Did you know you could receive extra recognition on your Big Bang project by submitting for a CREST Award? Or vice-versa?
The British Science Association and Engineering UK are working together to enable you to submit your project for both!
The CREST Awards scheme is the British Science Association’s flagship education programme, providing enrichment activities to inspire, engage and connect young people aged 3-19 with science, technology, engineering and maths (STEM)
Receiving a CREST Award for your project is a way to recognise and celebrate your hard work. They are also well regarded by universities and employers.
A national science and engineering competition for 11-18 year olds. Projects are submitted online, and prizes are awarded at the Big Bang National event in June.
Below are the CREST Award levels and the Big Bang categories which they roughly align with:
| CREST Award Level | Category | England & Wales | Northern Ireland | Scotland |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bronze - 10 hours work | Junior | Years 7-9 | Years 8-10 | Years S1-S3 |
| Silver - 30 hours work | Intermediate | Years 10-11 | Years 11-12 | Years S4-S5 |
| Gold - 70 hours work | Senior | Years 12-13 | Years 13-14 | Years S6 |
Take a look at each level’s criteria to learn more about what is expected, to check your project meets the criteria and that it’s the right Award level for you:
There is no time limit to submit a project you used for the Big Bang Competition for a CREST Award. You can submit it anytime.
If you have chosen a Bronze Award, your teacher or another adult can submit this online and confirm that your project meets the Bronze criteria. You will be asked to submit a sample of your work.
If your project matches best with a Silver or Gold Award:
Your project can be submitted in any format, but you need to make sure that whatever you submit, you are providing clear evidence of how you met the CREST criteria. Many people choose to submit written reports or portfolios. If you worked as a group, you can all submit the same report/evidence.
Fill in a student profile form (one for each student). The profile form will help you individually make sure that you have met the criteria and is also where you should include your personal reflections, and any supplementary information on how you met the CREST criteria.
Your CREST submission can include your Big Bang written work or video, but you may need to include additional detail to meet enough criteria for the Award.
If you have been given written feedback/judging as part of the BB competition you can include this.
Remember, CREST projects are assessed on the CREST criteria, so it’s really important that you show us clearly how you meet them in your work.
For a Bronze Award, you will need to ask an adult to assess your work and fill in the online application for you. They can do this for multiple Bronze Awards at once. They will need to:
Create an account at apply.crestawards.org
Fill in information about the student and project
Confirm that the student has met the necessary criteria for the award
Upload a sample of the work for moderation
Pay the CREST Award fee
After this is done, you will be awarded a Bronze level Award and receive your certificate!
For Silver and Gold Awards, you will need to
Create an account at apply.crestawards.org
Fill in the application form with information about your project and upload your project work, any supportive evidence and your profile form.
If you worked in a group, you only need to fill in one application form, but must submit one profile form per student.
Pay your CREST Award fee.
Your project will then be assessed by one of our assessors and if successful, you will be awarded a CREST Award and given a CREST Gold/Silver certificate!
There is a time limit for submitting your CREST project work to the Big Bang Competition. For this round please submit before 5 pm on Wednesday 27 March 2024.
1.Create a free account on the Big Bang Competition website, if you are under 18 please ask a teacher, parent or guardian to do this for you.
2. Add sections of your CREST project work into your Big Bang application.
Project Overview
Copy aspects of your CREST project introduction, aims, methodology, key results and conclusion and edit them to create a summary, using a maximum of 150 words.
Project Concept: CREST criteria 1.1 and 1.2
Copy and edit these criteria to describe your project aims and the impact your work could have on the wider world, using a maximum of 300 words.
Project Process: CREST criteria 1.4, 1.5, 2.1 and 2.2
Use what you wrote for these criteria to describe how you carried out your project, including your research, how you organized your time and your methods of experimentation. Use a maximum of 400 words.
Project Outcome: CREST criteria 3.1 and 3.2
Copy these sections and edit them to summarise the results of your project and how this links to your initial aims, using a maximum of 400 words.
Reflections and next steps: CREST criteria 3.3 and 4.4
Refer to your CREST profile form for this section and write about how your project went and what you could do differently or improve for the future, using a maximum of 350 words.
Personal Skills
Judges like to see all the skills you’ve used to complete your project work, so make sure to include examples of your problem solving, resilience and other skills.
3. Check you have read the advice provided on entering the competition. You can find more information on the Big Bang Competition website.
4. Submit your project! Good luck and let us know if you make the competition final by email at crest@britishscienceassociation.org with your CREST Award application project number.
If you have any questions, please get in touch with the CREST awards team at crest@britishscienceassociation.org, or the Big Bang team at info@thebigbang.org.uk
Good Luck with your application!
