Certificate of Personal Effectiveness (CoPE) Levels 1 & 2

CoPE book cover

The Certificate of Personal Effectiveness qualifications at Levels 1 and 2 have now had their approval extended by Ofqual, with a certification end date of December 2014.

What is it?

The Certificate of Personal Effectiveness is the QCDA-kitemarked qualification outcome of the ASDAN Award programmes. The qualifications offer imaginative ways of accrediting young people's activities. They promote, and allow centres to record, a wide range of personal qualities, abilities and achievements of young people, as well as introducing them to new activities and challenges.

Who is it for?

  • Students in Years 10 and 11, either within the whole school PSHE programme or within the option system
  • "High effort" students, or those described as Gifted and Talented in Key Stage 3
  • Students in Post-16 education, embarking on programmes at Levels 1 and 2

Structure

The CoPE Student Book comprises 12 modules, each of which is divided into three sections. Each section should take 10 hours, which is worth one credit. Students will need 12 credits to gain the Certificate of Personal Effectiveness. For CoPE Level 1, challenges can come from Section A, B or C; for CoPE Level 2, at least six of the credits must be chosen from the longer challenges of Sections B and C.

The module titles are:

  • Communication
  • Citizenship and Community
  • Sport and Leisure
  • Independent Living
  • The Environment
  • Vocational and Diploma Preparation
  • Health and Fitness
  • Work Related Learning and Enterprise
  • Science and Technology
  • International Links
  • Expressive Arts
  • Beliefs and Values

By building a Portfolio of Evidence as they complete various challenges, students must demonstrate competence at Level 1 or 2 in the following skills: Introduction to Working with Others, Introduction to Improving own Learning and Performance, Introduction to Problem Solving, Planning and Carrying out a Piece of Research, Communication through Discussion and Planning and Giving an Oral Presentation.

Assessment

After students' portfolios have been internally moderated, centres must register candidates' names for external moderation - at least four weeks in advance of a regional moderation meeting. ASDAN will issue certificates following successful external moderation.

Status and progression

CoPE has been allocated attainment table points - Level 1 is worth 25 points (equivalent to a GCSE Grade E/F) and Level 2 is worth 46 points (equivalent to a GCSE Grade B). For a full list of qualification codes and performance points for ASDAN qualifications, click here.

There are a number of progression routes to and from CoPE, click here to download a diagram showing how it links with other ASDAN Awards and Qualifications.

Training

For details of forthcoming CoPE workshops, click here.

CoPE Level 1 and 2 Student Book

Click below for sample pages from the student book:

CoPE Student Book pg2CoPE Student Book pg8CoPE Student Book pg9CoPE Student Book pg29CoPE Student Book pg40

FAQ

Q: How much does this ASDAN qualification cost?

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

Q: How can my centre start running CoPE?

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 that the Certificate of Personal Effectiveness is added to their centre's registration. To do this, please complete an Additional Networks Registration Form.

Following registration, you will be able to access additional resources and guidance via the secure area of the ASDAN website.

ASDAN also provides introductory training workshops and can arrange in-house training.

Secure Area for registered centres

Once your centre is registered with ASDAN for CoPE, 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 forms, guidance and moderation checklists
  • Register your candidate numbers and names
  • View updated support/standardisation/moderation meeting 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

LSC FUNDING APPROVAL FOR CoPE - 31 October 2005

LSC funding approval for the ASDAN Certificate of Personal effectiveness (CoPE) appears in the document “School Sixth Form Funding Guidance 2007/08”. The reference to ASDAN appears on page 39. Funding approval also appears in the separate document “ Funding Guidance for Further Education for 2007/08”. See also the Learning Aims Database (LAD) for the FE sector funding rates at www.providers.lsc.gov.uk/lad

Although the funding rates for CoPE as between Sixth Forms and FE colleges are currently different, we understand that the Schools Sixth Form funding rate is to be brought more into line with the FE colleges funding rate in 2008/09 to address this anomaly.