Youth Achievement Awards
The Youth Achievement Awards are an innovative approach to recognising and accrediting young people’s achievements, not only within a variety of community settings that take place outside their school time such as volunteering, youth work, active citizenship, sports, drama, music, etc but also that take place within their school time, as part of their school curriculum.
Youth Achievement Awards offer significant opportunities for young people to develop the four Curriculum for Excellence capacities: successful learners, confident individuals, effective contributors and responsible citizens. They recognise young people's contributions in a variety of settings including youth work, volunteering, active citizenship, and formal education.
Aimed at young people aged 14 and over, the Awards recognise four levels of responsibility taken by young people participating in activities that interest them. There are two categories of Awards - ‘Dynamic Youth’ for 10-14 year olds and ‘Youth Achievement Awards’ for 14-25 year olds, each with four levels:
1. Bronze - taking part in activities.
2. Silver - assisting and sharing responsibility with others.
3. Gold - taking individual responsibility to organise.
4. Platinum - undertaking training and leading activities.
The Award does not come with a programme; instead, the open framework allows learning providers to mould the Award around existing youth work and school programmes.
Youth Scotland’s accredited awards (‘Dynamic Youth’ for 10-14 year olds and ‘Youth Achievement Awards’ (for 14-25 year olds) are Scottish Credit and Qualifications Framework (SCQF) credit scored and levelled by the Scottish Qualification Authority (SQA), being equivalent to National 4, National 5 and Higher qualifications. They are listed on formal exam results. Young people work on activities such as fundraising and volunteering which benefit the community and contribute to their own personal development.
There are eight organisations across Orkney who can help young people plan and record their work – Youth Cafe (Kirkwall), Orkney College, Papdale Halls of Residence, KGS, Stromness Academy, the Connect Project, and the East Mainland and West Mainland Youth Achievement Groups (clubs led by Orkney Islands Council Youth Work staff to support young people through their Awards.)
For frequently asked questions about the Youth Achievement Awards, please refer to the Youth Scotland website, which can be accessed from the 'Related Sites' section of this page.
A copy of the Youth Achievement Awards poster is available in PDF format from the 'Related Downloads' section of this page.
To find out more and to get involved, or if you would like a copy of the most recent Youth Awards Report, please contact Orkney Islands Council’s Community Development Team by telephoning 01856873535 or emailing Kerry Spence.
