The Student Room Group

The National Citizenship Service (NCS) discussion and help thread

I seen loads of threads about NCS (National Citizenship Service) lately so what I thought I would do is start off a big mega thread chat for anyone doing it. So yeah for anyone doing NCS this thread is for you, don't matter where you are from I encourage all to take part.

What is NCS all about well it is done by nearly 300,000 people aged between 15 and 17, it involves four phases in which by the end you gain access to many more volunteering adventures. It is a two to four week program that will generally take place outside of school time i.e Spring/Summer holidays. Basically it is a voluntary personal and social development program. It first came about in 2010 when the prime minister at the time announced a big social initiative. The first part of the program is a week long residential trip to an activity centre for team building etc. The next part is where you meet people from your own local community. Then the third and fourth phase is basically where you do your own social action program.
Throughout the whole time you have a mentor with the group usually someone who has done it all before.

NCS is delivered by a number of partners such as

The Challenge Network
CXK Ltd
EFL Trust (English Football League)
vInspired and the National Youth Agency
Lincolnshire and Rutland Education Business Partnership
Inspira
Ingeus
Reed in Partnership


I am also curious to hear from anyone who was done it in the past either as a mentor or a student.
Those considering NCS, here is some more info http://www.ncsyes.co.uk/
(edited 7 years ago)

Scroll to see replies

@geniequeen48 @beaverhausen @RandomStudent97 @NiamhM1801 @SP0TIFY @tamanna
@Shahbaaz @ahlaladolly @Paracosm @Black Rose @Namita Gurung @IKEAPanda37 Excuse the random tagging but you guys have mentions NCS in the past, just wondered what your thoughts are.
Ohhhh! Very handy thread RF, my brother has done it and he said it was very useful, but I've not done it myself. :tongue:
Original post by Paracosm
Ohhhh! Very handy thread RF, my brother has done it and he said it was very useful, but I've not done it myself. :tongue:


Ah nice, sounds like your brother enjoyed it.
Oh cool! I did NCS in the summer and it was pretty good :smile: my experience was as follows:

In week 1 we went to a really isolated part of Scotland that was BEAUTIFUL. We did canoeing, hiking and gorge walking on the 3 full days we were there, we camped for one night, we did various different sports activities in the evenings (including a human version of hungry hungry hippos one night! :lol:) week one was definitely the best part of NCS, I really enjoyed it.

In week 2 we stayed in university accommodation and started the "personal challenge" section. I was in a flat with one member of my team, 3 other people and the mentor from another team, so I was slightly nervous about only knowing one person. It was fine though, the mentor was amazing and the other 3 people were pretty nice too :smile:. During the days we did public speaking (awful for me :frown:), then we met our community partner and started doing work for them. I was in Perham (the sport team) so we went to a community centre and did fun sporty games with a bunch of 4-11 year olds. It was really good actually, very rewarding :yep: in the evenings we cooked for ourselves, had "team time" and "wave time" - we either had the lobby area or went to the nearby field and played sports. On the last day we had the showcase where our parents could come and watch us show our community work.

Weeks 3a and 3b were the social action parts. 3a was the worst week, as we were just planning our projects and it was hard and boring. I was in charge of logistics, so I had to make a resource list and budget plans and stuff. We were told we were going to plan things to aid the British Red Cross (specifically refugees and asylum seekers), so we had to plan out what we were going to do for them and the resources we'd need. On the last day we had to pitch for funding to some "dragons" who gave us the funding we needed.

We also did a sponsored walk to raise more money, and we had to do a load of challenges along the way - that was a really fun day (but sooooo hot!!) Using the money we went and bought our resources and started the preparation and then a couple of days later we did our first campaign - standing outside B&M bargains asking people to buy a couple of extra toiletries they could donate. It was really successful, we managed to collect loads to aid the refugees. The next day was the very final day, and we were in the city centre trying to raise awareness of the charity and the work they do. We were handing out lollipops with facts on, and we managed to change quite a lot of people's perceptions of refugees and asylum seekers, which was our aim.

All in all I wouldn't say that NCS changed me as a person, it didn't boost my confidence or anything and the friendships I made haven't really been kept, but it was certainly a good way to spend my summer and i don't regret it. Also doing the community and social action work was pretty rewarding :smile: Not sure whether or not I'd recommend it, I guess your experience depends on your team.

This was just my experience, everyone's is different :h:
Original post by NiamhM1801
Oh cool! I did NCS in the summer and it was pretty good :smile: my experience was as follows:

In week 1 we went to a really isolated part of Scotland that was BEAUTIFUL. We did canoeing, hiking and gorge walking on the 3 full days we were there, we camped for one night, we did various different sports activities in the evenings (including a human version of hungry hungry hippos one night! :lol:) week one was definitely the best part of NCS, I really enjoyed it.

In week 2 we stayed in university accommodation and started the "personal challenge" section. I was in a flat with one member of my team, 3 other people and the mentor from another team, so I was slightly nervous about only knowing one person. It was fine though, the mentor was amazing and the other 3 people were pretty nice too :smile:. During the days we did public speaking (awful for me :frown:), then we met our community partner and started doing work for them. I was in Perham (the sport team) so we went to a community centre and did fun sporty games with a bunch of 4-11 year olds. It was really good actually, very rewarding :yep: in the evenings we cooked for ourselves, had "team time" and "wave time" - we either had the lobby area or went to the nearby field and played sports. On the last day we had the showcase where our parents could come and watch us show our community work.

Weeks 3a and 3b were the social action parts. 3a was the worst week, as we were just planning our projects and it was hard and boring. I was in charge of logistics, so I had to make a resource list and budget plans and stuff. We were told we were going to plan things to aid the British Red Cross (specifically refugees and asylum seekers), so we had to plan out what we were going to do for them and the resources we'd need. On the last day we had to pitch for funding to some "dragons" who gave us the funding we needed.

We also did a sponsored walk to raise more money, and we had to do a load of challenges along the way - that was a really fun day (but sooooo hot!!) Using the money we went and bought our resources and started the preparation and then a couple of days later we did our first campaign - standing outside B&M bargains asking people to buy a couple of extra toiletries they could donate. It was really successful, we managed to collect loads to aid the refugees. The next day was the very final day, and we were in the city centre trying to raise awareness of the charity and the work they do. We were handing out lollipops with facts on, and we managed to change quite a lot of people's perceptions of refugees and asylum seekers, which was our aim.

All in all I wouldn't say that NCS changed me as a person, it didn't boost my confidence or anything and the friendships I made haven't really been kept, but it was certainly a good way to spend my summer and i don't regret it. Also doing the community and social action work was pretty rewarding :smile: Not sure whether or not I'd recommend it, I guess your experience depends on your team.

This was just my experience, everyone's is different :h:


The first week, the place in Scotland wasn't called Dalguise by any chance?
Original post by Rock Fan
The first week, the place in Scotland wasn't called Dalguise by any chance?


Nope, it was called Lochgoilhead
Original post by NiamhM1801
Nope, it was called Lochgoilhead


Ah never heard of that one, sounds amazing though.
Reply 8
Original post by Rock Fan
Excuse the random tagging but you guys have mentions NCS in the past, just wondered what your thoughts are.


Definitely worth the it imo! Made some great friends that I still speak to, and I met them nearly 4 years ago. The group activities are fun that you carry out when you come back from the trip away from home, though the highlight for me was definitely the trip away.
Original post by SP0TIFY
Definitely worth the it imo! Made some great friends that I still speak to, and I met them nearly 4 years ago. The group activities are fun that you carry out when you come back from the trip away from home, though the highlight for me was definitely the trip away.


Where I work we get NCS groups regularly throughout the year and I see it first hand so many friendships form which last a lifetime.
To me, my NCS experience in the summer of 2015 was amazing for me. It taught me so much about myself and gave me some amazing experience and life long friends. Without it, I fell I probably am quite a different person.

I loved my much I come back to work to deliver an NCS programme in Somerset with SRYP. Which when you are delivering a programme you can clearly see it changing lives for the better.



I think the biggest problem with NCS is that it not being delivered to the same high standard across the country. Which means some people is amazing and some people is not so good.

I totally recommend that you do it.

If anyone what to know about working on the programme or being a young person just ask.
I am going without my friends :frown: I have terrible social skills.
I've heard some mixed messages regarding it - some people saying it's incredible and that they've made life-long friends, and others saying that it's terribly organised and provided them with little experience.

Could anyone that's been on the trip tell me what area they're from, what time they did it, and any thoughts they had on it to help me decide whether or not to do it? It would really be appreciated! :h:
I only paid £20 instead of £50 since according to my headteacher "NCS loves our school"
Original post by saffarinda
I've heard some mixed messages regarding it - some people saying it's incredible and that they've made life-long friends, and others saying that it's terribly organised and provided them with little experience.

Could anyone that's been on the trip tell me what area they're from, what time they did it, and any thoughts they had on it to help me decide whether or not to do it? It would really be appreciated! :h:


My experience is already above if you want to read it :smile:
I'm from Leeds and was on Wave 10. My programme was:
Week 1: 30th July - 4th August
Week 2: 7th August - 11th August
Week 3a: 13th August - 16th August
Week 3b: 18th, 19th, 22nd and 23rd August
Original post by NiamhM1801
My experience is already above if you want to read it :smile:
I'm from Leeds and was on Wave 10. My programme was:
Week 1: 30th July - 4th August
Week 2: 7th August - 11th August
Week 3a: 13th August - 16th August
Week 3b: 18th, 19th, 22nd and 23rd August


Your experience sounded amazing! I've read some quite negative responses saying that it was poorly organised, but I'm wondering whether that's down to location and time of year more than the programme as a whole (because I've seen some really good responses as well!)
Original post by saffarinda
Your experience sounded amazing! I've read some quite negative responses saying that it was poorly organised, but I'm wondering whether that's down to location and time of year more than the programme as a whole (because I've seen some really good responses as well!)


It was okay, it didn't change my life or anything as I've said. It all depends on the kind of people you're put in a team with - you'll spend the majority of 4 weeks with the same 10-12 people so it helps if they're nice and friendly :colondollar: On the last week my mentors revealed that they had basically winged the entire thing, so organisation wasn't brilliant but we all managed okay :dontknow: I suppose the mentors also play a big part - if they're involved and looking to make everything run smoothly then it probably will. I'd also heard mixed reviews about it before I did it but I'm glad I did - that 10 week summer after GCSEs would have certainly been a lot more boring without it!
I completely forgot about this........sorry:colondollar:

So my story is a bit different to Niamh's because I did the shorter Spring course in February 2016, I thought I would be comfortable if I just went for a week because I'm not the most confident person:redface:

Section 1 = The first section was absolutely amazing,we went to the Pioneer Centre in Kidderminster. My team was made of a big friendship group of like 7, 3 pairs and 2 of us on our own (I was one of them) We got on so well, the activites were amazing, I did the leap of faith which is definitely one of my biggest achievements (never thought I would ever be able to do that), climbing, indoor caving, archery, fencing etc. and we bonded so well with all our little team exercises. Most of them involved being squished together trying to stay on a box or something. My favourite bit was when we went home and we started a facebook chat, everyone was so supportive of each other:biggrin:

Section 2 = This bit we went to our town's college to like get to know each other and do stuff before starting our projects. We had 3 dropouts, one pair (apparently they were too busy....) and the other person on their own dropped out (dont think he was enjoying himself tbh). Therefore, we officially became Thirteen Sardines (see Section 1 for team activities and you'll get why:wink:) We played card games like Cops and Robbers which I wasnt very good at but it was good fun, our team leaders were amazing :thumbsup:

Section 3 = This was the actual project which tbh wasn't that successful. We were going to do mufti days and stuff at primary schools and our schools but my school literally ignored me and my primary school wanted to but couldn't (did do an interview tho so they were interested) We did better with the Rucksack Project part of our project and made up like 20 rucksacks (I made 3 thanks to my tutor and some teachers in school) and also made hands for Alzheimers Society. We graduated tho and that was a relief :thumbsup:

It was definitely a brilliant experience and I've made several friends. Our group chat is still up and running, ocassionally we talk on it and we wish each other happy birthdays and stuff. Would be nice to meet again but we'll see what happens. One of our team leaders is on there and we had a conversation about stuff that was happening so that was really good:h:

So yeah definitely do it:smile:
Original post by IKEAPanda37
I completely forgot about this........sorry:colondollar:

So my story is a bit different to Niamh's because I did the shorter Spring course in February 2016, I thought I would be comfortable if I just went for a week because I'm not the most confident person:redface:

Section 1 = The first section was absolutely amazing,we went to the Pioneer Centre in Kidderminster. My team was made of a big friendship group of like 7, 3 pairs and 2 of us on our own (I was one of them) We got on so well, the activites were amazing, I did the leap of faith which is definitely one of my biggest achievements (never thought I would ever be able to do that), climbing, indoor caving, archery, fencing etc. and we bonded so well with all our little team exercises. Most of them involved being squished together trying to stay on a box or something. My favourite bit was when we went home and we started a facebook chat, everyone was so supportive of each other:biggrin:

Section 2 = This bit we went to our town's college to like get to know each other and do stuff before starting our projects. We had 3 dropouts, one pair (apparently they were too busy....) and the other person on their own dropped out (dont think he was enjoying himself tbh). Therefore, we officially became Thirteen Sardines (see Section 1 for team activities and you'll get why:wink:) We played card games like Cops and Robbers which I wasnt very good at but it was good fun, our team leaders were amazing :thumbsup:

Section 3 = This was the actual project which tbh wasn't that successful. We were going to do mufti days and stuff at primary schools and our schools but my school literally ignored me and my primary school wanted to but couldn't (did do an interview tho so they were interested) We did better with the Rucksack Project part of our project and made up like 20 rucksacks (I made 3 thanks to my tutor and some teachers in school) and also made hands for Alzheimers Society. We graduated tho and that was a relief :thumbsup:

It was definitely a brilliant experience and I've made several friends. Our group chat is still up and running, ocassionally we talk on it and we wish each other happy birthdays and stuff. Would be nice to meet again but we'll see what happens. One of our team leaders is on there and we had a conversation about stuff that was happening so that was really good:h:

So yeah definitely do it:smile:


PRSOM :sad: sounds like you had a great time!
Do you wish you did it in summer instead or would you say that the shorter ones are just as good?
Original post by NiamhM1801
PRSOM :sad: sounds like you had a great time!
Do you wish you did it in summer instead or would you say that the shorter ones are just as good?


Tbh not really, I thought 3 weeks might be too daunting for me so I'm glad I decided to do it in Spring instead. Obviously a week of activites would have been better but I feel like I got to know everyone well after a week so it didnt really matter

It depends, if you're more outgoing then summer would be more suitable but for someone like me who wants to get out of my comfort zone but not too much, then the shorter ones are great:h:

Quick Reply

Latest