At Home: How to run CREST Awards

At Home: How to run CREST Awards

CREST offers parents an easy-to-run system for at-home learning that is child-led, and encourages young people to take ownership of their own projects. You don't need to have much knowledge about science to run CREST at home.

Sign up for a free CREST account

Sign up for a free CREST account online. You can use this account to enter your child's details, create projects and submit project work, assess your child's work, pay any CREST entry fees and request certificates. 

Choose your project(s)

First decide which CREST level is most appropriate for your child through age or their knowledge of science. Once you have figured out what level your child can work at, there are two options for choosing a project:

  • Use a CREST at home resource from the resource library
  • Support your child to create and design their own project

Run your project(s)

This is the fun part! Your child should work independently (either with other children or individually), with your support. The parent and child guides can help guide you through the process.

  • Discovery parent guide
  • Bronze parent guide
  • Silver child guide
  • Gold child guide

Mentors

At Silver and Gold level, we encourage children to access support from a mentor who works in a STEM field related to their CREST project topic, taking the pressure off parents to know the finer details of the projects their children are doing. Mentors can play an important role in CREST projects by offering their experience, knowledge and enthusiasm to help inspire children. They can open a window into what working in STEM can be like. STEM Ambassadors are engaging with young people during the current climate to support with many areas of STEM. Visit their website to learn more.

Mentors are strongly recommended at Gold level, preferred at Silver, and optional at Bronze and Discovery 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 varies by CREST level:

  • Star and SuperStar: Your child records each activity they participate in with a sticker or drawing in their Star or SuperStar passport
  • Discovery: Your child fills out a CREST Discovery passport
  • Bronze: We recommend using the CREST Bronze workbook as it provides additional structure for at home projects.
  • Silver and Gold: Your child 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 an adult, 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 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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