By clicking “Accept”, you agree to the storing of cookies on your device to enhance site navigation, analyse site usage, and assist in our marketing efforts. View our Privacy Policy for more information.
Ascent Autism Specialist college is a specialist post 16 provision supporting autistic young people aged 16-25 to develop the knowledge, skills and behaviour needed for adulthood. Our curriculum is built around preparing for adulthood outcomes with a strong emphasis on employability, independence, communication and participation within the community. Our aim is to provide meaningful opportunities that enable students to develop essential skills for life and work.
At Ascent college we were already embedding employability and personal development throughout the curriculum and wanted to adopt a shared language that would allow staff, students, families and employers to clearly identify the skills being developed and to track progress over time. We felt that the Skills builder framework would enhance our strengths-based approach by encouraging students to recognise, understand and articulate the strengths they already possess while identifying next steps for development. The framework has helped students to build confidence and develop the language to describe their abilities during employer encounters and work experience.
Our organisational vision is to create a world where autistic people live happy and fulfilled lives and the skills builder framework contributes to ensuring that every student is developing transferable skills needed for successful adult lives.
At Ascent college, success is not measured soley by qualifications, but by increased confidence, independence, resilience and the ability to communicate their strengths. Skills builder has become an integral part of our curriculum, helping students to belong, achieve, thrive and prepare for positive futures.
Overall impact
The Skills Builder Accelerator Programme has had a significant impact on our students and staff by providing a consistent, framework for developing the essential skills needed for adulthood, employment and independent living and has enabled us to track student progress.
The Accelerator Programme has strengthened teaching practice by providing a common framework that can be embedded across the college. Essential skills are now planned for deliberately rather than developed by chance, enabling staff to monitor progress consistently and celebrate achievements.
A particular highlight has been the opportunity to collaborate with another specialist college who had already had experience of the Accelerator Programme. Sharing ideas with a setting facing similar opportunities and challenges allowed both organisations to reflect on practice and learn from each other’s approaches. Equally rewarding was supporting another college that was initially unsure how the Skills Builder framework could benefit their learners. By sharing our experiences and demonstrating the impact it has had on our students, we were able to showcase the value of a structured, strengths-based approach to essential skills development.
This collaborative working has extended the impact of the programme beyond our own organisation, strengthening professional networks and contributing to the wider adoption of best practice across the specialist education sector. It has reinforced the importance of working together to improve outcomes for our young people.
Overall, the Accelerator Programme has helped embed a sustainable culture where essential skills are recognised as everyone’s responsibility. It has enhanced teaching, improved students’ confidence, employability outcomes and created valuable opportunities for collaboration that will continue to benefit learners well beyond the life of the programme.
Keep it simple
At Ascent Autism Specialist College, we have embedded the Skills Builder Universal Framework as the common language for essential skills across the whole college. The eight essential skills are displayed in classrooms, employability areas and communal spaces, and staff consistently use the Skills Builder language during lessons, tutorials, work experience and enrichment activities. The high visibility of the skills builder essential skills icons around the college, on plan and review sheets and on weekly staff briefings demonstrate the value of these skills across the college.
Students were introduced to the framework during a launch party where they learned what each skill means and why it is important for adulthood. The framework has been incorporated into individual learning plans for all employability sessions ensuring students, staff and families have a shared understanding of the skills being developed.
All teachers and Student learning mentors have received training to ensure a consistent approach, enabling them to confidently recognise, teach and celebrate essential skills in everyday learning.
Start early, keep going
Essential skills are embedded throughout every student’s journey, from entry into college until transition into employment, supported internships, further education or independent living.
Regardless of pathway or starting point, every learner has regular opportunities to develop the eight essential skills through employability lessons, vocational learning, enterprise projects, community participation, work experience and enrichment. Progress is shared with parents through the review process, parents evenings and home/college books.
Using a strengths-based approach, students revisit the same skills in increasingly challenging contexts over time. Skills development is personalised to individual need, ensuring progression is meaningful for every learner.
Measure it
We use the Skills Builder Hub to assess and monitor each student’s progress against the Universal Framework. Baseline assessments are completed and essential skills are set into terms, ensuring all students are working on the same key skills each term, progress is tracked termly.
Students maintain individual Skills Builder Passports which have been adapted to best capture achievements and next steps. Progress is triangulated through staff observations, work experience reviews and student reflection.
Assessment outcomes inform personalised targets within employability lessons and careers action plans, allowing teaching to focus on the next appropriate skill step. The data also enables leaders to monitor progress across cohorts and evaluate the impact of our curriculum.
Focus tightly
Rather than assuming skills develop naturally, staff explicitly identify one or two essential skills as learning targets within lessons and activities.
Teachers carefully plan opportunities for students to develop these skills through structured tasks, modelling, scaffolded support and reflection. Skills are linked directly to real-life contexts including enterprise, volunteering, community participation and work experience. Skills builder targets are aligned to the Equalex framework for developing skills during work experience placements and volunteering opportunities. The careers explorer tool is used to demonstrate how essential skills link to specific job roles.
Students understand which skill they are developing, why it matters and what successful application looks like, enabling them to make meaningful connections between learning and future aspirations.
Keep practising
Students have multiple opportunities to practise essential skills across different environments throughout the academic year. Skills are reinforced through college events and community projects. Student presentations have referred to skills builder skills development in areas such as the Grow well project where students hjave been taking part in outdoor education sessions
Reflection is an important part of our approach. Students regularly review what went well, identify how they demonstrated essential skills and set goals for continued improvement. By practising skills in varied contexts, students develop confidence, independence and the ability to transfer skills into life and work.
Bring it to life
Helping students understand the relevance of essential skills is central to our careers programme. We have incorporated the skills builder resources into mock interviews, cv writing, workplace visits and work experience. Students receive authentic feedback about how they demonstrate these skills in professional settings.
Students use their Skills Builder Passports during careers guidance, reviews and transition planning to articulate their strengths and identify areas for development. This supports them to prepare for interviews, employment and adulthood with greater confidence. Vocational profiles are being developed to align with the skills builder framework next year and dovetailed with the skills builder passports will form an important part our strengths based approach to skill development all evidenced within careers folders and employability folders.
By embedding Skills Builder within our Employability curriculum, students recognise that essential skills are not just for college—they are transferable skills that support success in employment, further learning, relationships and independent living.
What's next
We intend to develop further by building on the strong foundations that have built within year one. We will adapt or vocational profiles to align with the skills builder framework and intend to share these more with our employer and community networks.
We are in the process of updating the website to showcase how we are developing the skills builder framework across the college and also intend to share additional developments with parents through a termly newsletter.
