A message from our CEO, Melissa Farnham
The start of a new year always offers a moment to pause, to reflect on where we have come from and, just as importantly, to recommit to where we are going.
At ASDAN, our purpose has remained constant for 35 years: to secure equity in education and life chances for all learners, no matter their starting point. This has guided us through decades of change in policy, practice and society and it continues to anchor everything we do today.
Our members – educators, care providers, youth workers, employers and community organisations – are the heartbeat of this mission. Every day, you work with learners whose talents are too often overlooked, whose journeys do not fit neatly into traditional systems and whose potential deserves to be recognised on their own terms. You remind us that education is not simply about attainment, but about meaning, belonging and growth.
As we begin 2026, I want to share an important shift in how we talk about our work and the change we seek. For many years, the language of ‘poverty’ has been used to describe disadvantage. While it aims to highlight injustice, it can also unintentionally define people by what they lack. At ASDAN, we are choosing to speak more deliberately about equity – because equity focuses on possibility, agency and fairness, not deficit.
This shift matters. Words shape systems, and systems shape lives. When we centre equity, we move beyond describing problems to actively redesigning education so that every learner has what they need to thrive.
We often talk about what we call the seven dimensions that influence a young person’s life chances: cultural, cognitive, spiritual, political, emotional, economic and physiological. These remind us that disadvantage is never one-dimensional. It is lived, layered and complex.
Cultural equity means valuing every learner’s identity, story and heritage, rather than asking them to leave who they are at the door of the classroom.
Cognitive equity recognises that there are many valid ways of thinking, knowing and learning.
Spiritual equity speaks to purpose, connection and belonging.
Political equity gives learners a voice in shaping the systems that serve them.
Emotional equity places wellbeing, confidence and resilience at the heart of learning.
Economic equity equips learners with the skills and agency to navigate work and life with confidence.
Finally, physiological equity reminds us that health, environment and physical wellbeing underpin everything else.
Our role as a charity is to help secure equity across all these dimensions, together rather than in isolation.. This is why we listen first. The insights of our members and their learners shape our programmes and qualifications, our digital platforms and our policy voice.
Through our Cross-sector Labs, we bring educators, employers and policymakers together to reimagine systems that too often fail those at the margins. Through Equitas, our digital learning platform, we are widening access to portfolio-based learning, enabling learners to demonstrate skills, progress and personal growth in ways that end-point assessment alone cannot capture. Through our growing UK and international partnerships, we continue to show that inclusive, skills-led education has both local power and global relevance.
Practical and transferable, skills-led learning has always been in ASDAN’s DNA and underpins everything we do. Our six core skills – learning, communicating, decision making, thinking, team working and self-awareness – bring learning to life, enabling learners to demonstrate what they can do, not just what they know.
The change we seek is not cosmetic. It is systemic. It is about rebalancing what education values, how success is measured and who gets to define excellence.
Every ASDAN member, whether you work in a school, a youth service, a prison, a community setting or an international academy, plays a vital role in this shared mission. Together, we are building an equity ecosystem that connects learning, belonging and contribution across the life course.
Looking ahead, we are also reviewing how our membership model can best support this ambition. In 2026, we will be introducing changes designed to ensure that organisations of all sizes and sectors can engage with ASDAN in ways that are transparent, accessible and sustainable. We will share more about this in the months ahead.
As we welcome the new year, I want to thank you for being part of this work. Equity is not a destination we arrive at – it is a culture we build, together.
Melissa Farnham
Chief Executive Officer (CEO) at ASDAN