Evaluations

 

YEG Evaluation of expeditions and overseas ventures

The Young Explorers’ Group, within the IOL framework, offers an expedition evaluation service.  It is carried out by expert assessors who scrutinise ventures, offering valuable advice to ensure expedition plans meet all the requirements of the British Standard, BS 8848:2014– Specification for the provision of visits. Fieldwork, expeditions and adventurous activities outside the United Kingdom.

History of the Evaluations Service

Historically, the Young Explorers’ Trust (YET), which was formed in 1972, long undertook to provide the invaluable service of advising youth expeditions on matters of good practice and safety.  Prime amongst these was its Approval Scheme for youth expeditions overseas, together with Grant Aid for some expeditions.

The YET Approval and Grant Aid Schemes, operated for over 50 years, during which time around 2000 individual overseas youth expeditions – and many more through its Corporate Evaluation Service, have had their plans screened by the Trust. 

In 2007, the British Standard BS 8848 - Specification for the provision of visits, fieldwork, expeditions and adventurous activities outside the UK was first published.  It provided a recognised benchmark against which to assess the acceptability of safety and general good practice on overseas expeditions.  At that time, YET re-structured its existing and widely respected approval scheme in line with this standard to enable providers of such ventures to demonstrate Conformity to BS 8848 through the Evaluation Service.

In 2009, the British Standard was revised and YET adjusted its procedures to enable either the evaluation of individual ventures, or the assessment of providers on a corporate basis, for Conformity to BS 8848.  For corporate conformity, a key requirement is that the Venture Provider has to ‘self assess’ all ventures it provides and declare that individually they do so conform fully to BS 8848.

In 2014, a new version of British Standard BS 8848 was published. This covers all aspects of provision considered in earlier versions, but with greater emphasis on the nature of evidence required to demonstrate conformity. The YET Evaluation Service methodology was further reviewed and developed to ensure that it remained fully in line with all the requirements of the standard.

In 2026 the YET Trustees decided to cease as an independent charity and merge with the Institute for Outdoor Learning (IOL), creating a Sector Specialist Group known as The Young Explorers Group (YEG). The Evaluation Service, run so effectively by YET for many years, will continue in exactly the same way under this new structure.

Anyone interested in providing a venture conforming to the standard would be welcome to contact the YEG Evaluations Co-ordinator by email for advice on how to proceed.

Copies of BS 8848 may be purchased directly from the British Standards Institute.  The BSI has also published “A parents’ guide to adventurous activities abroad for young people” which offers information and advice on what is covered by BS 8848 and the reason for its existence.

 

 

Why evaluate?

YEG champions and generally promotes the use of good practice in adventurous activities so that young people can experience the pleasures and values of expeditions without undue risk to their safety and general wellbeing.  When doing so, it has to be properly recognised that adventurous activities, by their very nature, involve exposure to accepted elements of risk, challenge and adventure greater than those normally encountered in everyday life.  It is understood however that it cannot be guaranteed that all possibility of consequential injury to participants, or others, is eliminated.

YEG is keen to see that all ventures of this nature follow appropriate high standards of conduct and are undertaken responsibly and as safely as practicable.  It views any assessment process of a venture, not as a further restriction on risk and the development of young people, but as an enabling one that raises the standard of operation across the whole sector.  It promotes participant (and parental) confidence and brings greater opportunity to enable the benefits of the expedition experience to reach as wide an audience as possible of young people.

YEG does not organise expeditions, but offers its skilled services, including mentoring to voluntary youth groups, to schools, to all venture providers (voluntary and commercial), to Scouts / Guides / cadets and other uniformed groups, and to all other groups involved in providing challenging and adventurous ventures outside the UK for young people.

The YEG Evaluation Service

YEG has considerable and wide experience evaluating the plans for the provision of one-off ventures for people aged 14 to 25 but it will also evaluate Conformity to BS 8848 for Venture Providers who operate with a wider age range.  Such Providers include, but not exclusively, those offering “adventure tourism”.

Ventures must have one or more specific objectives drawn from:

• physical challenge and adventure,
• scientific fieldwork
• a community or environmental purpose.

Venture Providers use YEG as a competent, external and independent “other party” assessor of their Conformity to BS 8848 as laid down in the specification.  However, it is fundamental that all ventures are subject to self-assessment by the Provider in accordance with the requirement of the Standard.

YEG is not acting, of itself, as the arbiter of the quality of provision, but assesses such provision by the organization against the Standard to give assurance of good management practice in accordance with the specification.

 

Conduct of Evaluations

 

YEG Evaluation Panels include an ISO 9001 (Quality Systems Lead Auditor) qualified chairman, drawing upon the assistance of subject matter experts and venture activity specialists when considered necessary, and the Evaluation follows an auditing procedure appropriate to the specification laid down in the standard.

 

Evaluation Service Organogram

 

In accordance with the requirements of BS 8848, the Evaluation considers in depth the planning of any venture. This means that all related procedures are up to the expectations and requirements laid down in the standard. These include, but not exclusively, full details of:

• the aims and objectives of the venture;
• the quality of the venture in terms of personal development opportunities that may be achieved through proposed adventure and projects;
• pre-booking information;
• the selection of participants;
• the competence and experience of the leadership team;
• third party provision;
• the risk management system;
• crisis and incident management planning;
• insurance and finance arrangements;
• environmental concerns.

YEG’s Declaration of Individual Venture Conformity to BS 8848 is appropriate for individual peer-led ventures or schools, charitable, non-profit or commercial organizations running two or fewer expeditions in any year. The declaration pertains solely to the particular ventures assessed over their lifetime from the date of assessment.

YEG’s Declaration of Corporate Conformity to BS 8848 is normally granted for three years from the assessment date, subject to intermediate checks of conformity, usually annually, at the sole discretion of YEG.

At all times, it is the clear duty of the Venture Provider to notify YEG and all venture participants, leadership teams and any other stakeholders in the venture of any failure of the venture to comply with the requirements of BS 8848.  This is to be done in writing within 14 days of the matter becoming known to the provider.  All claims of Conformity must also be withdrawn immediately.

Who can apply for Evaluation?

Any Individual or Corporate Venture Provider may apply to YEG for an Evaluation of Conformity to BS 8848.  Providers may be based in the UK or abroad.  However, although YEG is prepared to advise any provider that seeks its help, it cannot do so for every type of venture outside of the UK.

Anyone interested in demonstrating Conformity of their activities to BS 8848 should contact the YEG Evaluations Co-ordinator by email at an early stage to agree a timetable for the evaluation process and receive appropriate application forms.

Planned ventures must meet the criteria as specified in the YEG Evaluation procedure documents (see “How to apply” below) which require that:

• the overall aim of a venture shall be to provide personal development opportunities for the participants, promoting recreation and leisure time activities of an enterprising or exploratory nature so as to develop their physical, mental and spiritual capacities.
• the majority of the participants (excluding the leadership team) are normally within the age range 14 to 25 and of any nationality, but YEG will also evaluate Conformity to BS 8848 for Venture Providers who operate with a wider age range,
• the venture must take place outside the UK.  However, training and similar preparatory activities conducted within the UK may also be assessed.

The general structure of the Evaluation Audit process for all applications is shown in the Audit Flow Chart.

 

 

Declaration of Individual Venture Conformity given by YEG pertains solely to the particular ventures assessed over their lifetime from the date of assessment.

Declaration of Corporate Conformity is given for a period of three years from the date of assessment. However, it is dependent on satisfactory interim checks by YEG, at its sole discretion, of conformity, usually annually, over its lifetime. The fee levied applies to the total Evaluation, whether paid as a lump sum or by instalment, and is not related to interim checks that Conformity is being sustained.

At all times, it is the clear duty of the Venture Provider to notify YEG and all venture participants, leadership teams and any other stakeholders in the venture of any failure of the venture to comply with the requirements of BS 8848. This is to be done in writing within 14 days of the matter becoming known to the provider. All claims of conformity must also be withdrawn immediately.

 

What does it cost?

The scale of fees for Evaluation (see the Schedule of Fees for evaluations - #4) is dependent on whether the Evaluation is for:

• Individual Venture Conformity of charitable/educational organizations, individual peer-led ventures or small commercial companies operating at a significantly smaller level and planning two or fewer ventures per year.
• Corporate Conformity of all ventures run by a large organization, be it commercial or otherwise.

 

How to apply

• Submission of Application

1) Registration of intention to apply

Contact the Evaluations Co-ordinator by email as early as possible to register your intent to apply with name, venture destination and dates, and preferred date and location for interview. (a request for mentor support may be made at this point if required).

This will assist in arranging the schedule of documents to be submitted and interviews.

 

2) Submission of Application

All essential information to enable a Venture Provider to understand the YEG Evaluation procedure and to complete the appropriate application forms is given in the associated documentation.

If you are either:

• an Individual Venture Provider seeking evaluation for two or fewer ventures or,
• an organization seeking Corporate Conformity

follow the process instructions below.

In all cases:

• Download and study the guidance document “Conduct of Evaluations” [5].
• Complete all sections of the application form, inserting or attaching the supporting documents.
• Email full application to the YEG Evaluations Co-ordinator.

NOTE:  Completed applications must be submitted at least 21 days before any agreed interview date.

If any aspects of the above procedure present problems, the YEG Evaluations Co-ordinator may be emailed for advice.

Individual venture application process

• Obtain, by direct request from the YEG Evaluations Co-ordinator, the application form “Individual Venture Application Form”.

The Individual Venture Evaluation Flow Chart [#5] indicates the key stages and actions in the Individual Venture Evaluation process and shows how YEG handles the application process.

 

 

NOTE: It is appreciated that all details may not be in place at the time of application as planning may still be in progress. The application may be updated, by email, at any time between the application and the interview, or in extremis, brought to the interview.

Corporate evaluation process

• Obtain, by direct written request from the Evaluations Co-ordinator, the application forms “Evidence of Corporate Conformity Workbook” and “Corporate Conformity Sample Venture data form” and related documentation.

Any organization, seeking to make a self-declared claim of Corporate Conformity to BS 8848 for the ventures it provides is ultimately accountable for all aspects, including safety, of ventures provided either on a voluntary basis or in return for payment.

Responsibility for providing constituent elements may be delegated (i.e. third party provision). However, accountability for ensuring Conformity to BS 8848 of any delegated elements remains entirely with the Venture Provider.

Furthermore, the Venture Provider will be required by YEG to ‘self assess’ all ventures it organises and ‘self declare’ their Conformity to BS 8848. The Venture Provider will be required to produce satisfactory evidence to demonstrate how this is undertaken.