Talk:National Citizen Service

Biased
This article reads like an advert for National Citizen service.(P-we Joplin (talk) 23:21, 21 June 2012 (UTC))
 * Yup. How is it managed? How is it financed? 31.52.252.78 (talk) 23:42, 7 February 2017 (UTC)

External links modified (February 2018)
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Suggested Edits 05.11.18

 * Some proposed changes

Information to be added or removed: In box at the side, remove David Cameron as Founder and add him as 'Chair of Patrons'

Explanation of issue: updated information

References supporting change: Chair of Patrons: David Cameron,

Information to be added or removed: In box at the side, add Michael Lynas as CEO of NCS Trust

Explanation of issue: updated information

References supporting change: CEO: Michael Lynas,

Information to be added or removed: In box at the side, remove David Cameron as 'Chairman' add 'Stephen Greene as Chair of NCS Trust'

Explanation of issue: updated information

References supporting change: Chair of NCS Trust: Stephen Greene

Information to be added or removed: under section 'description' remove 'week long'

Explanation of issue: Factual inaccuracy - the programme ranges between a week to four weeks. NCS website quotes that the programme can range from 3 - 4 weeks.

References supporting change: Groups of teenagers undertake a residential visit,,

Information to be added or removed: under section 'description' remove 'volunteers' and add 'participants'

Explanation of issue: The young people that take part on the programme are not volunteers although volunteering is a part of the programme

References supporting change: After this, participants undertake a residential week From 2013 onwards, participants have paid £50 each to take part in the scheme.

Information to be added or removed: under section 'description' remove 'week' after word 'residential' and add 'phase', do the same after '(sometimes fourth)'

Explanation of issue: The 4 parts of the NCS programme are not all a week long, and are commonly referred to as phases

References supporting change: after this, volunteers undertake a residential phase, gaining a taste of independent living and learning a variety of skills for their future. In the third (and sometimes fourth) phase.

Information to be added or removed: in 'history' section please add this to the end of the paragraph after 'it was launched in 2011'

Explanation of issue: Gives more context to why the programme was launched

References supporting change: The purpose of the programme when it launched was for young people to develop a better understanding of others, build cohesion, encourage teamwork, challenge themselves and celebrate success

Information to be added or removed: in section 'finances' at the end of first paragraph after '2016' add the following: 'and nearly 99,000 in 2017 meaning one in six eligible teenagers participate.'

Explanation of issue: Update of statistics based on NCS 2018 annual report

References supporting change: 'and nearly 99,000 in 2017 meaning one in six eligible teenagers participate.

Information to be added or removed: in section 'finances' in the sentence that reads 'In January 2017 the National Audit Office reported that the NCS had "weaknesses" in management and governance, was inefficient and had "not prioritised cost control"' remove 'management and' and 'was inefficient'

Explanation of issue: issues specifically around management do not appear in the referenced report

References supporting change: 'In January 2017 the National Audit Office reported that the NCS had "weaknesses" in governance and had "not prioritised cost control"

Information to be added or removed: in section 'finances' where it reads 'In March 2017 the Public Accounts Committee of the House of Commons said that the high cost of the scheme could not be justified and its participation targets remained challenging despite being significantly reduced.' remove this and add the following: 'In March 2017 the Public Accounts Committee of the House of Commons said that the programme makes a real impact on those participating. It has improved their confidence, developed team-building and life skills, and increased their awareness of the local community. However, the report says what remains to be seen is whether NCS will meet its ambitious targets for increasing the number of participants or achieve its long-term societal aims. Without achieving both these, at a cheaper cost per participant, NCS may no longer be justifiable and the future of the programme could be called into doubt. The report also noted NCS participants come from diverse backgrounds, with a higher proportion of people from disadvantaged backgrounds than the general population.'

Explanation of issue: Better reflects content of the report and adds more context

References supporting change: 'In March 2017 the Public Accounts Committee of the House of Commons said that the programme makes a real impact on those participating. It has improved their confidence, developed team-building and life skills, and increased their awareness of the local community. However, the report says what remains to be seen is whether NCS will meet its ambitious targets for increasing the number of participants or achieve its long-term societal aims. Without achieving both these, at a cheaper cost per participant, NCS may no longer be justifiable and the future of the programme could be called into doubt. The report also noted NCS participants come from diverse backgrounds, with a higher proportion of people from disadvantaged backgrounds than the general population.

Information to be added or removed: in section 'finances' after 'while poorer individuals are more likely to do so' add 'However, the report suggested that it may be the case that NCS graduates from higher socio-economic backgrounds take up gap year opportunities more frequently than their non-NCS counterparts and fellow NCS graduates from lower socio-economic backgrounds.'

Explanation of issue: gives context to why the results look this way and better reflect the content of the report

References supporting change: However, the report suggested that it may be the case that NCS graduates from higher socio-economic backgrounds take up gap year opportunities more frequently than their non-NCS counterparts and fellow NCS graduates from lower socio-economic backgrounds.

Information to be added or removed: in section 'finances' after new section (from above) which ends with 'lower socio-economic backgrounds.' add 'The report found that that long-term entry rates for NCS graduates into higher education are, on average, 12% higher than for non-NCS graduates, while the most disadvantaged young people are 50% more likely to go to university compared to those who haven’t participated in the programme.'

Explanation of issue: gives deeper context to why the results look this way and better reflect the content of the report

References supporting change: The report found that that long-term entry rates for NCS graduates into higher education are, on average, 12% higher than for non-NCS graduates, while the most disadvantaged young people are 50% more likely to go to university compared to those who haven’t participated in the programme.

Information to be added or removed: in section 'finances' after 'per participant of NCS was £1,863' add 'Independent evaluations have also found that for every £1 spent, NCS’ 2016 summer programme delivered between £1.15 and £2.42 of benefits back to society. The value for money analysis estimated that the economic benefits associated with the 2016 NCS was £213.3 million in summer and £50.0 million in autumn.'

Explanation of issue: Update of financial impact following independent evaluation report

References supporting change: Independent evaluations have also found that for every £1 spent, NCS’ 2016 summer programme delivered between £1.15 and £2.42 of benefits back to society. The value for money analysis estimated that the economic benefits associated with the 2016 NCS was £213.3 million in summer and £50.0 million in autumn.

Information to be added or removed: in section 'finances' at the end of final paragraph, amend to include annual funding figures and context of funding coming from 'central' government to read as follows:'Over the four years from 2014–5 to 2017–18 UK government spending on NCS was £634 million, with annual funding of £180 million, which accounted for 95% of all UK central government spending on youth services. However the 95% does not include money passed from central government to councils which goes on to be spent on local youth services.'

Explanation of issue: better explains where funding comes from and how this is distributed annually

References supporting change: Over the four years from 2014–5 to 2017–18 UK government spending on NCS was £634 million, with annual funding of £180 million, which accounted for 95% of all UK central government spending on youth services. However the 95% does not include money passed from central government to councils which goes on to be spent on local youth services.

Information to be added or removed: add in new section labelled 'impact' under 'finance section'. Add following text: 'An Independent report authored by the University of Oxford and the University of Manchester found that those who, prior to joining NCS, rarely had positive or good social contact with people from a different race or ethnic group, became 24.5% more likely to ‘agree’ or ‘strongly agree’ that their local area is a place where people from different backgrounds get along well. It also found that those from the most segregated communities became 19.4% more likely to report positive social contact with other ethnic groups ‘quite often’ or ‘very often’ following participation in NCS.'

Explanation of issue: Statistics on the impact of NCS following recent report.

References supporting change: An Independent report authored by the University of Oxford and the University of Manchester found that those who, prior to joining NCS, rarely had positive or good social contact with people from a different race or ethnic group, became 24.5% more likely to ‘agree’ or ‘strongly agree’ that their local area is a place where people from different backgrounds get along well. It also found that those from the most segregated communities became 19.4% more likely to report positive social contact with other ethnic groups ‘quite often’ or ‘very often’ following participation in NCS.

Information to be added or removed: add in new section labelled 'impact' under 'finance section'. Following above stats, add following text: 'Twenty-nine percent of young people who participated in 2017 classify themselves as BAME. This compares to 24% of the comparable 16-17 year old population. In addition, 16% of young people who participated in 2017 were on Free School Meals. This compares to 13% of the comparable 16-17 year old population.'

Explanation of issue: Updated statistics referring to NCS.

References supporting change: Twenty-nine percent of young people who participated in 2017 classify themselves as BAME. This compares to 24% of the comparable 16-17 year old population. In addition, 16% of young people who participated in 2017 were on Free School Meals. This compares to 13% of the comparable 16-17 year old population.

Information to be added or removed: add in new section labelled 'impact' under 'finance section'. Following above stats, add following text: 'An independent report commissioned by DCMS in 2016 found that NCS participants feel significantly more able to have a positive impact on the world around them compared to similar young people who did not participate in the NCS programme. Participants are also significantly more likely than their counterparts to have done something to help other people or improve the local area outside of school. When it comes to social mobility, the DCMS report also found that the NCS programme is proven to increase confidence, communication and leadership abilities.'

Explanation of issue: Statistics on the impact of NCS following recent report.

References supporting change: An independent report commissioned by DCMS in 2016 found that NCS participants feel significantly more able to have a positive impact on the world around them compared to similar young people who did not participate in the NCS programme. Participants are also significantly more likely than their counterparts to have done something to help other people or improve the local area outside of school. When it comes to social mobility, the DCMS report also found that the NCS programme is proven to increase confidence, communication and leadership abilities.

Information to be added or removed: under section 'delivery' remove '200' organisations and change to '100'

Explanation of issue: Factual inaccuracy

References supporting change: 100

Information to be added or removed: under section 'delivery' at the end, add information which reads 'In late 2018, NCS Trust announced plans for recommissioning its network for 2020 delivery. This will include working directly with local delivery partners across the North East, South West and London regions. They claim this will help to reach more young people and deliver greater value, by putting great, local organisations in the driving seat. This has already been piloted in the South West region.'

Explanation of issue: Update in line with recent announcement around NCS recommissioning

References supporting change: In late 2018, NCS Trust announced plans for recommissioning its network for 2020 delivery. This will include working directly with local delivery partners across the North East, South West and London regions. They claim this will help to reach more young people and deliver greater value, by putting great, local organisations in the driving seat. This has already been piloted in the South West region.

Information to be added or removed: under section 'in wales' remove 'These plans were put on hold, however, following the trial provider Engage4Life going into liquidation due to severe financial troubles, which included the organisation owing the NCS Trust in the region of £780,000.'

Explanation of issue: the reference cited does not say this is connected to NCS delivery in Wales and it is not factually accurate

References supporting change:

Editor3838 (talk) 16:22, 6 November 2018 (UTC)

Reply 05-NOV-2018
Your edit request could not be reviewed because the request is not formatted correctly. In the collapsed section below titled Request edit examples, I have illustrated two: The first shows how the edit request was submitted; the second shows how requests should be submitted in the future.
 * 1) The citation note numbers are not placed within the requested text indicating which portions of the text the source is referencing. (See WP:INTEGRITY.)
 * 2) The citation style predominantly used by the National Citizen Service article appears to be Citation Style 1 (CS1). The citation style used in the edit request consists of bare URL's. Any requested edit of yours which may be implemented will need to resemble the current style already in use in the article – in this case, CS1.

Incorrectly formatted request: The Sun's diameter is 864,337.3 miles, while the Moon's diameter is 2,159 miles. The Sun's temperature is 5,778 degrees Kelvin.

In the example above there are three URL's provided with the claim statements, but these URL's have not been placed using Citation Style 1, which is the style predominantly used by the National Citizen Service article. Additionally, the references have not been placed within the text at the exact positions where the information they reference resides. Using the correct style and the correct positioning of the ref notes, the WikiFormatted text would resemble the following:

Correctly formatted request: Please add the following sentence to the first paragraph of the article's "Sun and Moon" section: The Sun's diameter is 864,337.3 miles, while the Moon's diameter is 2,159 miles. The Sun's temperature is 5,778 degrees Kelvin. Which displays as: Please add the following sentence to the first paragraph of the article's "Sun and Moon" section:
 * The Sun's diameter is 864,337.3 miles,[1] while the Moon's diameter is 2,159 miles.[2] The Sun's temperature is 5,778 degrees Kelvin.[3]

References

^ Sjöblad, Tristan. . Academic Press, 2018, p. 1. ^ Duvalier, Gabrielle. , Scientific American, 51(78):46. ^ Uemura, Shū. . Academic Press, 2018, p. 2. 

In the example above the references have been formatted according to Citation Style 1, which shows the author, the source's name, date, etc. Also, the reference notes are placed in the exact location where the text which they reference resides. As Wikipedia is a volunteer project, edit requests such yours are generally expected to have this formatting done before the request is submitted for review.

Kindly rewrite your edit request so that it aligns more with the second example shown in the collapsed section above, and feel free to re-submit that edit request at your earliest convenience. If you have any questions about this formatting please don't hesitate to ask myself or another editor. Please also be aware that your talk page posts should be signed. Regards,  Spintendo   15:41, 5 November 2018 (UTC)

Reply 06-NOV-2018
Amended above to include citations Editor3838 (talk) 16:24, 6 November 2018 (UTC)