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over 400,000 girls and boys across the UK
It is strongly recommended that you read the available support materials before starting to work towards your award to make sure you fully understand what you need to do. The materials provide more advice and guidance on the award requirements, as well as some ideas for what you could do to meet them.
To gain the award you must complete all of the following requirements before your 25th birthday.
The requirement to register nationally and back date activities up to three months for the QSA has been removed from 1 November 2018 onwards.
We introduced this requirement to help put members in touch with local contacts and access support, which it achieves but we believe there is a more local solution, as nationally it has become a barrier to members achieving the award. In order to keep the process as simple as possible we are now removing the national registration requirement and the 3 month limit to backdating activities.
For more information and FAQs please visit this page.
This registration form will remain open until the 8 January 2019, and information will continue to be shared with the relevant roles during this time.
Award participants must:
• Be aged 16 or older to start the award and complete the award before your 25th birthday
• Be a member of either Explorer Scouts or Scout Network (or a combination of both) for at least 18 months to complete the award
• Be a member of Explorer Scouts or Scout Network at the time you complete the award
This means members can only start working towards and count activities undertaken in achieving the QSA from their 16th Birthday. Activities and nights away completed in achievement of the Chief Scout Platinum and Diamond Awards can be counted towards the QSA.
Complete six activities in total, two from each topic area of the ICV activities list. Click here to view the ICV list for the QSA. A minimum of two must be from the QSA ICV list and the others from any of the QSA, or Chief Scout Platinum or Diamond ICV lists.
If you have completed your Chief Scout’s Platinum Award, you will have already done two activities and will only need to do a further four activities.
If you have completed your Chief Scout’s Diamond Award, you will have already done four activities and will only need to do a further two activities.
Practice:
Undertake a minimum three-day, two-night (consecutive) self-led expedition in wild country by foot, cycle, horse, canoe, boat or dinghy.
Final:
Undertake a four-day, three-night (consecutive) self led expedition with an aim. The expedition should be completed in wild country by the same method used in your practice. Expeditions should have a minimum of eight hours of activity per day, of which at least half must be journeying. The final expedition must be a different area to the practice with similar conditions and ideally with the same team of people.
• Residential
Undertake a five-day, four-night residential project in an unfamiliar environment with people that are unknown to you. This project could be environmental work, project based, service to others or personal training.
In exceptional circumstances this can be done over two consecutive weekends as long as the activity is the same and the majority of people are unknown to you.
*All members should complete 12 months in either the skill or the physical activity challenges.
Award participants who are not holders of the Chief Scout’s Diamond Award or Silver DofE must complete an extra six months in either the service or the longer of the skills or physical activity challenges.
Make a presentation covering all elements of your award to a suitable audience, with the aim of inspiring and motivating others to achieve the award. The presentation should be the final activity you complete.
Each requirement needs to be signed off by an assessor, this is someone who can vouch for the activities you have undertaken and provide some basic evidence (a short statement) about your participation. This is often your Explorer Leader or your District Scout Network Commissioner. However, assessors can be anyone who has witnessed the activities you have undertaken for the specific requirement.
Once you have completed all of the above requirements, a Commissioner (appropriate to the section you are a member of) must approve your award as complete. For more information, see the support material for this award.
Approval by the mentor or person signing off the award should be given prior to each element being undertaken. If you are unsure about whether an activity is appropriate, ask the commissioner who will sign off your award as completed.
NIGHTS AWAY
Camping also includes other outdoor shelters, such as bivouacs and snow holes, often used in scouting activities.
In order to meet the membership requirement for this award you must be an Explorer Scout or Scout Network member at the time that you register for the award, for at least 18 months from this date, and at the time you complete the award.
Ideally you should be a member throughout the period from registration to completion of the award. However, it is accepted that you may take a break from working towards the award (for example if moving to go to university) and restart it at a later date. In this circumstance you could also have a break in your membership (but any activities undertaken during this time cannot count towards your award).
It is important to note that the completion of the award is defined as the time the final requirement (the presentation) is signed off. If you are aged 18 or over on this date you must be a Network member, and your form must be signed off by the County Scout Network Commissioner. This is the case even if you completed the majority of the award while an Explorer Scout.
WORKING FOR MORE THAN ONE AWARD AT A TIME
An award does not have to be completed before activities can count for the next award. For example, if you have completed the expedition element of your Chief Scout’s Diamond Award but not the rest of the award, you can begin the expedition section of the Queen’s Scout Award as long as you are over the age of 16 and have registered for the Queen’s Scout Award.
CHALLENGES - TIME COMMITMENT
The minimum time requirements for each section are expressed in months, during which you need to undertake a regular commitment averaging at least an hour a week.
TAKING A BREAK OR CHANGING ACTIVITIES
If you want to change activities during an award, this is possible, although on one occasion only. It is also possible to take a break from an activity and then to restart from where you stopped. This could happen during a period of school, college or university exams.
CREST AWARDS Young people could complete a Gold CREST project for their skill challenge. For more information about CREST Awards, click here.
MAKING THE AWARD ACCESSIBLE
Each young person who participates in the Programme, including badges and awards, should face a similar degree of challenge, and requirements can be adapted according to each young person’s abilities.
The Queen’s Scout Award is based on personal best effort rather than fixed standards, and should be available to all members of Explorer Scouts and the Scout Network. This may mean that for some individuals, the requirements of the award need to be adapted to ensure that they face the same degree of challenge as other participants.
Where additional needs have to be taken into account, it is acceptable to adjust some of the activities to make them more accessible. You should work with your mentor to discuss any adaptations, and make sure that any adaptations have been approved by the commissioner who will sign off your award. As every set of individual circumstances will be different, it is left to the discretion of the relevant commissioner to make any adaptations to the activities, including the expedition requirement.
For more information on how to include someone with additional needs in Scouting, visit scouts.org.uk/diversity. You can also email
programme@scouts.org.uk with specific queries.
