The King’s Scout Award is the top achievement for Explorer Scouts and Scout Network members and comprises a variety of activities to complete. It’s closely linked to the Duke of Edinburgh’s Gold Award, so it’s worth considering working on the two awards together. To gain the award, you must complete all of the following requirements before your 25th birthday.
Young People who’s KSA is approved by UK Headquarters in one calendar year, will be invited to celebrate their award by attending an event held at Windsor Castle in the following calendar year. This National Day of Celebration and Achievement is normally hosted on the Sunday nearest to St George’s Day in April. KSA award holders and their invited guests, will join the Chief Scout and others to recognise their achievements in an informal parade around the Quadrangle in the castle grounds. To find out more on the event, please click here.
Start your journey to achieve the King’s Scout Award:
1. Read the award requirements and support material provided by The Scouts. These can be found by clicking here.
2. Register with our County Top Awards Team by clicking here. This will allow them to keep in touch whilst you’re completing the award and sharing any upcoming opportunities with you.
3. Download the KSA Logbook and Completion Form below to record the different competition areas.
4. Once you have completed the logbook and completion form, please send this to our County Top Award Sub-Team Leader who will check the form and submit the KSA Logbook Submission for with The Scouts HQ.
How to earn this award:
1. 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 KSA from their 16th Birthday. Activities and nights away completed in achievement of the Chief Scout Platinum and Diamond Awards can be counted towards the KSA.
2. Nights Away
Complete 24 nights away as an Explorer Scout or Scout Network member, of which at least 12 must be camping. Any nights away can count for this section, whether used in another part of this award, or to count towards the Chief Scout Platinum or Chief Scout Diamond Award.
3. International, Community and Values (ICV) List
Complete six activities in total, two from each topic area of the ICV activities list. View the ICV list for the King’s Scout Award. A minimum of two must be from the KSA ICV list and the others from any of the KSA, 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.
4. Presentation
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.The presentation section of the Award can be signed off by one of the following roles:
- Adult volunteers in the District 14 – 24 Team
- Youth Lead
- District or County Lead Volunteer
5. Sign Off
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 Team Leader or your District 14-24 Team Leader. However, assessors can be anyone who has witnessed the activities you’ve undertaken for the specific requirement.
Once you have completed all of the above requirements, a relevant person must approve your award as complete by filling out the ‘KSA Logbook approval’ section of the KSA Logbook and Completion form. Please see below for the sign off and submission process in Greater Manchester West.
