Adult Social Care Workforce Data Set (ASC-WDS)

The Workforce Development Fund (WDF) is funding from the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) disseminated by Skills for Care. The fund allows you to claim back money towards the costs of workers completing a broad range of adult social care qualifications, learning programmes and digital learning modules.

The Adult Social Care Workforce Data Set (ASC-WDS) helps providers to manage their teams and provides crucial intelligence to key decision makers such as Government, DHSC, CQC and local authorities. ASC-WDS provides access to funding for training, safe and free management of staff and training records and the ability to benchmark your workplace against similar providers. Users will also gain special offers and discounts from Skills for Care and some endorsed training providers. Find out more.

To be eligible for WDF, you must have an up-to-date ASC-WDS account, with certain workforce and staff records completed. The service provides safe and free storage of staff records and helps you to manage your training records. It lets you define mandatory training for each job role and alerts you when training is due to expire.

You can benchmark your workplace against other providers in your area for metrics like pay, turnover rates or staff sickness. You’ll also get access to the Benefits Bundle with discounts from Skills for Care and endorsed training providers.

1. Offers and discounts

All users of the service have access to the ASC-WDS Benefits Bundle which gives access to special offers and discounts across our products including:

• Exclusive offers from endorsed training providers
• 10% off values-based interviewing and valuable conversations bespoke seminars
• 10% off eLearning modules from Skills for Care.

2. Benchmark your businesses performance

Benchmark your workplace against others offering the same service in your local authority area. Access information about how your service is performing on workforce metrics such as staff turnover, care worker pay and staff sickness. This feature is currently only available for CQC regulated care homes with nursing, care only homes and domiciliary care providers, but will be extended to others over time.

3. Record training and qualifications data  

Search, record and manage mandatory training by job role and get alerted to make updates and fill gaps in your training. Training reports also help you to evidence that you’re fully up to date with your staff training during inspections.

4. Provide intelligence to decision makers

Provide data to Government, DHSC and local authorities. The workforce is central to the adult social care sector. It determines the quality of care experienced, the success of care providers and the funding needed. So it’s vital that we understand the workforce and the issues affecting it.

5. Access to the Workforce Development Fund

Check and update your data so that it meets the Workforce Development Fund requirements. You can then claim funding towards training and qualifications for your staff.

6. Store and access key information about your workforce

Create individual staff records that store personal details and other information, and access them all in one place.

Sharing data with your local authority by adding your data to ASC-WDS, we can be more aware of business and workforce needs in the area, and can target training events, funding information, advice and guidance and workforce planning regionally, sub regionally and locally.

Your data will remain anonymous unless you opt in to share specific information with us.

Local authorities are responsible for reporting on the current and future health and care needs of local populations to inform and guide the planning and commissioning of services in the local area. Access to higher levels of valid and reliable workforce data will help us to ensure we have a more comprehensive picture of the local adult social care sector.

Contributing to the Adult Social Care Workforce Data Set (ASC-WDS) means you can make your voice heard and help us understand the priorities for our local workforce. We use the intelligence generated from the data to plan, monitor and fund adult social care. It means we can tailor our support to help meet the needs of the workforce. Care providers benefit from safe and free storage of staff and training records, benchmarking facilitates and access to funding for training. Find out more.

Join the 20,000 care providers already using the free ASC-WDS service. Manage staff training needs and get access to the Workforce Development Fund, a valuable source of funding for staff training.

View the getting started guide

Create an ASC-WDS account

Creating an ASC-WDS account is really simple and takes just five minutes.

Create an account

If you’re having any difficulties logging in or setting up an account, please contact our support team for help

Call: 0113 241 0969 | Email: ascwds-support@skillsforcare.org.uk 

‘What is ASC-WDS’ This video introduces the data set and how the intelligence is used. It highlights the benefits of an account and gives user testimonials.

‘What you can do in ASC-WDS video’ This video goes into a little more detail about the steps involved in filling out your account and shows the key features from inside the service.

‘Why is workforce data so important’ This video features sector leaders talking about how they use workforce data and why it’s so important. It features people like Kate Terroni from CQC and Isaac Samuel who draws on care and support services.

‘Discover the Adult Social Care Workforce Data Set’ recorded webinar Our recorded webinar introduces the service and highlights the key features, including details on how to claim from the Workforce Development Fund.

Visit the ASKLiON provider corner to find further information to support you as a provider of a health and social care service including information on recruitment, staff retention, training, consultations, tenders, workforce information and more.