Nights away
Nights away
Nights away are one of the most common areas of confusion when awarding Top Awards. The most important thing to understand is that each award has a single total requirement, and nights away from earlier awards can count towards that total if they meet the award rules.
Chief Scout's Platinum Award Nights Away Requirements
Complete eight nights away as an Explorer Scout of which four must be camping.
Any Scouting nights away can count for this section, including those used in another part of this award
Chief Scout's Diamond Award Nights Away Requirements
Complete 16 nights away as an Explorer Scout or member of the Scout Network, of which at least eight must be camping.
Any Scouting nights away can count for this section, whether used in another part of this award, or to count towards the Chief Scout Platinum award.
King's Scout Award Nights Away Requirements
Complete 24 nights away as an Explorer Scout or Scout Network member, of which at least 12 must be camping.
Any Scouting nights away can count for this section, whether used in another part of this award, or to count towards the Chief Scout Platinum or Chief Scout Diamond Award.
Guidance
Age matters for this section. The King’s Scout Award can’t be completed using only nights away from before your 16th birthday.
- All nights away for the King’s Scout Award must be dated after the 16th birthday and before the 25th birthday.
- If you have completed the Platinum Chief Scout Award then 16 of the remaining 24 nights will need to be after your 16th birthday.
- If you have completed the Diamond Chief Scout Award then 8 of the remaining 24 nights will need to be after your 16th birthday.
- If you’ve completed no previous top awards, all 24 nights, including the 12 camping nights, must take place after your 16th birthday.
|
Award Achieved |
Nights Reused |
Nights left to complete |
|
Platinum and Diamond |
Reuse 16 (including 8 camping) |
Additional 8 nights required dated after 16th birthday |
|
Platinum only |
Reuse 8 (Including 4 camping) |
Additional 16 required to bring total to 24 dated after 16th birthday (at least 12 must be camping). |
|
No awards |
|
All 24 dated after 16th birthday (at least 12 must be camping). |
- We recognise that not all young people can undertake nights away and therefore reasonable adaptations can be made for those with additional needs.
- This might include trip aways with Scouts, nights away with family in a new location or something else which is a challenge to the individual.
DofE Nights Away completed with Scouts can count towards your total but DofE nights away done outside of Scouting do not count.
For every night spent away, you must record:
- The date of the night away
- Whether the stay was camping
- Which award (Platinum or Diamond) any previous nights away were counted towards
- The location location / event where the night away took place
The reviewer will check the number of nights away undertaken for previous awards and dates to check all nights away are valid.
