The Power of Youth Awards

10,074 young people have been recognised for their learning and achievements through our youth awards in 2025-26, and we celebrate 100,000 awards!

10,074 young people have been recognised for their learning and achievements through awards, from Hi5 Awards (5,023 young people) to Dynamic Youth Awards (4,526 young people) and Youth Achievement Awards (271 Bronze YAA, 178 Silver YAA, 25 Gold YAA and 15 Platinum YAA). These numbers represent a 4% increase over the same period as las year. 

This year we also celebrate the milestone of 100,000 awards across all local authorities in Scotland since we started building them. While we might record and talk about a number, what to us is important are the 100,000 individual young people who are behind those awards. We are proud to continue to support young people’s individual achievements, help them gain skills and confidence and support their journey through gaining accreditation for their amazing work.  

This is a massive tool for youth workers, but also for young people. They get certification, they get the SQA points, the get so much out of doing something that they already do. So for me it’s a no brainer.

Gillian, KYTHE Youth Worker

KYTHE’s youth awards journey

KYTHE, a Youth Scotland member group, has been implementing youth awards as part of their personalised approach to youth work. They embedded the awards seamlessly into their regular activities, offering young people an opportunity to reflect on their time commitments, help them build organisational skills and support them in reaching their potential.

Through completing Youth Scotland’s awards training suite, youth workers at KYTHE gained the skills and expertise to embed youth awards into their regular practice and support young people achieve Youth Achievements Awards. Some of these young people have completed the full Awards Pathway, using the awards to help them in their journeys towards university, gaining confidence and leadership skills.  

I like looking back on it because it's like I know that I've done this and I like, especially with the timesheet, like I didn't realise how much time I was actually putting into it. I was glad that the amount of time I put into it was actually like shown in the end.

KYTHE Young Person

Youth Scotland Youth Awards

We have three different awards that children and young people can complete: the Hi5 Award, Dynamic Youth Award (DYA) and Youth Achievement Awards (YAA). All awards are credit rated and levelled on the Scottish Credit Qualifications Framework (SCQF), which means they can be compared to more formal qualifications such as those gained at college or school.

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