Personal and Social Development Qualification (PSD)


What is it?

Available to centres from September 2008, the Personal & Social Development Qualification (PSD) offers imaginative ways of supporting young people in:

  • Becoming confident individuals who are physically, emotionally and socially healthy
  • Being responsible citizens who make a positive contribution to society and embrace change
  • Managing risk together with their own wellbeing

as well as introducing them to new activities and personal challenges.

Who is it for?

PSD Levels 1 & 2 is used by mainstream establishments for students aged 14 – 19. These qualifications also play a major role in rewarding achievement within the non-formal sector.

How to achieve the Personal and Social Development Qualification (PSD)

Students select from a range of ‘challenges’ from the modules that make up PSD at Levels 1 and 2:

Level 1 Level 2
  • Healthy Living
  • Parenting Awareness
  • Managing Social Relationships
  • Community Involvement/Action
  • Managing Money
  • Equality/Diversity
  • Using Leisure Time
  • Environmental Awareness
  • Healthy Living
  • Healthy Eating
  • Handling Food Safely
  • Parenting
  • Managing Social Relationships
  • Your Money in the Future
  • Managing Money
  • Equality/Diversity
  • Recreational Involvement

PSD is available at Certificate and Award level with a choice of assessment units available at both levels:

Level 1 Certificate14 credits
Level 1 Award8 credits
Level 2 Certificate14 credits
Level 2 Award8 credits

By building up a Portfolio of Evidence as they complete the various challenges, candidates develop their knowledge and abilities within the areas of personal and social development and provide evidence of meeting the Assessment Units for the chosen modules.

Assessment process:

  1. Internal assessment and moderation
  2. Candidate names submitted to ASDAN
  3. ASDAN sample the submission
  4. External postal moderation

The Qualifications offer:

  • Nationally recognised certification for Levels 1 and 2
  • Accreditation for existing PSHE and PSD activities
  • Opportunities to include activities both inside and outside of school and in non-formal situations
  • 100% coursework and postal moderation

PSD's contribution to School/College Performance Tables

Level 1 Certificate25 points
Level 1 Award12.5 points
Level 2 Certificate46 points
Level 2 Award23 points

Training

Practitioners must attend an introductory workshop in order to run PSD in their centre. Click here for details of workshops.

Publications

The PSD student books for Level 1 and Level 2 will be available shortly.
Students receive a copy of the relevant book as part of their candidate registration.

To download sample pdf copies of each of these books, please click on
the covers:

FAQ

Q: How much do PSD qualifications cost?

A: Click here to access the costs page, which features information about registration costs for the PSD qualifications. Please also take into account the annual centre registration fee if you are not yet registered with ASDAN.


Q: How can my centre start running PSD?

A: If you are not yet registered with ASDAN, your first step is to complete an Application for Centre Registration Form.

Current ASDAN centres need to ensure PSD is added to their centre's registration. To do this, please complete the Additional Networks registration form.

You must attend an introductory training workshop or arrange suitable ASDAN in-house training in order to run PSD in your centre.

Following registration, you will receive a welcome pack. This will include a Registration of Candidate Numbers (Can A) form, which you need to complete in order to receive your student books.


Secure Area for registered centres

Once your centre is registered with ASDAN for PSD, you can access further information and resources via the website's Secure Area.

It contains all relevant updates, essential documents, meeting information and resources, and enables you to:

  • Download Resources, including Guidance and Plan, Do, Review Forms
  • Register your Qualification candidate numbers and names
  • Submit your candidates online for the Award Programmes
  • View updated Moderation Meeting and Support dates
  • Purchase materials from the online ASDAN catalogue
  • Check the list of candidates registered from your centre

There is no limit to the number of people from a centre who can register for a Secure Area password.
You can register for a password online, by clicking here to access the request form.


Further information

If you would like to discuss the qualification or require further information, please contact Maggie Walker or Charlotte Monk at ASDAN.

Personal and Social Development Qualification (FLT)

What is the difference between PSD and PSD(FLT)?
This document illustrates the main differences and similarities between the two versions of the Personal and Social Development Qualification

E2 Standards

E3 Standards

Level 1 Standards

These standards are subject to change over the coming months. They provide a good introduction to the type of content to be expected in this qualification, but the official versions will not be available until early September

Case Study

The Personal and Social Development Qualification
at Edward Sheerien School

A Year 10 group of middle-ability pupils at Edward Sheerien School are
undertaking the new Personal and Social Development Qualification.

The group are studying CoPE Level 2, having chosen it as an option.
As they have three hours per week over a two-year period available,
the Personal and Social Development Qualification has been integrated
into this time, enabling the students to work towards two GCSE-equivalent qualifications.

The students are currently working on the Healthy Living module –
some of the challenges are also providing evidence of the CoPE
skills. These photographs show pupils testing their cardio-vascular
fitness. Based on the results, they will develop an action plan on
what areas of fitness they want/need to improve and how they are
going to do this.