The Chief Scout’s awards are available across all section, starting with bronze in Beavers and moving through to Diamond for Network.
The top awards offer young people the chance to try many new things and to learn new skills.
Our system of awarding badges recognises the efforts of young people and rewards their success. The top awards for each section are the real culmination of those efforts, and young people achieving them is a great sign of high quality, well-balanced Programme.
Beavers – Chief Scout’s Bronze Award
Beavers need to complete all six Challenge Awards, plus any four Activity or Staged Activity Badges to earn their Chief Scout’s Bronze Award. They will start to develop skills in teamwork and leadership, get the chance to try new adventurous activities and have nights away from home. This should be an exciting challenge for young people to work towards throughout their time in the section.
Cubs – Chief Scout’s Silver Award
Cubs need to earn all seven of their Challenge Awards and any six Activity or Staged Activity Badges to gain their top award. The increasing number of Challenge Awards across the sections reflects the age of the young people and the increasing length of time they spend in each section.
There are loads of activity badges to choose from, to satisfy young people with all sorts of interests: from cooking to photography, disability awareness to road safety. Young people can also work on badges at home: for example, the Animal Carer Activity Badge is ideal for a young person who has a pet.
Scouts – Chief Scout’s Gold Award
Scouts have nine Challenge Awards to complete, plus any six Activity or Staged Activity Badges. Scouts will spend up to four years in this section, giving them plenty of time to achieve all of these awards before they move up to Explorers. Although, if they haven’t quite finished by the time they move on, they can complete in their first term in Explorers.
There is a lot to keep track of with this Award, so these record cards may come in handy.
One of the Challenge Awards for Scouts is the Expedition Challenge Award, where Scouts go on an expedition or exploration over two days. Whether this is doing an investigation in a new city, or a hike through the countryside, it’s a great opportunity for Scouts to develop their skills in planning and navigation. It also helps to prepare them for great adventures in Explorers, like doing their Explorer Belt.
The Chief Scout’s Gold Award is a great foundation to move forward with – top awards for Explorers and Network Members will tap into skills formed during time in the Scouts section.
Explorers – Chief Scout’s Platinum and Diamond Awards
The Diamond and Platinum Awards represent the highest levels of the Chief Scout’s Award, and both can be achieved when young people are Explorer Scouts.
Explorers can truly own and shape their top awards, choosing items from the International Community and Values (ICV) lists to complete, and planning what to do for their challenges. They can shape it to be valuable and enjoyable for them, achieving something they can be really proud of. Along the way, they will develop skills that could be very useful in later life, like planning and time management.
