Structured development for newly qualified social workers
ASYE ePortfolio
The Assessed and Supported Year in Employment (ASYE) offers newly qualified social workers (NQSWs) a structured, reflective and professionally guided journey into their first year of practice. Designed around the Skills for Care framework, the programme ensures that early practice is supported by supervision, development planning and progressive assessment — helping new practitioners build both confidence and competence as they step into complex social work roles.
Through a combination of regular supervision, capturing evidence and reflective tasks, the ASYE promotes continuous professional growth rather than simply ticking boxes. It encourages meaningful reflection and feedback, allowing NQSWs to embed learning into their day-to-day work. Supervisors and assessors can track progress through standardised review points and final assessment, ensuring consistency across the organisation.
The People Alchemy ePortfolio brings everything into one place to make the whole process transparent and manageable. The digital ASYE pathways cover everything from learning plans, supervision logs, evidence upload, and assessment workflows. This enables employers (e.g. NHS Trusts) to streamline administration, support learning transfer more effectively, and maintain a clear, auditable record of every stage of the ASYE year.
Learning transfers into day-to-day social work practice
ASYE pathways aligned to Skills for Care guidance
The People Alchemy’s Learning Workflow Platform provides the platform to structure the ASYE 12-month workflow from development planning, supervision checkpoints, evidence capture, through to the final holistic assessment. It combines configurable pathways and learner-centred tasks and reflective practice, so learning becomes part of day-to-day work.
ASYE pathways give employers a reliable, traceable and learner-friendly way to run NQSW programmes. Development activity is aligned to the Professional Capabilities Framework (PCF) and Skills for Care ASYE expectations, ensuring consistency and compliance throughout the year. Brief theory, practical micro-tasks, reflective prompts and supervised practice can be combined across a planned timeline, helping learning transfer into day-to-day social work practice.
The ePortfolio platform features:
- Configurable ASYE pathway — use the platform to customise to local employer policy.
- Role-based views — different interfaces for NQSWs, supervisors, assessors and managers.
- Supervision notes & schedules — log one-to-one discussions and actions against development plans.
- Evidence upload & mapping — attach documents, link observations to PCF outcomes and mark progress.
- Automated workflows — reminders, review triggers and end-of-year assessment workflows.
- Reports & export — audit trails, compliance reports and data extracts for governance.
The results you can expect
Faster, more consistent ASYE delivery with less administrative overhead.
Clearer evidence for audits and regulatory compliance.
Improved quality of supervision and more purposeful reflective practice.
Stronger, demonstrable development for NQSWs that supports retention
Supporting newly qualified social workers
Help NQSWs begin their careers with confidence by giving them a structured and supported journey through their first year. The process starts with initial induction, where baseline skills, role expectations, and mapped objectives are captured to create a clear starting point. They then move on to a development plan, shaped by learner-led goals that supervisors can review and endorse to keep progress aligned and meaningful.
A planned supervision and review schedule provides regular checkpoints to support reflective conversations and accurate progress notes.
Throughout the year, NQSWs build their portfolio through evidence collection, including observation records, case reflections, multi-source feedback and learning logs that demonstrate their growth in practice. The year concludes with a final assessment, offering assessors an auditable and holistic sign-off workflow that confirms readiness for continued professional practice.
We weren’t just looking for a system that documents learning — we needed confidence that learning would transfer into practice, and that’s where People Alchemy stood out.
NHS TrustDigitise your ASYE process and leave paper and spreadsheets behind
People Alchemy platform benefits
The ePortfolio brings structure and consistency to assessments and reduces time spent on chasing forms:
- Leave paper behind.
- Move from paper workbooks and scattered files to a single, auditable system.
- Protect supervision time and keep it meaningful.
- Automated reminders keep people focussed on what matters.
- Track progress in real time.
- Dashboards show where each NQSW is in the year, outstanding actions and risk areas — so managers can intervene early.
- Standardise assessment and evidence.
- Consistent guidance and mapped criteria reduce assessor variation and remove ambiguity during final sign-off.
- Improve retention and capability.
- Better support, clearer development pathways and visible progress increase confidence and help retain newly qualified staff.
Find out more about the People Alchemy platform
Frequently asked questions
You’ve got questions. We’ve got answers. Everything you need to know about our Learning Workflow Platform (LWP) is right here, or talk to us.
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Is the People Alchemy Learning Workflow Platform (LWP) data secure and fully GDPR compliant?
People Alchemy is hosted in a secure top tier secure data facility in the UK. All data at rest is encrypted. Our systems are regularly penetration tested and maintained in line with industry-wide data security best practice. Each user has a defined role and permissions which ensures they can only access the information that they need. People Alchemy complies with all relevant legislation including the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).
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How does People Alchemy work if the learner does not have a computer or work email address, for example, logistics or retail staff?
Learners will need a computing device with a browser and the internet to access People Alchemy. If the delegates don’t have access to a computer, you could provide some loan tablets they can use while they are on a programme, or they could use their phone if they are willing to do so. As for notifications, these can be sent by SMS, or email, or both.
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Can I add notes to the learner’s pathway and portfolio?
Yes. There are several ways to add notes that are visible to the learner, or hidden from the learner but visible to admin users.
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Can a pathway be paused if necessary?
The pathway can be paused if the learner is on sick leave or on holiday, or is just behind their schedule and needs some time to catch up.
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What about people who are not IT literate?
We have found that there are very few people who cannot use the simple and intuitive system. People these days can use Facebook and other social systems. If they can do that, then they can use People Alchemy.
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Does the platform offer plagiarism checking technology?
Yes, the platform has an optional plagiarism checker plugin
Plagiarism checking technology to enhance learning & development programmes
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Can admin and other stakeholders add notes that would be available for any future investigation?
Yes. There is an audit trail and the ability to add notes at both the admin and assessor level. The whole clinical skills pathway can be exported to a PDF to be passed to an investigator should that become necessary.
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What’s the difference between ELFH and People Alchemy?
E-Learning for Health (ELFH) is a platform that provides digital learning content on healthcare and medical topics. It offers structured elearning modules, but it is primarily a content library—it delivers knowledge but does not manage the full learning process.
The People Alchemy platform, on the other hand, goes beyond elearning. It helps organisations structure, track, and manage the entire learning journey, ensuring that learners engage in all necessary activities—not just consuming content.
For programmes like the Care Certificate, preceptorships, and clinical skills assessments this means:
- A structured learning process – guiding learners through a sequence of activities over time, not just elearning modules.
- Tracking all required components – including practical demonstrations, assessments, supervisor sign-offs, and reflections.
- Ensuring knowledge application – helping learners demonstrate how they apply their learning in real-world scenarios.
In short, ELFH provides valuable content, but People Alchemy ensures that learners complete the full journey—gaining, applying, and demonstrating competence in a structured and trackable way.
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What exactly is an ePortfolio, and how does it work?
An ePortfolio is a digital collection of work, evidence, reflections, and achievements that showcases a user’s skills, competencies, and professional development. Users upload and organise materials online, making it easy to share progress with employers, educators, or assessors.
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Who typically uses an ePortfolio, and what for?
Organisations use ePortfolios for employee development, compliance tracking, professional accreditation, and demonstrating competency. Common users include healthcare professionals, educators, students, apprentices, and industry professionals.
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Can the ePortfolio platform be customised to reflect our brand?
Yes, the platform can typically be customised with your organisation’s branding.
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How user-friendly is your platform? What training or onboarding support is provided?
The platform is intuitive and designed for ease of use, with minimal training required for end users. For administrators, we provide onboarding sessions, documentation, and responsive customer support.
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Does the platform support multimedia uploads (video, audio, documents)?
Yes, users can upload various file types, including videos, audio clips, images, documents, and links.
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Is there a limit on storage or file sizes?
Our standard plans provide ample storage suitable for most organisations and training providers.
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Can users export their portfolios, and in what formats?
Users can export their portfolios into standard formats such as PDF, allowing easy portability and sharing.
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Does your platform integrate with our existing LMS or HR systems?
Yes, the platform can support integration with popular LMS, HR, and identity management systems through APIs or standard protocols.
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Is your ePortfolio accessible on mobile devices and tablets?
Yes, the ePortfolio platform is fully responsive and accessible from any internet-connected device, including smartphones and tablets.
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Who owns the data once uploaded to the ePortfolio?
Your organisation and users retain full ownership and control of all data uploaded to the platform.
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How long does it typically take to implement and start using your platform?
Most organisations can be up and running within days or weeks, depending on the complexity of your setup and any specific integrations required.
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What resources or support do you provide during initial setup?
We provide comprehensive onboarding support, including dedicated training sessions, user guides, and responsive customer support.
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What ongoing support services are included with your product?
Ongoing support includes access to a knowledgeable support team, online help resources, and regular system updates to ensure optimal usage.
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How do you handle feature requests or feedback from customers?
We actively seek customer feedback and regularly incorporate feature requests as well as new applications into our product roadmap to continually enhance our platform.
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Reporting and analytics: Does the platform provide reporting on user engagement and portfolio usage?
Yes, administrators have access to clear, detailed reporting on engagement, activity, and portfolio usage across your organisation.
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Reporting and analytics: Can we monitor compliance or track progress towards skills and competencies?
The platform includes built-in tracking features, allowing administrators to monitor user progress towards competencies, accreditations, or other milestones.
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Reporting and analytics: Is analytics data exportable for internal reporting purposes?
Yes, analytics data can typically be exported in formats like CSV or Excel, allowing easy inclusion in internal reports and dashboards.
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Technical specifics: Are there any system requirements or limitations we should know about?
Our SaaS-based ePortfolio requires only an up-to-date web browser and internet access. No special hardware or software installations are necessary.
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