Adult Achievement Awards

The Adult Achievement Award gives credit to adults for their learning in a variety of contexts: community; home; college; volunteering; prison; leisure interests; workplace. In all of the levels of the award, learners will be asked to:

• record learning currently undertaken or undertaken in the past year
• reflect on learning
• identify strengths and areas for development
• plan how to use what has been learned
• research other learning options
• produce an action plan

These truly person centred awards are very flexible being offered at SCQF levels 3, 4 and 6.  By mid 2019 Lead Scotland will have supported around 120 learners (disabled people, carers, those affected by disadvantage and volunteers) to register and achieve Awards, learning in one to one, or small group, settings.  Adult Achievement Awards offer the possibility of gaining accreditation from prior informal and non formal learning, creating a bridge to onward progression.

David Leathar, Lead’s 2016 Dr Ethel Gray Volunteer of the Year pictured with John Swinney, Deputy First minister and Cabinet Secretary for Education and Skills and Donna Morley, North Lanarkshire Learning Coordinator at the Adult Achievement Award conference.  David achieved SCQF level 6 and is progressing to now tutor disabled people, carers and volunteers through the Award.

Newbattle Abbey College verify the Awards and our staff are tutors and assessors. Some examples of delivery and impacts:

Two groups of four Fraserburgh learners met up over a period of 8 weeks to write up their reflective journals about having been involved in setting up and running a monthly drop-in Conversation Café for the local community. We involved a skilled volunteer in the delivery of those Awards, with our staff assessing.

A learner talks about her progress since being awarded an Adult Achievement Award.

One learner, a single parent, talked about the Adult Achievement Award being the first qualification she had done for herself and how being part of a group has built her confidence as a parent whilst emboldening her to seek to return to the workplace.

Another Dundee learner, Mandy, completed the Award on a one to one basis, due to extreme anxiety and has been on a journey getting back to who she used to be, now volunteering with local projects and since her story was published she has also now returned to work.

Tommy develops his literacy skills at home and with one to one support achieved the Adult Achievement Award.

Emma, Aberdeenshire learner went on to win our first James Hill Learner of the Year Award in 2016.  Emma started on a one to one basis before building up her confidence. “Emma was an extremely shy young woman who over the year has gained in so much confidence that she now has three work placements where she is dealing with the public,” (nominator) as well as achieving her core skills qualification in Communication and an Adult Achievement Award.

Please contact a local Lead Coordinator to sign up and get started or call our office on 0131 228 9441.