Youth Scotland Hi5 Award

Why this award?

The Hi5 Award is a nationally recognised award for young people age 5+ that provides a means of recording and evidencing their personal learning and achievements within the activities that your project or programme offers and is the first step in our learning pathway. Owned and operated by Youth Scotland, the award has been credit rated and levelled by the Scottish Qualifications Authority (SQA) on the Scottish Credit and Qualifications Framework (SCQF) at level 2 and depending on the hours completed gains 1- 3 credit points.

The Hi5 Award follows a plan-do-review structure.

Plan - The young person sets themselves a challenge based on an activity or series of activities they have chosen.

Do - The young person completes their challenge, gathering evidence of their participation and achievements as they go.

Review - The young person thinks about, and comments on, how they performed in their challenge.

For a young person to gain an award and receive a personalised certificate, a completed challenge sheet with evidence of their participation must be provided.

Who is it for?

The Hi5 Award is for age 5+. It is commonly used as a ‘first qualification’ for young people in primary school and through the broad general education (BGE) phase of a Curriculum for Excellence. It offers a way of capturing the learning and benefits gained through young peoples’ involvement in your learning and activity programmes, providing evidence of participation, progression, skills development and impact in a way that reflects an individual young person’s circumstances.

What time commitment is required?

The minimum time commitment required for a Hi5 Award is 5 hours of activities. This can be completed in a single session or in multiple sessions. Young People can complete multiple Hi5 Awards. There are three levels called ‘star ratings’ and the levels/star ratings are based on the hours spent undertaking activities.

There is no maximum time limit; a young person can spend as much time as they choose on their Hi5 Award.

Is the award externally accredited?

The Hi5 award is externally quality assured by SQA and sits on the SCQF at level 2 and with 1 - 3 credit points depending on the number of hours completed. When a young person has completed their award, and it has been checked (quality assured), a personalised certificate is provided that will show their name, their challenge title, hours completed, the Scottish Credit and Qualifications Framework (SCQF) level and credit points.