Scout Badges

There are lots of badges you can earn while you are a Scout. This page lists all of the badges and tells you how to earn them. If you want more detail on a badge, click on its' picture and you will be taken to the correct page on the Scout Association website with full details on the badge.

If you want to know where the badges go on your uniform, then see the Uniform and Badges page under 'Information'.

Membership Award

This is the badge you receive when you are invested into the Scout Troop and make your promise. It shows everybody that you are a member of the Scout Association. If you received this badge when you were a Beaver or Cub, then you can continue to wear it on your Scout uniform, even before you are invested.

Participation Awards

You will receive a Participation Award each year you are in the Beavers, Cubs or Scouts, so that everyone knows how long you have been a member of the Scout Group. When you receive a participation award, don't forget to remove the previous one.

Moving On Awards

If you came up from the Cub Pack, then you will have received the Cubs to Scouts Moving On award. You can continue to wear this badge throughout your time at Scouts until you gain the next Moving On award.

The next award is presented to a Scout just as they are moving on to the Explorer Unit to show they have learned what Explorers is all about. This will be the first badge you wear on your Explorer uniform.

Challenge Badges

There are nine challenge badges for you to try. You will usually earn these by attending every week at Scouts and taking part in the extra activities. If you get the first six plus any two of theothers then you will receive the top award called the Chief Scout's Gold Award.

Chief Scout's Gold Award

The Chief Scout's Gold Award is the highest award available in the Scout Section. It is gained by completing the first six of the Challenge Badges and any two of the others.

Activity Badges

But that's not all! There are 75 different Activity Badges that you can complete at any time while you are a Scout. It is up to you to decide which Activity Badges you want to try so if you want to earn these badges, you should speak to your leader about what you have to do.

These cover everything you could possibly be interested in, from Astronomy to Dragon Boat Racing, Skiing to Mechanic and Handgliding to Air Spotting. If you have a hobby, interest or favourite sport there is an Activity Badge that you can work hard for, gain and wear on your uniform with pride.

Activity Badges can be worked on by any Scout. They offer the opportunity for a Scout or group of Scouts to take a particular interest or skill to a higher level. The detailed requirements of all the badges are on the Scout Association website; just click on the badge’s picture to be taken there.

Sometimes, badge courses are organised for the troop for a particular badge. The courses may be run over several evenings or at a special weekend event. And finally, badges just sometimes happen. Scouts gain bits and pieces towards a particular badge by camping and taking part in activities, so it doesn't seem like work at all! Scouts may work on badges at home but please talk to the Scout Leader before they start.

Most of the Activity Badges are individual badges just for the Scout section.

And some are staged so that you can earn higher levels as you improve. These badges are the same within Beavers, Cubs, Scouts and Explorers.

In addition, if you develop your skills even further after you have gained an Activity Badge, or if you learn how to be an instructor in a specific skill area then you can also gain additional awards for any activity badge as follows:

Partnership Awards

There are also three partnership awards that are earned by Beavers, Cuibs, Scouts and Explorers all working together. As these badges are for the whole Scout Group, your leader will tell you if you are working towards one of these.