Write a badge for skills and behaviours

Find out more about writing badges for skills, behaviours, attitudes and values, rather than an individual activity.

If your organisation delivers a wide range of activities or has a regularly evolving scheme of work, you might find it more valuable to write badges for skills and behaviours rather than an individual activity. This enables you to focus on positive attitudes and values shown by your earners and provides you with an excellent opportunity to recognise the change you want to see in the world by recognising the spirit of the interaction rather than precisely what an earner has carried out.

We find that badges for skills and behaviours work best when set in a specific context. While your badges might be issued when an earner participates in one of many activities, it can help if the badge is grounded in a particular area of work or could be applied to a particular activity type.

Examples of badges that have done this well:
FT Attendance and Behaviour
Bradford Council Supported Internship - Communication and Collaboration
Change Maker
Skills Participation - Community Support Fund

Read on to find out more about writing badges for skills and behaviours.

Consider

1. What are you trying to recognise?
Perhaps you have a series of core values, competencies, behaviours, or attitudes that earners can demonstrate, or a particular set of skills that you consistently develop through all of your activities - identifying one or a small number of these to recognise will help provide you with focus when you start to write your badge.

2. What are the common threads?
When you have identified what the badge is for, consider what all earners must achieve in order to earn it, regardless of which specific activity they are taking part in. For example:
"Earner has had the confidence to try new things and step out of their comfort zone while taking part in group activities. They have demonstrated communication and teamwork while working with others towards a common goal."

3. Who will decide?
For badges that could be earned in a range of ways, it helps to have an idea of how you will ascertain that an individual has earnt the badge. Is there a centralised assessment managed by an admin team, or will you entrust recognising these behaviours to your delivery staff that are in the room? This will support to write the badge in a way that is consistent with the earners' experience.

4. How will you issue?
Will your badge be issued by delivery staff in the room when they see these behaviours, or will individuals apply for the badge with evidence of how they have achieved the earning criteria? Knowing this will support you to write the badge in a way that clearly defines what an earner must have done to earn the badge.

Badge Standard Layer

Badges for demonstrating skills, behaviours, attitudes, and values often sit at the ‘Demonstrate’ layer of the RSA Badge Standard. This is because you are validating that an earner has practically applied the skill to a situation or demonstrated the behaviour in a given context.

This is not a hard-and-fast rule, your badge might map to a different layer of the Standard. We will support you to get this right as part of our Quality Assurance process.

Badge Description

Include in your description any details about the kind of activities earners might have engaged with to earn this badge, or how it has been ascertained they have earnt it.

“Earners of this badge have demonstrated care for their communities and concern about local, national, and global issues. They have actively contributed to activities addressing social, economic, and political injustices, including but not limited to events and campaigns.”

✅This highlights some example activities that an earner has participated in to earn the badge but clearly states that there is flexibility in how earners engage.

“Earners of this badge have participated in the Bradford Council Supported Internship programme. They have been assessed by their learning provider as having demonstrated the Bradford Essential Skill for Communication and Collaboration as part of their internship placement.”

✅This badge could be issued for internships at any supporting company in any sector or industry, and clearly sets out that the badge is issued when the learning provider deems that an earner has demonstrated the skill.

“Earners of this badge have successfully completed an industry placement. They have spent at least 315 hours working in an industry aligned with their career pathway and have developed a range of workplace technical skills, along with core employability skills such as communication, team working and timekeeping.”

✅While the activity this badge is specific to industry placements, the earner could have completed any role with any organisation within any sector/industry.

Earning Criteria

Write your earning criteria in a way that provides value to the earner but is flexible in how it is achieved.

As always when writing earning criteria, think ASO (Action, Skill, Outcome). While earners might complete a range of activities with you, the actions, skills (or behaviours / values) and outcomes you are looking to recognise are likely to remain consistent.

“Earner has (A) behaved consistently well, (S) showing self-control and consistently positive attitudes to their education. They have demonstrated resilience by (O) remaining persistent when facing challenges.”

✅This is set in an educational context but could be achieved by students studying any subject.

“Earner has successfully (S) demonstrated collaboration and influencing skills by (A) working in a team to (O) contribute to a common goal and enabling others to participate.”

✅ Working in a team could be achieved by earners participating in a wide range of workplace or project-based activities.

“Earner has (A) spent a minimum of 315 hours experiencing the (S) culture, values and professionalism of a workplace environment and has (O) gained a greater understanding of the roles and responsibilities aligned to their chosen industry.”

✅This refers to a placement setting but could easily be applied to any sector/industry.