FAQ’s

The International Award for Young People is an exciting self-development programme for all young people worldwide aged 14-25. Since 1956, the Award Programme has successfully equipped over million young people in over 144 countries with life skills, built their confidence, and engaged them with their communities.

The Award concept is one of individual challenge and it encourages young people to develop into responsible, active citizens. The Award programme is non-competitive and anyone with enterprise, enthusiasm and dedication can participate. For adults, the Award Programme provides an opportunity to help by sharing their skills and experiences with young people.

Each level requires increased commitment and effort in:

Adventure – cultivates a spirit of adventure and an understanding of the environment
Voluntary Service – develops a sense of community and social responsibility
Skills – develops cultural, vocational and practical skills
Physical Recreation – encourages improved performance and fitness
Residential Project (additional for Gold Level) – broadens horizons through a worthwhile residential experience.

For participants, the main reward is a great sense of personal achievement. You will gain new skills and experiences; make new friends, and build your all-round character. Young People experience self-reliance, perseverance, personal discovery, responsibility and service to the community. For Award leaders and instructors, you will have the satisfaction of knowing that you have helped young people to develop and make valuable contributions to the community. On top of all this, it’s all about having great fun.

Bronze Level – 14 years
Silver Level – 15 years
Gold Level – 16 years

The maximum age to achieve the Award is 25 years. This means for the Gold level, participant should register not after 24 years of age. However, most participants who have enrolled at the age of 14 are often able to obtain the Gold Award before they are 20 years of age

The participant registration fee for each level of the Award from YES Centres has been revised to Rs 700/- (Rs. Seven Hundred only) for Offline and Online Record Book Participants. The registration fee for Open Award Centre Participants is Rs. 1,000 (Rs. One Thousand only). Licensee fees for YES Centre is 12,500 (includes Goods and Service Tax), for corporate partners & multi-unit Foundations is 40,000 (includes Goods and Service Tax) and for Trained Activity Providers (such as adventure and skill operator) is 28,500 (includes Goods and Service Tax). All transaction payable only by bank draft payable to SBI New Delhi in favour of Award Programme Foundation or online transaction.

When you are undertaking your Award, you will receive a diary and a record book to chart your progress in the four sections of the Award. As a successful participant, you will receive a prestigious badge and certificate which are internationally recognized, to mark your achievement for whichever level of the Award you undertake – Bronze, Silver or Gold. The Awards are normally presented at specially organised ceremonies in the presence of celebrities, local dignitaries or even royalty.

Yes, printed brochures highlighting the Award information are available and can be collected from International Award for Young People, First Floor, 86/1 Shahpur Jat, August Kranti Marg, near Asian Games Village, New Delhi 110049.

You can contact the Programme Manager, International Award for Young People, First Floor, 86/1 Shahpur Jat, August Kranti Marg, near Asian Games Village, New Delhi 110049 or write to programme@dofe.in.

Diaries and Record Books are important for the purpose of recording and tracking the accurate dates and duration of activity undertaken, the outcomes, etc. Once you have completed your period of the relevant Award level, your Diary and Record Book would be your proof of what you have done and achieved, which would then make you eligible for the Award.

List of suggested activities can be downloaded from here.

The Aim of the Residential Projects for Gold Award is to broaden participant’s outlook and horizons through involvement with others in a residential setting. Residential Projects gives Gold participants a shared purposeful experience with people who are not their usual companions.

Yes, this could be done with due approval from the Award Leader and informing National Award Authority. For more information refer the record book ‘Transfer Slip’.

Activities which are not listed should be approved by International Award Organization or may contact National Award Authority for further suggestions.

Please refer to the list of activities provided to you along with the Handbook. In case of any clarification, you can get in touch with the Programme Manager, International Award for Young People, First Floor, 86/1 Shahpur Jat, August Kranti Marg, near Asian Games Village, New Delhi 110049.

No it is not necessary for the university or school you are studying in to be registered under our National Award Authority for you to participate in the Award Programme. Individual registration options are available on this link

No, preparatory trainings both theoretical and practical are necessary for participants before they plan for their assessment/qualifying journeys. Adequate number of practice journey should be taken before the qualifying journey.

All journeys must be supervised and assessed by experienced alert.

Few suggested Adventurous Journey can be downloaded from here.

Yes, participants are open to join expedition courses operated by other organizations provided all the parameters decided by IAYP are fulfilled.

No, parents are not allowed to accompany the participants on an Adventurous Journey.

Expedition is where journey is based on a predefined target while exploration is a journey with a particular purpose of exploring unfamiliar area/resources.

Participants only need to set a target for completion, and perform enough number of hours during a reasonable time period (atleast 1 hour/week).

You just need a mentor who is more knowledgeable in the physical recreation activity chosen by you. The mentor should be able to supervise and guide your activity and should be out of blood relation.

Participants can only take part in one activity to complete the Physical Recreation Section.

Yes, if a participant is unable to develop in the chosen sport he/she may look to change their activity after getting approval from the Award Leader. The time period invested in first activity will also count for the total duration needed to dedicate to Physical Recreation at different Award levels. Your effort will always be valued. But remember only one change is allowed.

Participants are not only required to participate in an activity continuously, but also need to have an improvement in the activity.

Participants need to use their leisure time to join activities. Therefore, school’ physical education class cannot be counted as Physical Recreation activity.

Participants may only be awarded on the basis of minimum 1 hour per week participation in each activity. The continuous involvement is required during the period of the programme.

Few suggested activitiescan be downloaded from here.

You cannot be paid to undertake your Award residential activity, like all activities it needs to be voluntary.

Residential Project is time bound (5 days and 4 night) while Service is prolong session involving atleast one hour per week service. Service is connected to society but Residential Project is not necessary connected to community. Service section doesn’t require you to stay where you are doing your Service, while Residential Project does.

Few suggested Residential Project can be downloaded from here.

Yes and no. You cannot benefit directly from the money you fundraise. You can organize fundraisers that will be directly benefiting the project you are going to undertake, for example building materials and so on. You may not count fundraising as a Voluntary Service if the money is used to pay for your journey/programme, for example fees, flights, insurance, hotel accommodation and so on.

No, to successfully achieve an Award, an activity should be undertaken that requires you to come out of your comfort zone and also requires donating time to a genuine cause, for the required length of time depending on the Award level chosen. You should be able to show regular commitment to the scoiety, progress and improvement of your chosen activity.

Activity incharge can assess your Voluntary Service, but the incharge should be out of blood relation.

Few suggested Voluntary Service activities can be downloaded from here.

No, participants may follow the same Skill activity for more than one level of Award or may choose a different one for each level.

No, paid work is not counted, as Award activities need to be done in a participant’s own time and voluntarily.

Few suggested skills can be downloaded from here.

No, the chosen skill can be an ability already possessed by the participant. But during the course of programme the participants should be able show a progress at the end point as compared to the start of the programme.

Yes parents can surely train you but cannot asses your chosen skill. No blood relation can assess you.