To gain the Young Carers in Schools (YCiS) Award, schools are asked to evidence how they meet certain requirements. These requirements cover the standards required for the award.

This is your digital application for the YCiS Award which you can save and come back to whenever you need. There is a separate application form for the YCiS Award Plus

What is the YCiS Award?

• The YCiS Award allows schools to gain recognition from leading charities for their good practice and ability to meet the needs of these vulnerable pupils.
• For many young carers, school offers respite, providing a dedicated space away from their caring role. However, young carers told the first parliamentary inquiry looking into the life opportunities of young carers that, too often, they are struggling to balance education with their caring responsibilities. Evidence submitted to the inquiry demonstrated that, at present, school support is inconsistent across the country. Evidence shows young carers are at risk of poorer attendance and attainment and more challenging experiences within education settings. Statistics are available in the YCiS Award Pack.
• Evidence shows that when schools do identify young carers and the appropriate support is put in place, they will likely have better educational journeys and improved wellbeing.
• An independent evaluation of the Young Carers in Schools programme found that there had been improvements in young carers’ relationship with education and better meeting of their needs.

Applying and confirmation

To achieve the Young Carers in Schools Award, evidence must be provided to show how your school or college is implementing the criteria.

• A lot of the evidence required to demonstrate the work you are doing to identify and support young carers can be provided through photos of your young carers noticeboard for pupils. You could send us both a wide-angle picture of the noticeboard, but also a close-up picture of the specific area for each relevant section of the Award. It is important you upload clear photos and label them appropriately.
• Even if you are confident in your provision for young carers, we ask that all schools initially apply for the Young Carers in Schools Award – this will make the process easier if you wish to apply for the Young Carers in Schools Award Plus.
• The Award has a three-year expiry date to ensure that the provision for young carers remains in place.
• Schools will be asked how many young carers they have recorded when submitting their application. We will be in contact a year after the school achieves the Award to see if the number of identified young carers has increased.
• In response to feedback, we have removed submission deadlines. Schools an not apply when it convenient.
• Applications for the Award will be reviewed on a rolling basis, and we will provide a response within six weeks of submission.

The following range of support is available on our What is the award? page to make applying for and achieving an award as easy as possible

• Young Carers in Schools Pack: A full guide to support schools to implement and evidence a Young Carers in Schools award. Contains a step by step guide to the process and a comprehensive checklist of required evidence.
• YCiS Award Provision Map: This is a table that outlines the criteria of the Award, the suggested evidence and helps to track progress towards the Award
• YCiS Award Example Pack: This document provides examples of evidence that can be supplied.
• Local young carers services can also greatly enhance school support for young carers and can often facilitate the identification of young carers. Find out more and find your local young carers service.

Top tips for your application process

• You can click back at any point during your application to amend/add evidence.
• You can save your application and return to it later by selecting the "Save and Continue Later" button that will apear once you begin in the top right hand corner. You will receive a link (via email) which you can use to return to your application. Please check your spam, the email will be from Alchemer.
• Each part of the application is required, please review and ensure you have not left anything blank or without the relevant documentation.
• When you upload a file the red cross is to be used if you wish to delete the file. This is does not indicate an unsuccessful upload:
• In some cases more than one piece of evidence may be needed to be uploaded for a question to be complete. If you have any queries, contact YCiS@childrenssociety.org.uk