Home > National quality standards framework (NQSF) for youth work.

The NQSF is intended to be both practical and developmental, in that it will enable youth work organisations to assess service provision and to identify areas for development. As engagement in the NQSF is a continuous process, it is not expected that all organisations will be able to immediately and fully achieve all the standards as set out in this document. Neither is it the intention that the NQSF would require uniformity of provision. Rather, it aims to ensure that youth work providers continue to offer a rich and varied service, and commit to a process of continuous development through
engagement in the NQSF.

The NQSF is primarily a support and development tool for youth work organisations. Self-assessment is fundamental to the process. In addition, there is also an external assessment function, which serves to validate the self-assessment process and which is performed by VEC (Youth/Liaison) Officers for local youth work services or by the NQSF Standards Officer for national youth work organisations.