"A rite of passage?": The National Citizen Service and the Geographies of Youth Citizenship

This research project examines the state's motivations behind, the third sector's engagement with, and young people's experiences of, National Citizen Service (NCS) in England.

NCS is a voluntary summer scheme for 16 and 17 year olds delivered through a range of charities, private sector partnerships and youth organisations. Since its launch in 2011, 64,500 young people have participated in NCS and the scheme aims to be reaching 90,000 teenagers by 2014. The programme involves a series of social action projects, volunteering in the local community and a residential camp. Using NCS as a case-study, and positioning this new scheme within the historical context of youth citizenship development, this original research project addresses timely and policy-relevant debates on the state, civil society and third sector and significantly advances knowledge on citizenship, informal education, youth and volunteering. The project addresses the following research questions:

RQ1. What have been the objectives and spatial formations of youth citizenship training schemes in Britain over the last thirty years and how do these compare to NCS?

RQ2. How are 'good' and 'troubled' youth and families understood within the NCS framework and in what ways does the NCS programme seek to engage young people at the local, national, and global scale?

RQ3. What have been the motivations and experiences of youth service providers and volunteers delivering NCS since 2011?

RQ4. What have been the motivations, experiences and outcomes for young people participating in NCS since 2011?

The project will use a mixed-methodology combining archival research with quantitative and innovative qualitative research methods. The seven components are i) archival research at the National Archives, London ii) desk-based policy analysis iii) 24 semi-structured interviews with stakeholder organisations iv) an online survey with young people who have completed NCS v) 30 semi-structured interviews with a representative sample of NCS 'graduates' vi) an ethnography of one NCS cohort in one region in 2015 vii) a participatory animated whiteboard-video project written and directed by young people from the 2015 cohort and produced by a professional animation company. This mixed methodology therefore tackles the challenges of providing a national overview of a scheme with diverse geographical coverage for maximum impact of research findings, whilst giving space for more in-depth and sustained engagement with one particular case-study for richer analysis.

Dr Mills will collaborate with a range of third sector charities during this project and engage in a host of diverse activities with academic and non-academic audiences. The potential application of the research findings will benefit policy-makers, third sector organisations, NCS providers, volunteers and young people. Overall, this Future Research Leader award seeks to maximise existing networks and foster new collaborations with a range of academics and user communities.

This research project is the centrepiece of a set of objectives that will be achieved through this Future Research Leader Award. During this project, Dr Mills will be based at the Department of Geography, Loughborough University via her current employment as a Lecturer in Human Geography. She is an expert on the historical geographies of youth citizenship and her previous research has focused on British youth movements including the Scouts, Guides, Woodcraft Folk and Jewish Lads' Brigade. A post-doctoral research assistant will be employed for 14 months to work on the proposed project. Dr Mills will also spend time as a Visiting Fellow at the Department of Geography, National University of Singapore, developing ideas about youth citizenship and meeting with comparable stakeholders to prepare groundwork for potential future international research.

Who will benefit from this research?

In addition to academic communities discussed elsewhere in this application, there will be multiple and diverse audiences interested in this research project with potential benefits to policy-makers, the third sector via relevant umbrella organisations, NCS providers, volunteers, and young people themselves. Research questions have already been refined through engagement with relevant users at the concept and development stage via gatekeepers from previously RCUK-funded projects and newly established links with NCS providers. These links with non-academic beneficiaries will be cemented and strengthened during the research project, for example through the project's advisory group.

Policy-makers and Third Sector Representative Bodies:
This research will be of direct interest to policy-makers within the Department of Education who oversee NCS in England, as well as those working in related policy fields, for example employment and community development. It will benefit (perhaps more tangibly) those with policy-related roles within the third sector (e.g. Policy Manager at National Council for Voluntary Youth Services) who navigate the policy landscape of youth work in England, directly working with local and national service providers, youth workers and volunteers. In regularly communicating with their membership, these umbrella organisations are a unique pathway to impact with an ability to reach multiple youth organisations and charities. Furthermore, although NCS is currently only delivered in England, this project may indirectly impact those working for comparable third sector organisations in Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland who are currently exploring the adoption of NCS.

NCS Providers, Volunteers and Young People:
This research also has the potential to directly benefit NCS providers in England through an examination of the scheme's impact on young people's lives and the experiences of their volunteers and employees. The timing is important for these beneficiaries as NCS is continually evaluated and information relating to various year cohorts may be useful in terms of these organisations' decision-making processes on future tenders and delivery plans. Furthermore, capturing the motivations and experiences of employees, volunteers and young people through this project may be useful in shaping existing training policies and future NCS provision. Finally, the sample of young people involved in data collection (see 'Case for Support') may directly benefit from this research project through having the time and space to reflect on their NCS experience(s).

How will they benefit from this research?

The immediate and short-term benefits for NCS providers, volunteers and young people include:

- The co-production of research questions in order to create useful findings that review NCS service provision.
- Capturing and reflecting on the experiences of NCS providers, volunteers and young people.
- Using research findings to improve training provision and support future tender applications.

Longer-term impacts for policy makers and third sector representative bodies include:

- Increased effectiveness of public services and policy.
- Improving youth service provision for the next generation.
- Informing the potential post-devolution landscape of NCS provision in Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland.

These impacts will be achieved by the formation of an advisory group, two one-week work shadow placements, targeted summary briefing reports, a dissemination workshop event and one-to-one meetings with key policy makers (see 'Case for Support' and 'Pathways to Impact' for more details). The delivery of these activities will be shaped by the PI's existing knowledge exchange skills and support from the project mentor.