Young Scot is the national youth information and citizenship charity for 11-26 year olds in Scotland. It provides information, opportunities, and empowerment to help young people make informed decisions. Young Scot Rewards is a platform that uses nudge theory to inspire young people to participate in positive activities by earning points they can exchange for rewards. Some examples of successful nudges include offering points for early college funding applications or syncing fitness devices to earn points for physical activity. Lessons learned include using data to inform nudges, focusing on areas young people already engage in, and making nudges simple, low-cost, local, and fun.

1. Young Scot
Young Scot is the national youth
information and citizenship
charity for 11-26 year olds in
Scotland.
We provide information, ideas
and opportunities for young
people, helping them to make
informed decisions and choices,
connecting them to opportunities
locally, national and globally and
empowering them to create and
drive positive change.

2. Nudge Theory – what is it?
• A nudge makes it more likely that an individual will make a particular choice, or
behave in a particular way
• Nudges are small changes that are easy and inexpensive to implement
• Nudge methods make it easier for people to imagine doing something
• Nudge methods should be cooperative and pleasurable
• Nudge theory should be based on free choice and beneficial outcomes for
people
• Nudge theory should be directed at the situations in which people already
exist

3. Nudges

4. Young Scot Rewards
Young Scot Rewards is a digital opportunities and rewards platform, powered by the Young Scot National Entitlement
Card and MyAccount (secure login)
Rewards was designed to inspire young people to get involved, based on nudge theory.
Members can collect points by completing a wide variety of positive activities including volunteering, attending youth
events, completing surveys or reading information articles.
Young Scot Rewards supports young people to participate in positive activities which contribute to their personal
development and communities.
Members can then exchange points they have collected on some great rewards and experiences like work shadowing
opportunities, tickets to events and other items or experiences to support their personal development through learning
a new skill, building on an interest and much more!
We work with lots of different organisations to distribute Rewards points which recognises contributions and celebrates
achievements.

5. Young Scot Rewards

6. Young Scot Rewards

7. Young Scot Rewards & SAAS
Young Scot Rewards teamed up with the Student Awards Agency for
Scotland (SAAS) to support young people who are eligible to complete their
SAAS application as early as possible to ensure their academic year gets off
to the best possible start.
To encourage early applications, Reward points were offered to students
submitting their funding applications by June. This was to ensure that:
• All students received the funding they are entitled to
• SAAS would guarantee funding would be in place for the start of the
academic year if applications and supporting information was submitted
by June
A tiered points system was set up on the Rewards platform meaning that, if
you applied before the end of April you receive 500 Reward points, by end of
May 250 Reward points, and by end of June 150 Reward points.

8. Young Scot Rewards & SAAS
We promote this through activity on our digital platform, social media and
email campaigns and via SAAS direct communication/networks
In the first year (2016), almost 1,900 people redeemed points for early SAAS
registration:
• 960 people redeemed their points in April
• 700 people redeemed their points in May
• 695 people redeemed their points in June
This has continued to rise year on year.
In April 2019, on the same day SAAS sent out their email which included the
points code and information about Rewards, 966 people redeemed their
points and 638 new people signed up to #YSRewards.

9. Active Rewards/Connect Your Tech
‘Connect Your Tech’ gave young people aged 11-26 the opportunity to sync their wearable fitness devices (such as Fitbits
and Misfits) or mobile phone apps to the Young Scot Rewards programme.
Part of Active Rewards programme, supported by the Scottish Government through the Commonwealth Games Legacy
fund.
• The system worked with a wide variety of devices and most smart phone applications to reward all types of physical
activity including walking, dancing, swimming, cycling, running
• Young people received points for a 20 burst of physical activity or by completing at least 7,000 steps per day.
• Over the course of the project, the programme offered over 200 rewards with over 2500 unique users redeeming their
points to take part.
• Over 4 million steps were taken by participants and 108,000 Connect Your Tech points earned.

10. £1 entry at Historic Environment Scotland
To celebrate the Year of Young People 2018 (YoYP), Historic Environment Scotland introduced a new £1 entry fee,
giving Young Scot cardholders access to all sites
Mena Kirmani, Heritage Blueprint member, said: “This is an incredible opportunity for young Scots to explore
Scotland’s history and celebrate the Year of Young People 2018. This comes directly from our work on the Heritage
Blueprint so it’s amazing to see the heritage sector listening to young people and making our recommendations become
a reality.”
The £1 entry fee was well received;
• Attracting positive news stories in press
• Significant engagement across communication and social channels
• Combined the Historic Environment Scotland, National Trust for Scotland and Historic House £1 entry offer was the
most viewed discount on young.scot in 2018 – Greater than popular opportunities such as Boohoo, Cineworld and
Pizza Hut
• Feb to Oct – Usage of the £1 entry discount at HES sites grew by 1168%, versus the previous year’s offer
(concessionary ticket prices) – 476 vs 6,035 uses

11. Young Scot Discounts: Co-op/Scotmid
Launched in November 2014, our partnership with the Co-op Food, offering
Young Scot cardholders 10% off their shop, has gone from strength to
strength.
Objectives/Challenges:
• Support young people and families with an opportunity to save money on
their daily outgoings, across Scotland
• Encourage positive choices by providing an opportunity with an ethical
retailer
• Encourage ‘shopping local’
Prominent position on our card carrier, delivered to all new and replacement
cardholders
Co-op’s advertising and in-store point of sale

12. Young Scot Discounts: Co-op/Scotmid
Impact:
• The discount has been used over 600,000 times in the last 12 months,
saving young Scots and their families £100,000’s
• Available in over 400 stores, the discount has been used extensively in
every Local Authority
• High take up in areas that have store located near a school
“Our discount partnership helps Co-op to build a positive relationship with
young people across Scotland.” Marketing Manager, Co-op
Alongside the sales impact, focus groups with young people have confirmed
that our partnership with Co-op has enhanced their positive attitudes
towards the brand.

13. Attainment (Demonstrator Project)
Stigma free school breakfasts
• Providing the best start to the school day for young people in North Ayrshire and Highland with £1.50 breakfast
meal deal available to all pupils through their Young Scot NEC and free for those on free school meals. Over 6,200
free hot breakfasts provided in North Ayrshire and average uptake over 48% in Highland.
• 391 young people in S1-S6 on free school meals in two pilot schools in North Ayrshire and 395 young people in S1-
S3 on free school meals in four pilot schools in Highland received school breakfast entitlements.
Tackling food insecurity with the Young Scot NEC
• Hot breakfasts, meal deals and drinks available to target groups of young people in Renfrewshire and across
Highland, using their Young Scot NEC as proof of entitlement at local cafes in Paisley and Wick and Inverness leisure
centre. Over £6,000 saved by young people and their families after school, at weekends and during the holidays.
• 20 young people facing rural poverty in Wick and 20 young people on free school meals, including two refugee
families, in Paisley received out of school food entitlements.

14. Impact

15. Lessons learned
Use your data/insight to inform nudge development and build on engagement with users or co-design with your target
audience
Focus on areas that your audience are already engaging or spending their time and utilise assets/platforms you already
have
Make it simple/ remove barriers/ keep messaging simple
Make smaller changes/incentives to get biggest impact - don’t need big “prizes/rewards” - can be low cost but enhance
personal development/prospects
Focus on localisation/personalisation
Make it fun! Useful and purposeful
Evaluate impact and gather user feedback on processes and incentives

16. Discussion
How could you apply nudge theory to strengthen impact or influence behaviour
change in your own programmes of work?
Reminder of Nudge Theory:
• A nudge makes it more likely that an individual will make a particular choice, or
behave in a particular way
• Nudges are small changes that are easy and inexpensive to implement
• Nudge theory should be based on free choice and beneficial outcomes for
people

17. 26 June 2019
Edinburgh
#CCScots
Maximising engagement with
behavioural science

18. Visit the CharityComms website to view
slides from past events, see what events
we have coming up and to check out
what else we do:
www.charitycomms.org.uk