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How to set up your ASC-WDS Number

Home > How to set up your ASC-WDS Number
Confused or wondering how to set up your ASC-WDS Number? See our detailed guide below!

Adult Social Care Workforce Data Set (ASC-WDS) information

ASC-WDS is an online data collection service and the leading source of workforce information for the adult social care sector in England. It holds information on around 20,000 care providing locations and 650,000 workers. ASC-WDS replaced the National Minimum Data Set for Social Care (NMDS-SC) in August 2019.

The data collected within the service is vital to the Government, the Department for Health and Social Care (DHSC), local authorities and the Care Quality Commission (CQC) in helping them plan, fund and monitor the sector.

Further information about the Workforce Data Set can be found on the Skills for Care Website.

Employers must have an ASC-WDS account to access funded training and will need to provide your ASC-WDS Workplace ID number. In order to apply for funding via the Learning and Development Support Scheme (LDSS) in 2024/25, you must have your ASC-WDS number to hand when filling in the NHS Business Services Authority application form. Any adult social care employer that does not have an account must register for one.

Set up your ASC-WDS Number by doing the following:

  • create an account
  • add your workplace details – if you are CQC regulated you can enter your location ID or postcode and confirm the details are correct
  • add a user to the account
  • the account will be reviewed and approved by Skills for Care’s support team
  • log in to your account and enter your total number of staff
  • you can then access your ASC-WDS account ID which you must provide to Coleman Training.

Creating an account

Employers can create an ASC-WDS account with just a few basic details about their workplace. Once their details have been checked and approved, they can start to add their workplace and staff records.

ASC-WDS Support Service

If you have any problems setting up your account or require any assistance the Skills for Care support team are available to help Monday to Friday 09:00 – 17:00.

✉ ascwds-support@skillsforcare.org.uk | ☏ 0113 241 0969

Promotional Video

Skills for Care have produced a three-minute video which details the benefits of ASC-WDS and how the data collected by the service is used by the Government and other stakeholders to make informed decisions about the care sector.

ASC-WDS Workplace IDs

The workplace IDs start with a letter, followed by a minimum of 5 numbers and a maximum of 7 numbers. All workplace IDs migrated from NMDS-SC have either 5 or 6 numbers. All workplace IDs created on ASC-WDS have 7 numbers. The letter indicates the region of England in which the workplace is based.

B – North East

C – East Midlands

D – South West

E – West Midlands

F – North West

G – London

H – South East

I – Eastern

J – Yorkshire & Humber

Examples of workplace IDs – B12345, F456789, J1001234