Nights Away Permit Scheme
The Nights Away Permit Scheme is an internal assessment scheme designed to ensure that everyone leading Nights Away events for young people within Scouts have the skills, experience and personal suitability to do so.
Interim process for when Compass goes offline
This process will be impacted by Compass going offline for everyone from Thursday 7 November. For details on how this process is impacted and what you'll need to do instead, please take a look at our interim processes.
Find out more about the interim processesThe Nights Away Permit Scheme
The Nights Away Permit Scheme is an internal assessment scheme designed to ensure that all those leading nights away events for young people within Scouts have the skills, experience and personal suitability to do so.
On this page you can find out more information about the scheme, our guides for applicants, assessors, lead volunteers and night away approvers, and forms and resources.
There's an Assessment Checklist that the Nights Away Assessor uses to assess any applicants for the Nights Away Permit Scheme.
Nights Away Permit Scheme
The Nights Away Permit Scheme promotes quality residential and camping experiences. It shows that all those leading nights away events for young people within Scouts have the skills, experience and personal suitability to take young people away safely.
Discover the schemeApplicants' guide
This page provides a guide to applicants wishing to gain a nights away permit.
Read the Applicants' guideAssessment guide
This page provides an overview for Nights Away Assessors, who are assessing applicants for a Nights Away Permit.
Read the Assessment guideLead Volunteers and Approvers guide
This page provides a guide to Lead Volunteers and Approvers on their role within the Nights Away Permit Scheme.
Read the Lead Volunteers and Approvers guideAssessors guide
This page provides a guide to those wishing to become Nights Away Assessors.
Read the assessors guideForms and resources
The Nights Away Notification Form (Form NAN) can also be attached to emails, or printed out and completed by hand, using your local digital solution or using the Nights away notification function in the membership system. It's recommended that you download and install the Scouts font, Nunito Sans, beforehand.
As well as being available from the Scout Support Centre, Nights Away permit holders can download a Nights Away Event Passport to use for young people-led nights away events. Take a look at our Nights Away event passport guidance.
Supporter of the Nights Away Permit Scheme (SNAPS)
The Supporter of the Nights Away Permit Scheme (SNAPS) in each County (or Area, or Region in Scotland) is a way of identifying who's responsible for supporting the Nights Away Permit Scheme locally.
Permits and the management of Nights Away Assessors remains the responsibility of Lead Volunteers, with SNAPS available to support Lead Volunteers in this area.
This will fall under the remit of the County Support Team members role.
Technical manual
Nights Away
Nights Away is a print publication containing everything you need to know for enjoying the outdoors and taking young people away safely and with confidence. Aimed at all volunteers in Scouting, it provides advice on the best equipment to take, ways of preparing your staff and how to make the most of your time away.
Nights Away and safeguarding
Check out the hints and tips