CREST offers educators an easy-to-run framework for curriculum enhancement and is student-led, encouraging young people to take ownership of their own projects. CREST can be run in schools, clubs, youth groups, other organisations or at home.
Check out the getting started guides for more information:
Sign up for a free CREST account
Sign up for a free CREST account online. You can use this account to enter students, create projects and submit project work, assess students’ work, pay CREST entry fees and request certificates.
Choose your project(s)
First decide which CREST level is most appropriate for your students. Then there are three options for choosing a project:
Run your project(s)
This is the fun part! Your students should work independently (either in groups or individually), with your support. The teacher and student guides can help guide you through the process.
Mentors
We encourage students to access support from a mentor who works in a STEM field related to their CREST project topic. Mentors can play an important role in CREST projects by offering their experience, knowledge and enthusiasm to help inspire students. They can open a window into what working in STEM can be like.
Mentors are strongly recommended at Gold level, preferred at Silver, and optional at lower levels. To find a mentor for your project, you can:
- Request support through the STEM Ambassadors Scheme
- Contact local universities they often have a public outreach department
Record your project work
The recording expected from students varies by CREST level:
- Star and SuperStar: students record each activity they participate in with a sticker or drawing in their Star or SuperStar passport
- Discovery: students fill out a CREST Discovery passport
- Bronze: students can either complete a CREST Bronze workbook or write a project report and accompanying profile form
- Silver and Gold: students should create a project report and complete the accompanying profile form.
Assess your project(s)
CREST Awards are non-competitive, as long as the project meets enough of the CREST criteria at the expected level they will achieve their Award.
Star, SuperStar, Discovery and Bronze Awards should be assessed by you (or another educator at your organisation), using our tried and tested assessment framework.
Silver and Gold Awards are submitted for assessment by a trained, external assessor from industry or academia, working in a similar field to the project.
Certify your project(s)
For Star, SuperStar, Discovery and Bronze Awards log in to your CREST account, pay the entry fee and request certificates. These will be posted to your delivery address.
For Silver and Gold Awards, projects that meet at least 11 of the 15 assessment criteria will automatically be sent their certificates to the delivery address you have provided prior to payment.
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