1. Join a Group  

First you will need to join a Group (e.g. fellow students working towards the exact same O-level or A-level exams as you, fellow students attending a university course or module, a special interest group of like-minded individuals, etc.). You can join a Group by entering the corresponding group code.  

Our teams at Ascent are creating and assigning codes for popular groups (e.g. subjects at O- and A-level for common exam boards) which can be found on our group codes page. Your university department or school may have signed up for an Ascent licence in which case they will have a code for you and your student cohort. For more information you can contact support@theascentapp.com to explore how your university department or school can sign up for Ascent.  

To promote collaboration we encourage to find existing groups to join, but please contact us at support@theascentapp.com and explain why you would like us to create a new code for your interest group. 

2. Join an existing Goal or create a new Goal of your own  

When tackling any major project (e.g., learning information and preparing for a exam) it is important to plan ahead by identifying specific goals that you will need to achieve. To do this you should consult your exam board’s latest published specification (e.g., https://www.ocr.org.uk/qualifications/as-and-a-level/chemistry-a-h032-h432-from-2015/), your university course’s guidelines, your supervisor, your teacher, etc.  

Each Goal should be a section or module (e.g., Module 2: Foundations in chemistry). To help you achieve each goal, we recommend you copy-paste the module’s sub-topics from the exam board’s specification into the Goal Description (e.g., S1:Atomic structure and isotopes/ S2:Compounds, formulae and equations/ S3:Amount of substance/ S4:Acids/ S5:Redox/S6:Electron structure/S7:Bonding and structure). The Goal Description is a useful way to remind you (and show others) how to break down the goal into smaller time-allocated Sessions. 

You may find that other people in your group have already created some goals in this way. You can view and join these from the Goals page (select the All Goals section on the top right of Ascent’s Goals tab).  Any goals you join will appear on your My Goals section (see top left of Ascent’s Goals tab). These Goals will help you get organised and start tackling the things you will need to accomplish via Sessions.  

3. Join an existing Session or create a new Session of your own 

Once you have identified your goals it is important to break them down into smaller and achievable Sessions and to commit to completing these Sessions at a specific time that suits you and your peers. The Goal Description may include a list of suggested Sessions that will help you get started but it is your responsibility to verify this is accurate, complete and up-to-date. It is therefore important for you to consult your exam board’s latest specification, university course’s guidelines, supervisor, or teacher, etc. to verify that you are covering the required content via these Sessions. 

Ascent helps you set a specific date and time for each Session and identifies any fellow Group members (via Add participants) who also have a shared interest in achieving this goal. This helps you in several ways: 

• Planning  ahead and sticking to your timetable helps you complete the goal before the deadline (and avoids leaving everything until the end!) 

• Encourages you to stop procrastinating and just get on with completing your goals one small step (i.e., Session) at a time 

• Declares your intention to work on a specific well-described and achievable Session at that particular date and time 

• Peers you invited can work alongside you to help you complete your Session 

• Peers you invited can also hold you (and themselves) accountable to turning up on time and working on that Session to the required standard 

• Completing a Session to a high standard can be rewarding and reinforce your interest in achieving your goal 

Ascent has four different types of Sessions to suit different situations: 

Group Sessions: Help you find and collaborate with other peers in your Group who share similar Goals  – the idea is to work alongside them to achieve each of your Sessions. This is the most commonly used type of session and promotes collaboration with others. 

Private Sessions: Others can’t see your Private Sessions, so only those with the meeting invite can join. This might be helpful if you want to work alone or restrict your discussions by working only with a select group of friends you know. 

Check-in Sessions: These are for you to help keep yourself on track. You should find a peer in your Group and invite them to be your “mentor” and meet with you at the end of each week. Your mentor should ask you things like:  

“What Sessions did you set yourself this week and how much did you achieve?” 

“For each Session, on a scale of 1-10 how much effort did you put into completing it?” 

“For each Session, on a scale of 1-10 how much did you achieve?” 

“Does the effort you are putting in translate into the results you achieve?” 

“Is there anything you would change when moving forward next week?” 

“What barriers are slowing you down and what can you do to move past them?” 

By sharing with your mentor, the aim is for you to help yourself reach new peaks of performance and identify ways to move past any barriers you thought were holding you back. You can invite anyone in your Group to be your mentor for these Sessions, and only those with an invite can join your check-in Sessions. 

1:1 Sessions: Got an expertise or need an expert? This is for Ascent users to offer their skills or ask for help from others. You can invite anyone in your Group. Anyone in your group can view and join these Sessions. 

Here is a summary of the four different Sessions: 

Session Type	Who can be invited	Who can see and join the Session
Group	Anyone in the Goal	Anyone in the Goal
Private	Anyone in the Goal	Only those with an invite
Check-in	Anyone in the Group	Only those with an invite
1-to-1	Anyone in the Group	Anyone in the Group