ASDAN’s flagship non-regulated programme. Modular, person-centred, portfolio-assessed. PDP is the default ASDAN choice for many alternative-provision settings because of its breadth, its credit-flexibility, and its recognition of progress in learning, life skills, wellbeing, and personal effectiveness.
PDP is offered at three credit levels — Bronze, Silver, and Gold — corresponding to roughly 60, 120, and 180 hours of guided learning each. A learner can move from Bronze upward over time, and module credits earned at one level count towards the next.
Modules
PDP modules are grouped into broad areas of learning:
- Communication — speaking, listening, written communication
- Numeracy — practical maths in real-life contexts
- Citizenship and community — local engagement; understanding rights and responsibilities; community projects
- Sport and leisure — physical activity; healthy living
- Beliefs and values — personal beliefs; cultural and religious diversity; ethical reasoning
- The environment — local and global environmental awareness; sustainability projects
- Vocational preparation — work skills; CV and interview practice; vocational sector exposure
- Health and survival — first aid; safety; healthy lifestyle
- Number handling — financial literacy; budgeting; quantitative reasoning
- Knowledge of the world of work — work experience reflection; sector visits; LMI
Within each module, ASDAN provides a range of challenges of varying complexity. The learner picks challenges that interest them and that produce genuine portfolio evidence.
Why this is well-suited to the NEO cohort
PDP fits the EBSNA cohort because:
- No timed exam. Assessment is the portfolio. A learner who cannot tolerate exam conditions can still complete the qualification fully
- Learner choice within structure. The module / challenge architecture means a young person can shape their own programme around interests and strengths, while still meeting credit requirements
- Recognises soft skills. Reflection, communication, persistence — the skills that re-engagement work builds — are themselves the substance of credit
- Progress visible weekly. The portfolio accumulates session by session; a commissioner can see growth without waiting for a year-end mark
- Practitioner-co-ordinated. The named NEO practitioner can hold the PDP thread across the year, weaving challenges into the rhythm of the learner’s other work
Tests canonical
- Life and Work — full canonical branch — PDP modules touch every Life and Work strand at varying depths
- Life and Work — Employability (vocational preparation, knowledge of the world of work modules)
- Life and Work — Financial literacy (number handling module)
- Life and Work — Citizenship (citizenship and community module)
- Life and Work — Independent living (health and survival, daily-life modules)
Cornerstone fits
PDP modules cluster around all six Cornerstones depending on choice. Most NEO PDP profiles will weight Connection, Reflection, and Creativity highly given the cohort’s needs.
Preparing for Adulthood (PfA) anchor
PDP module choices map onto all four PfA outcomes — this is one of the architectural reasons PDP is well-suited to learners with EHCPs.
NEO operational note
NEO does not require all learners to register for PDP. It is offered where the learner-and-family conversation suggests it would be motivating and where ASDAN’s portfolio model fits the learner’s current circumstances. Registration sits with the LA / commissioner as the registering body; NEO supports curriculum delivery and portfolio evidence-gathering.
Source
ASDAN — PDP overview (publicly available). Course handbook required for outcome-level tagging (schema §10 Q1).