order history'. From here you can:

• View and download invoices
• Pay outstanding invoices
• Check your order status

You can pay online by credit or debit card, or by bank transfer. Card details can be provided when you place your order, or select 'Pay now' next to your invoice on the Order History list.

If you prefer to pay by invoice you are welcome to provide a purchase order number when you place your order, though this is not mandatory.

Members based in Western Australia wishing to pay by card should choose to pay by invoice and then contact our Finance team by emailing finance@asdan.org.uk. The team will be in touch to arrange a time to take your card details over the phone.

ASDAN works directly with education providers and does not accept applications from learners. Learners can do our courses through our centres, which include schools, colleges, pupil referral units and other providers. We recommend talking to your local college or other education providers to see if they offer ASDAN courses.

We can organise replacement certificates at a charge of £13 for each certificate. Please email info@asdan.org.uk with your name, the course you completed, the name of the organisation you did the course through, approximate moderation date, and the reason for your request.

Corrections/changes to a certificate can only be made once the original certificate has been returned to ASDAN. Replacement certificates do not need to be returned to ASDAN.

Only the following Level 3 ASDAN qualifications carry UCAS points for students entering higher education:

• Certificate of Personal Effectiveness (CoPE) Level 3 – 16 points
• Award of Personal Effectiveness (AoPE) Level 3 – 8 points
• Wider Key Skills Level 3 (Northern Ireland only) – 6 points per skill (3 skills available)
• Extended Project Qualification Level 3 (England only) – up to 28 points (depending on grade)

Please note that ASDAN cannot accept registrations from individual students. Students must access these courses through a registered ASDAN provider, for example a school or college. Our advice to students looking to get extra UCAS points through an ASDAN qualification is to contact their local school or college who will then be able to answer any questions.

ASDAN’s programmes and qualifications are widely recognised by teachers and other educators for providing an engaging curriculum that empowers students through personalised learning and choice. Our courses motivate learners through short-term targets and regular recognition of achievement. Success stories, surveys and testimonials from our members demonstrate that our courses develop a wide range of core skills in young people, including teamwork, problem solving, communication, managing your own learning and performance and conducting research.

Learners undertaking our courses also develop character traits such as confidence, self-esteem, resilience and ambition. Read our success stories to find out more about the impact of ASDAN’s courses on learners.

ASDAN works directly with education providers and does not accept applications from individual candidates. Learners access our courses through our network of centres, which include schools, colleges, pupil referral units and other providers. We recommend talking to your local school, college or other education providers to see if they offer ASDAN courses.

Our free downloadable activity packs are designed to provide you with engaging and practical tools to support your learners' personal, social and skills development. Often aligned with national events and awareness days, they provide taster activities and materials from our range of courses. The activities can be adapted to suit a wide variety of learning environments, including home learning.

Our Focus and Raising Aspirations courses are designed for young people being educated at home who have special education needs and disabilities. You do not need to be an ASDAN member to buy these courses. Register for a free non-membership account and materials can then be purchased from the relevant course pages.

Please note that these courses are being withdrawn from sale on 31 December, but are available for purchase until that date.

Parents/carers can register as non-members to access Focus, Raising Aspirations and Employability Skills Development. Our member offer is designed to be delivered by education practitioners in centres.