Scoring guidance
How are the awards assessed?
The scoring process takes place once a quarter and is administered by a team in the Office of Civil Society (OCS), part of the Cabinet Office. The OCS team helps No.10 to develop and deliver its Big Society Awards.
The nominations are divided up amongst a panel of civil servants from OCS and operates as follows:
- Each nomination is read once by a panellist.
- The panellists then mark the nominations they have been allocated – they give a score of 1 to 10 for the extent to which they think the nominee reflects one or more of the Big Society’s key themes and of 1 to 10 for the extent to which they think it makes an impact. This makes it possible to award between 0 and 20 marks.
- The two highest scoring nominations are then taken from each of the panellists – the panellists are also asked to nominate their preferred two winners (which helps in the event of, for example, their top three scores all being the same).
- The two highest scoring nominations from each of the panellists are then read by a civil servant dealing with the Big Society Awards.
- This scoring, when added to the first score, gives a maximum overall two-round score of up to and including 40 points.
- From this the moderator compiles a list of 18 with a recommended top 15 on it.
Scoring sheet
An external panel then checks and scores the shortlist of 18 with a view to making a recommendation of a final 12 to the Prime Minister.
- Further details about the Panel are included in a separate section below.
- The Panel meet and discuss all of the short-listed nominations.
- Through several rounds of discussion the Panel settle upon the final recommended twelve but with other options for the P.M. to consider.
- The Panel recommendations are then sent to the Prime Minister and he is asked to read them and then pick a final twelve winners. The Prime Minister has the option to reject any of the nominations that go to him.
Who is on the Awards Assessment Panel and how are they selected?
The aim is that, after the first year’s operation of the Awards, the Panel will consist entirely of past recipients of a Big Society Award.
The Assessment Panel currently consists of:
- The Rt. Hon. Francis Maude M.P. (Minister for the Cabinet Office, Cabinet Office)
- The Rt. Hon. Nick Hurd MP. (Minister for Civil Society, Cabinet Office)
- The Rt. Hon. Greg Clark MP (Minister for Decentralisation, Communities and Local Government)
- Philip Colligan (National Endowment for Science, Technology and the Arts (NESTA)),
- David Robinson, O.B.E. (Community Links)
- Steve Moore (Big Society Network)
- Claudine Reid M.B.E. (PJs Community Service)
- Winner 1: Jo Pritchard and Tricia McGregor (Central Surrey Healthcare)
- Winner 2: TBC
- Winner 3: TBC
- Winner 4: TBC
- External appointees have been selected by looking at organisations and individuals with whom the Government was already working on Big Society issues and who are respected leaders and practitioners. The aim is to try and find a balance that covered the three main themes of the Big Society (social action, community empowerment and opening up public services).
From the first Panel onwards, subsequent winners to join the Panel are to be selected by the Panel themselves.
Where can I find out more?
To find out further details on nomination forms, deadlines, completing the nomination forms and the assessment process, please see: