London Youth Quality Assurance Programme

We are committed to supporting our members in delivering the highest standard of youth work across our capital. The Quality Mark is London Youth’s flagship Quality Assurance programme, and provides youth organisations with a badge of excellence that is recognised by local authorities and funders. There is also a financial incentive as your organisation can apply for a grant once you achieve it.

quality mark

Quality Mark Levels

The Quality Mark has been developed specifically for organisations delivering youth work in London.

There are three levels in our Quality Assurance programme: Bronze, Silver and Gold. Each level will assess your organisation against several criteria, including outcomes and aims for young people, safeguarding, diversity and inclusion, health and safety, partnerships, leadership and management.

The Quality Marks must be completed in order, starting with the Bronze. Quality Marks are assessed separately and cannot be assessed at the same time.

Bronze

The Bronze level focuses on the policies and procedures that organisations need to have in place to ensure they operate legally and provide a safe environment for young people.

Silver

The Silver level examines the quality of an organisation’s youth offer, the opportunities provided to young people, and the training and support provided to staff and volunteers.

Gold

The Gold level examines the impact of an organisation for those they serve. Organisations must evidence their commitment to improvement, and how they involve young people in their development.

Eligibility

In order to be eligible for our Quality Assurance Programme (including re-validation) organisations need to be:

A current member of London Youth for 2022-23
A youth organisation that delivers direct youth work to young people
A registered organisation that delivers the majority (minimum 80%) of its direct youth work in London
Be able to complete the Bronze Quality Mark within an 9 – 12 month period

Note: Umbrella or multi-site organisations are not eligible to undertake the quality mark. However individual venues or clubs that are a part of those umbrella organisations can, but they must join London Youth as individual member first. If your organisation is an unincorporated community group – you are not eligible for the Quality Assurance programme. However, if you require support or guidance relating to your organisations development please contact membership@londonyouth.org.

The new Bronze Quality Mark framework

London Youth have launched of our new Bronze Quality Mark Framework. You can download this using the link below.

Download the new Bronze framework >

London Youth have redesigned our Quality Assurance programme to ensure that we continue to deliver the highest quality support for members during their Quality Mark journey. We are in the process of getting this award validated by an external body and will update members once this is formally in place.

Members need to apply to undertake this programme. Those who undertake the Bronze Quality Mark will receive:

A full induction into the Quality Assurance Programme
A minimum of three check-in meetings with a dedicated Membership Development Officer (MDO)
Access to our extensive training offer that supports you in completing your Bronze Quality Mark
1-2-1 support throughout your journey
An opportunity to apply for a City Bridge Trust grant of £3,000

We will be updating our Silver and Gold Quality Assurance frameworks this year and will update our website once this work is complete.

What if I am not allocated a place on this programme?

Members who apply and aren’t allocated a place on the 2022-23 programme can join the waiting list up until 31st October. London Youth will be in touch if and when a place becomes available on the 2022-23 programme. In the meantime, you can still get started on your Quality Assurance journey by downloading the Bronze framework and accessing our Resources Library.

Apply to undertake the Bronze Quality Mark

Applications for the Bronze Quality Mark 2022-2023 programme closed on Friday 17th June 2022.

Our 2022-23 waiting list for the Bronze Quality Mark programme closed 1st November 2022. We will be re-opening the waiting list for the 2023-24 programme in early Spring 2023.

Silver & Gold Quality Marks

If you are interested in undertaking a Silver or Gold Quality Mark please email qualitymark@londonyouth.org to let us know then we can send you everything you need to get started.

Please note:

In order to undertake the Silver Quality Mark you must have a valid Bronze level Quality Mark.
In order to undertake the Gold Quality Mark you must have a valid Silver level Quality Mark.

Bronze Quality Mark Revalidation

Members must have a valid Quality Mark in order to move on to the next Quality Mark level. Each Quality Mark is valid for a total of three years, from the awarded date.

If an organisation’s Bronze Quality Mark expires, they will not hold a valid Quality Mark and will need to complete a Bronze revalidation prior to the expiry date in order to move onto complete the Silver Quality Mark. The Bronze revalidation is a simple but robust process that involves organisations:

Completing a revalidation form
Sharing evidence such as key policies and documents with an assessor

Silver & Gold Quality Mark Recertification

Later this year London Youth aim to create a re-certification process for Silver and Gold level Quality Marks. We are currently at the reviewing stage of this work and will notify our members on our progress via our website and our member mail outs.

In the meantime, if you have questions regarding your Silver or Gold, please email qualitymark@londonyouth.org.

Grants

City Bridge Trust (CBT) and London Youth have a long-standing partnership that supports the Quality Assurance programme. Subject to funding, grants are available for London Youth members who complete Quality Marks.

Bronze: Organisations that achieve this Quality Mark level for the first time can claim a £3,000 grant.
Silver: Organisations that achieve this Quality Mark level for the first time can claim a £5,000 grant.
Gold: Organisations that achieve this Quality Mark level for the first time can claim a £7,000 grant.

Note: Organisations may claim only one of the three grants listed above upon completion of a Quality Mark. For example, if your organisation plans on undertaking the Silver or Gold Quality Mark, we recommend you do not claim the bronze grant, but wait to claim the larger amount once you complete a higher level Quality Mark.

Additional Re-certification grant: Organisations that re-achieve either a Silver or Gold Quality Mark can claim an additional £3,000 award.