About the Youth Sport Trust Quality Mark
What is the Youth Sport Trust Quality Mark?
The Youth Sport Trust Quality Mark is an online self-review tool which provides schools with a nationally recognised badge of excellence for PE and school sport.
This easy to use tool will support you to:
- reflect on all aspects of your offer encouraging a thorough reflection of practice
- highlight the strength of PE in the school
- help identify and prioritise further developments
The tool comprises a series of straightforward benchmarking statements, where you can select your level of provision as: bronze, bronze/silver, silver, silver/gold or gold. Statements cover the following:
- Section One: Overall – vision, leadership and management
- Section Two: High quality Physical Education
- Section Three: High quality school sport
- Section Four: High quality physical activity
- Section Five: Using high quality PE, school sport and physical activity to drive whole school improvement
Complete one section at a time, saving your responses as you go, or complete the whole Quality Mark in one go. Whichever approach you take you can review, adjust and save your responses as many times as you need, only submitting your completed Quality Mark when you are confident it reflects your level of provision.
A Youth Sport Trust Quality Mark lasts for a year from the point of submission but can be reviewed and resubmitted from the start of each new academic term, providing the opportunity to embed identified developments and receive recognition for your enhanced provision.
Is the Youth Sport Trust Quality Mark validated or quality assured?
At bronze and silver level there is no further validation of your Quality Mark responses. The Quality Mark is a development tool and it is anticipated that by self assessing your provision at bronze or silver level you will further develop your practice in your aim to achieve gold.
If your Quality Mark level is gold, on submission you will receive a ‘going for gold’ level. All YST Core, Plus and Premium member schools who are ‘going for gold’ are externally validated by a Youth Sport Trust team member. On submission a member of the team will be in contact to arrange a suitable time to visit the school, speak with you, the headteacher and a group of pupils. A validation visit is an opportunity to showcase your gold provision and receive developmental support to help you extend your practice further. A visit typically lasts 2-3 hours.
What do I get for completing the Youth Sport Trust Quality Mark?
You will get access through the Quality Mark platform to a digital celebration pack containing:
- A downloadable personalised certificate
- A downloadable high-resolution logo to use on your school website, letterheads or print out and display
- In addition, Gold Quality Mark schools will receive a framed personalised gold quality mark certificate through the post to display proudly at the school
You will also be able to select suggested developments or identify your own to create a personalised action plan to support you to further develop and embed your provision.
A Youth Sport Trust Quality Mark, particularly at gold level is a badge of honour. It demonstrates the value the school places on its provision and reflects the whole school approach and commitment to providing a high quality physical education, school sport and physical activity offer for all pupils.
How do I get started?
Youth Sport Trust Subscription Plus, Core, Plus and Premium member schools have access to the Youth Sport Trust Quality Mark as a member benefit. Register your school as a user to get started on your Quality Mark submission.
Unsure if you are a Youth Sport Trust member school? Contact membership@youthsporttrust.org to find out or visit https://www.youthsporttrust.org/school-membership to find out how you can become a school member.