Accredited by the Skills Builder Partnership and aligned with Gatsby Benchmark 5 for employability skills, the Young Green Briton Challenge is designed for students in Years 7 to 10. Last year, 45 schools and 7,500 students took part in a climate-focused challenge that culminated in a national competition, with finalists receiving funding to bring their winning ideas to life.

Supported since its inception by entrepreneur Dale Vince and the Green Britain Foundation, it now has an array of sponsors and backers from local government to trusts and foundations (such as the People’s Postcode Lottery) and green businesses (including Ecotricity, LNER and Avanti) and celebrities, such as BBC presenter Chris Packham. With its proven ability to engage and inspire, the programme is set to grow year on year as more schools recognise its potential to deliver meaningful climate education, as part of their Climate Action Plans, whilst also equipping students with the skills they need for the future.

This year was a special year for the challenge, as it saw schools who are now entering their 2^nd or 3^rd year, taking the next step by enhancing their YGBC programme by making it a vehicle for the awarding of valued qualifications for the students taking part. Pearson, the world’s leading education provider, joined forces with the YGBC to support schools keen to deliver YGBC by accrediting the work through a Project Qualification, bringing together the world of social innovation and qualifications for the first time.

The Co-op Academy Belle Vue case study

The Co-op Academy Belle Vue were one school keen to explore the opportunity to launch a project qualification. The school started YGBC with the whole of Year 8 before offering students the chance to pitch to participate in the highly popular YGBC club, within a curriculum of enrichment pathways. The enrichment club (which is timetabled alongside other options, such as sport) gives the most promising teams of students an opportunity to develop and prototype their ideas.  Though many schools continue to deliver competitions and external programmes outside of timetabled lessons, the Co-op Academy Belle Vue build these impactful opportunities into the school day. This has given students at the Co-op Academy Belle Vue the time to focus on both YGBC and the completion of a project qualification, which is half the guided learning hours of a GCSE. The school wanted every student to aim for the achievement of a Level 1 Foundation Project, but with the aspiration that many would achieve the Level 2 Higher Project.

Helen Allsopp-Medley, Head of Geography at the inner city Manchester school, has led the YGBC for the past two years and was keen to introduce the project qualification when offered. In a summative interview about her experience of the year, she shared some valuable insights into the motivation to introduce the project qualifications to the YGBC:  “We were keen for the students to gain a qualification that actually showcases the amount of work they put into it (YGBC) and the skills that they learnt along the way… it is a misconception that they are just putting a project together for fun, whereas it is an academic project and they are developing quite granular skills, not just pitching and presenting”.

Student achievement and outcomes

Helen’s successful delivery of both the YGBC and the project qualifications was evident when, in the first year of entry, all 20 students completed their project qualification, with 7 achieving the Level 1 Foundation qualification, and a remarkable 13 achieving the more ambitious Level 2 Higher qualification. For students in Year 8, this is not only testament to the hard work the students put into the YGBC, but also to Helen’s support of the students to compile their work to meet the requirements of the Pearson Edexcel Project Qualification. The YGBC was very closely aligned to a project qualification, and as such required very little adaptation to compile the amazingly creative work of the students into a submission that met the mark scheme criteria.

The grade outcomes of those students who managed to achieve the Level 2 qualification are impressive also. Despite students being only 12 or 13; the school entering for project qualifications for the first time; and the teacher being entirely new to project qualifications; the students were awarded brilliant grades as shown below:

As a cohort achieving over 50% of grades A* to A, and all achieving a pass at either Level 1 or 2, the teacher, students and parents were pleased to see their hard work pay off.

Whilst all students achieved a project qualification at either Level 1 and 2, the experience of sitting a formal qualification in Key Stage 3 that could lead to the Level 3 Extended Project Qualification (EPQ) at sixth form, is a long-term potential benefit. Offering an AS equivalent grade and UCAS points, both the school and Pearson hope students experiencing a Level 1 or 2 qualification will now be more open to taking up the Level 3 qualification, and hopefully through the increasingly popular artefact route.

Completing an EPQ through the artefact route is the second most popular approach through this sixth form only qualification, yet is so often overlooked in favour of the traditional dissertation route, which can be less appealing to students who enjoy and excel in practical/hands on assessment opportunities. Students with a positive exposure to project qualifications earlier in their education journey, are much better prepared for the Level 3 qualification, which opens up an unlimited array of opportunities for progression onto higher and further education, training or employment.

Looking ahead: Future plans and resources

What was notable from looking at the Co-op Academy Belle Vue entries to the project qualification was that all students completed a hybrid style project, combining elements of a written report, a made artefact, and a performance, as part of their evidence. Not only were students able to develop the academic skills of writing, researching and critical thinking, but they were also developing skills of leadership and presentation typically associated with performance, and creativity and resilience often associated with artefacts. All of these skills link the YGBC and the Pearson Project Qualification back to the Skills Builder Universal framework, which provides a structured approach to engaging with sequenced skills education.

Pearson are currently working to make the exemplars from the Co-op Academy Belle Vue available to any school keen to launch a Pearson project qualification alongside the YGBC. Our support will help teachers to direct their students through the hybrid project approach taken by the Co-op Academy Belle Vue, or take a more pathway specific route through either a written report, made artefact or performance assessment.

The Co-op Academy Belle Vue will be continuing with both the YGBC and Pearson Edexcel Project Qualification enrichment programme with their Year 8 cohort from September 2025, and are looking to both refine and expand their programme to more students, with the aim of hopefully winning the competition element in 2026. Pearson wish them all the very best and also look forward to seeing students continuing their climate and social impact education, hopefully into an EPQ when they enter sixth form.

A full interview with the Co-op Academy Belle Vues’ lead teacher, Helen Allsopp-Medly, can be found here, whilst exemplars from the schools first year of entries will be available on the Pearson Edexcel Project Qualification exemplar library after awarding in September.

Interesting in taking part?

For schools interested in the YGBC, they could visit this website or email info@ygbc.uk to register their interest in entering for 2025-26. Once registered, schools keen on awarding students a project qualification will be connected to Pearson to gain access to all of the teaching support and guidance required to both deliver the project qualification, but also to help with assessment.

Pearson would like to express deep thanks to Kat Crisp from Social Innovation for All, Helen Allsopp-Medley from the Co-op Academy Belle Vue, Martin Foulkes from EcoVida Routes, who leads YGBC in the North-West, and to the wider YGBC team and volunteers who make the Young Green Briton Challenge such an amazing success.