Progressive Award Scheme

The Progressive Award Scheme is a major part of the The Scout Association Programme.

The current scheme began with the programme review in 2003, and is provides a thread of activities and challenges from the very start in the Beaver Colonies on up to the members of the Scout Network,although there have been various incarnations over the years.

The culmination of the scheme has always been the achievement of the Queen's Scout Award (or King's Scout Award before 1953). Recipents of the Award are invited to join the St George's Day service at Windsor Castle the year after completing the scheme, and parade before Queen Elizabeth II.

Why Have a Progressive Award Scheme?

There are two reasons for the scheme to be in place.

Firstly, it rewards and promotes commitment, self-motivation, teamwork, skills (both life-skills and Scouting), and many more qualities which can be developed in young people.

It is also used as the core of the Scouting programme, as the requirements of the award vary from participation in community activities, to more traditional "Scouting" activities such as camping. Following the scheme allows section leaders to have a highly varied programme.

The Awards and Requirements

Current Scheme (2003 onwards)

There are currently 6 awards in the scheme:

There are numerous challenges and minor awards which are used to contribute towards each of the Chief Scout or Queen's Scout Awards, such as the Explorer Belt (for Explorer Scouts or Scout Network) or the Outdoor Challenge (Beaver Scouts).

The requirements of each award vary through the age groups. For example, Beaver Scouts have to complete the Outdoor Challenge (Scoutcraft, environment, or similar), along with either the Friendship ("People Far Away", meeting other people, or caring for others) or Discovery ("How things work", health & fitness, or creativity) challenge, and also a personal challenge (decided between the Beaver Scout and their leader).

Explorer Scouts and Scout Network, on the other hand, need to complete a set of physical recreation, skill, and service challenges, and they must also undertake an expedition (this equates to the Duke of Edinburgh's Award, which can be undertaken in parallel with the Scouting scheme). They must also participate in "group" projects or activities involving either Faith, Community or Environment, and have spent a minimum number of nights away as a member of "Scouting".

1964 to 2003

Original Scheme After 1964 Review

After the review of Scouting in the 1960s, the Progressive Awards were modified.

Cub Scouts (having dropped the Wolf from their title) now had "Arrows" to reward their activities.

The old class ratings were replaced by the "Scout Standard", "Advanced Scout Standard", and the "Chief Scout Award".

The new Venture unit was given the Queen's Scout Award. The requirements of the award were greatly changed, and included long term service, commitment, and a 50+ mile expedition over four days, amongst others.

Changes to the Scheme Before 2003

There were many minor reviews of the Scouting programme in the UK over the next four decades.

The Cub Scout "Arrows" programme was modified to allow greater flexibility in 1974, and were completely replaced by the "Cub Scout Award", "Adventure Award" and "Adventure Crest" Award in 1990. This returned a more coherent structure to the system, while still allowing for freedom of choice of activities within the awards.

The "Scout Standards" were replaced in 1983 with the "Scout Award", "Pathfinder Award", and "Explorer Award". The Chief Scout's Award remained the highest award for the "Scout" Section.

An intermediate award, the "Venture Scout Award", was also introduced for the senior section, and was a stepping stone to achieving the Queen's Scout Award.

Finally, with the introduction of the Beaver Section in the 1980s, a new set of awards was introduced for the 6-8 year olds involved in this section of Scouting.

The 2003 review sought to bring all of these various changes together and provide a coherent programme through the 6-25 programme.

Further changes to the 2003 programme were introduced in 2008. This included additional activity badges and new challenge badges.

1907 to 1964

When Scouting was first conceived, there were only Scout Troops, and the training within these Troops was rewarded with "First Class" or "Second Class" ratings.

There was also the highest award of King's Scout.

The Wolf Cubs introduced the "First" and "Second Stars" with their creation in 1917.

The awards were very much oriented towards "Scoutcraft" and "Service".

External links

* [http://www.scoutbase.org.uk Scoutbase] Official information on the award schemes
* [http://www.elmswellscouts.co.uk/html/history_of_scouting.html History of Scouting]