Checks for young people aged 16-17
Checks for young people aged 16-17
All young people aged 16-17 who are carrying out a regulated role in Scotland must be fully compliant with these changes by 1 April 2026.
Any young person aged 16-17 who is carrying out a regulated role in Scotland must be clear to volunteer – this means they’ll have the ‘Disclosure Issued’ status showing against a Disclosure Scotland check on My Membership.
This includes Young Leaders, Young Helpers (such as young people who are not Explorer Scouts volunteering with Scouts as part of their Duke of Edinburgh Award) and any Explorer Scouts that carry out a regulated role.
When the young person is added to My Membership, and a PVG is required, the young person will have 60 days to submit their application to join the PVG Scheme, and will need to be supported by an adult volunteer to do this.
From 1 April 2026, any young people aged 16-17 who are not clear to volunteer mustn’t carry out a regulated role in Scotland until they have the ‘Disclosure Issued’ status showing against a Disclosure Scotland check on My Membership. Young people can be added from 15 years and 8 months to help make sure they are clear to volunteer ahead of them turning 16, so they can continue volunteering.
Adding a young person to My Membership
Young Leaders/Helpers which are recorded on My Membership need to ensure they have accurate information, however, it is likely they are also recorded on a local system for managing their membership. Please ensure that whilst both are kept up to date all volunteers know which is the primary system their records will be kept and accessed through, particularly for key data like medical information.
Step 1 – Add young person to My Membership
An adult volunteer with permission to add members to My Membership can go to 'Teams > My Units > add a young person' and input the relevant information for the young person and assign them a role.
The roles available to young people are:
- Explorer Scout: Should only be added for an Explorer Scout who holds a Young Leader role so their membership is recorded accurately.
- Young Leader: For any Young Leader aged 16-17 who is carrying out a regulated role in Scotland.
- Young Helper: For any young person aged 16-17 who is carrying out regulated role but is not a member of Scouts, such as a Duke of Edinburgh participant.
If multiple roles are required then once the first has been granted additional roles can be added following the assign a role tool guide.
Example 1
Yasmin Fadel – 17 year old Young Leader for Cubs at 2nd Somewhere Cub Pack, should be given the Young Leader role in 2nd Somewhere Cub Pack and an Explorer Scout role at 1st Anywhere Explorer Unit so that all roles are recorded.
Example 2
Fiona Murray – 17 year old Duke of Edinburgh participant who helps at 2nd Somewhere Beaver Colony, should be given the Young Helper role at 2nd Somewhere Beaver Colony.
The add a young person form also provides an optional field for a parent or guardian’s email address to be added to the system. Adding this will copy the parent or guardian email address into emails sent to the young person about their criminal record check. Permission must be given by the young person for this to be added. They can remove this permission and the parent or guardian’s email address at any time by contacting the Support Centre.
Step 2 – Role added to My Membership
Once a role is added on My Membership, the young person will receive an email with guidance for completing their PVG, supported by an adult volunteer. We’ll also let them know they have 60 days to complete this.
The young person’s default team leader will also receive a notification that their role has been added.
Step 3 – Completing personal details
The young person will need to login and complete their personal details on My Membership to allow for their disclosure to be requested.
Step 4 - Completing their PVG
The young person should now follow the Scotland PVG Application guidance.