Building a culture of achievement The impact of the pursuit of CoPE (the Certificate of Personal Effectiveness) on GCSE attainment and engagement in learning.

Key Messages ASDAN’s CoPE (Certificate of Personal Effectiveness) is more than a qualification It is a curriculum framework to accredit formal and non-formal learning, inside and outside the classroom It is a broad, flexible array of active learning challenges enabling the progressive development of personal and employability skills Most critically, when these skills are developed and accredited with the rigour only a qualification can bring, there is now compelling evidence of a link between completing CoPE and achievement beyond expectations in other GCSE subjects

The Bedminster Down Story Headteacher of a school named in 2004 as “one of the lowest-performing two hundred secondary schools in the country” In 2006 we introduced CoPE as one of our intervention strategies with targeted Year 11 students (disengaged, borderline C/D or weak learners) At the time we did no BTECs or multiple-equivalency qualifications. The results were compelling: A quarter of the students in the small intervention group became ‘re-engaged’ through CoPE; rather than underperforming in GCSEs, they performed at expectations A further nine students, due to the extra C+ equivalency achieved through CoPE, crossed the five A*-C threshold

The Bedminster Down Story The highest results in the school’s history!

The Bedminster Down Story If the school performed as in previous years: What we were hoping for: What we actually got: 41% 27% 88% The ‘ASDAN dividend’… Students engaged more effectively and performed better in GCSEs

The Bedminster Down Story :Exceeded five A*-C incl. English and Maths floor target by 10% Exceeded five A*-C estimates by nearly 10% 5 A*-C incl. English and Maths floor target 5 A*-C estimates

© ASDAN 2012 ASDAN, Wainbrook House, Hudds Vale Road, St George, Bristol BS5 7HY Tel: Fax: Follow us Find us on search ASDAN