Personal and Social Effectiveness Level 1 and 2

Back to courses

About this course

What is it?

ASDAN's Personal and Social Effectiveness (PSE) qualifications are designed to develop competencies in communication, collaboration and emotional intelligence for learners working at Level 1 and Level 2.

Available to deliver in England, Wales and Northern Ireland, the qualifications contain a wide variety of flexible and engaging challenges, empowering young people to take control of their learning, discover themselves, and build respectful and inclusive relationships.

Read the Personal and Social Effectiveness (PSE) qualifications specification

ASDAN’s Personal and Social Effectiveness qualifications are available until their current final learner registration dates (30 September 2026 in Wales / 31 August 2026 in all other locations) and final certification dates.

Centres with existing endorsements for Personal and Social Effectiveness qualifications will receive direct communication detailing the support that ASDAN has put in place for them.

To support our members with the ending of these qualifications we have created some answers to FAQs.

Please contact qualifications@asdan.org.uk or your ASDAN relationship manager if you would like more information or guidance regarding the expiry of the Personal and Social Effectiveness qualifications.

Join ASDAN

To teach this course you must have one of these membership types:

  • Qualifications
  • Customised accreditation

Become a member

Already a member? Sign in

Who is it for?

  • Learners in Years 10 and 11 (Key Stage 4)
  • Learners in post-16 education, embarking on programmes at Levels 1 and 2

Facts and figures

Personal and Social Effectiveness qualifications (PSE):

  • Develop targeted skills, attributes and values as well as cumulatively developing learners’ vocabulary stores, understanding and fluency
  • Give learners regular opportunities to explore all elements of the curriculum and situate their learning in topics, activities and experiences that have meaning for them
  • Provide a pedagogical focus on regular feedback to support the learning process
  • Comprise streamlined course content that is intuitive to deliver and assess
  • Contain competencies developed in a global context that represent the culture and heritage of young people in greatest need in the UK
  • Following amendments to the school and college performance tables in England, qualifications that do not rely on a written examination for assessment purposes, such as ASDAN qualifications, do not themselves, contribute to the tables. There is however, strong evidence that ASDAN qualifications improve performance in English and mathematics, which have a double weighting in school performance measures such as Progress 8
  • In Wales and Northern Ireland, ASDAN qualifications can contribute towards school/college performance measures. Download this information sheet for details

Structure

Award and certificate-sized qualifications will be available at both Level 1 and 2. The estimated time taken to complete the award is 100 hours and the certificate will take approximately 160 hours.

Students will produce a portfolio of evidence to demonstrate their achievements.

Learners develop their skills through the completion of formative challenges prior to being assessed through a summative challenge. 

Units and standards

Learners must complete units one to three in order to achieve the award, and units one to four to achieve the certificate. In the award, learners are assessed on how they have developed the ability to:

  • understand and develop themselves and their own performance
  • work with others in teams
  • develop and use problem solving skills

In the certificate, learners will additionally be assessed on how they have developed the ability to deliver a project. This includes planning, research, presentation and discussion.

Units and topics

Unit one: Developing myself and my performance

  • Health and wellbeing
  • International links
  • Digital communications
  • Beliefs and values

Unit two: Working with others

  • Citizenship and community
  • Sport and leisure
  • Environment
  • Enterprise
  • Beliefs and values

Unit three: Problem solving

  • Science and technology
  • Expressive arts
  • Independent living
  • Vocational preparation

Unit four: Delivering a project (certificate only)

  • Building on the knowledge, skills and attributes of the first three units, the learner chooses their project linked to one or more topics from units 1-3

1. Staff training

• The members of staff with overall responsibility for delivery must attend an ASDAN introductory workshop, webinar or INSET. Book at: asdan.org.uk/training

2. Register with ASDAN

• You will need ASDAN Qualifications membership to deliver Personal and Social Effectiveness qualifications. Membership allows centres to purchase materials and access support, including regular mailings and updates.
• Become a member at: asdan.org.uk/membership or manage your existing membership at: asdan.org.uk/membership-details

3. Centre approval

• Centres will need to provide specific policies and procedures and provide additional information in order to be given centre approval to deliver qualifications. Centres are risk rated and all new centres will require a centre approval visit.
• Centres should create assessment plans for all units being assessed. Centres may be asked to supply them to ASDAN for validation.
• Centres will be required to review and renew a number of centre policies each year at: asdan.org.uk/member/centre-details/centre-approval

4. Create a new cohort

• Create a new cohort using the ASDAN website: asdan.org.uk/member/cohorts
• Specify a course co-ordinator, the expected completion date and the number of learners taking the course.

5. Delivery and assessment

• Deliver the course to candidates, making use of the standards and general guidance and assessment resources. Resources can be downloaded from the course resources section on this page.

6. Internal moderation

• Internally moderate all portfolios to ensure that learners have met the full requirements of the course. Ensure learners are given time to make any necessary amendments.

8. External moderation

• Book your moderation at: asdan.org.uk/member/moderations
• Deadline of 31 October for booking moderation within the academic year. Fees apply for moderations booked after this date. Members are entitled to two free moderations per qualification, per year.
• Confirm your learner names and details for moderation: asdan.org.uk/member/cohorts
• Provide the sample portfolios to the external quality assurer (EQA), as requested.
Moderation may take place as part of a centre visit or be carried out by post.
• Certificates will be sent to your centre within 20 working days of your EQA notifying ASDAN that a successful final moderation has taken place.

ASDAN training events are delivered by experts to enable your centre to successfully run our courses. They provide an introduction to the course, along with guidance on the processes involved, course delivery and moderation. 

Training is mandatory for Personal and Social Effectiveness qualifications. 

Book training

Costs

All prices shown below are per learner, unless otherwise stated.

Item Price
Award (Level 1 and 2)  £35.95
Certificate (Level 1 and 2)  £43.95

 

All prices valid from September 2022. Prices are shown exclusive of VAT.

Public funding for ASDAN qualifications delivered in the UK

Many ASDAN qualifications are fully funded by the UK Government.

Whether you are an employer, a learner or a training provider, the following websites will provide you with more information on the different types of public funding in the UK for ASDAN qualifications.  

Products

Course resources

Personal and Social Effectiveness qualifications FAQs

Personal and Social Effectiveness L1 example portfolio

This has been produced by ASDAN using simulated evidence. It includes example student portfolios for the L1 Award and Project, as well as example assessment plans and IM documentation to support the submission.

Personal and Social Effectiveness L2 example portfolio

This has been produced by ASDAN using simulated evidence. It includes example student portfolios for the L2 Award and Project, as well as example assessment plans and IM documentation to support the submission.

Cookies