Award FAQs

Please read the Award criteria, and then see our step-by-step guide for an overview of how to get started with a John Muir Award.  Take a look at our short videos, created to support you through the process of taking out membership, registering proposals and completing review and certificate requests - available on the John Muir Award YouTube playlist.

Proposal and review forms are now accessed through a secure online portal. Take a look at our portal introduction video to help you get started.

If you are already an active Award leader, you will have received an email on 1st September 2026 containing a link to the portal where you can view the status of your current proposals and reviews, and submit new forms as required. This will have been sent to the original email you registered with; and it’s worth checking your junk mail folder in case it’s been redirected.

If you are new to delivering the Award, then once your organisation has purchased Group Membership, you'll receive an email with a link enabling you to create and submit an Award proposal via the online portal.

If your organisation already holds an active Group Membership but you are not yet an active Award leader, contact award@johnmuirtrust.org and we’ll be happy to help you register.

No, restrospective Award activity will not be accepted. Please submit your plans via a proposal form before beginning any Award activity. See our step-by-step guide for an overview of the process.

We will review your plans and reply to you within 10 working days to approve your proposal or to request more information. As soon as approval has been received, you can get started with your Award activities. 

No, you may wish to draft your proposal using our Word template; however, all proposal forms must be submitted via the online portal. See our guidance and template here

The reference number assigned to each of your proposals can be viewed by logging into the Award portal. It will also be shown on associated email communication with the Award team; however, if you cannot find it we can locate your group from your email address. 

You do not need to attend training. We ask that you read the handbook and take time to understand the Award criteria and process. We also suggest that you watch our 'How To' video before submitting your first proposal - available on the John Muir Award YouTube playlist. 

We also offering online workshops introducing the redesigned Award and process. You can find details of these on the training page.

The Award can be completed by anyone who can understand and complete the Award criteria. We find that it is ideally suited for those at later stage of primary education and beyond. The John Muir Award isn’t suitable for nursery or lower primary learning level groups.

Adults are welcome – indeed actively encouraged – to get involved too, alongside young people, students, or in their own groups.

The Award is focused on encouraging people to connect with, enjoy and care for wild places, so you should plan for most of your activity to take place in your wild place(s). However, some of your Award activity may also be indoors, such as planning, research, uploading survey data or preparing campaign/sharing materials. As a guideline, we look for at least 80% of Award time to be spent outdoors in your chosen wild place(s).

There is a Welsh language version of the handbook, record books and certificates. Unfortunately, we are unable to accept forms written in Welsh as there are no Award Officers who speak Welsh at this time. 

For a small number of Award leaders, who complete the same activities with multiple groups throughout the year, we offer a rolling proposal form.

To request a rolling proposal form, you must have successfully delivered the redesigned Award at least once. If approved, you will not need to submit a separate proposal form for each group. Your rolling proposal form will expire after 1 year and you will then need to submit a new proposal form. If there are multiple leaders within your organisation delivering the Award, each leader must submit their own rolling proposal form.

We do not stipulate a deadline for completing the Award but ask that you consider a realistic timescale for the participants involved and include this on the proposal form. If you need more time to complete your activities, please let us know so we can update our records. Please note that you will need an active annual Group Membership at the point of requesting certificates.

To request an amended certificate(s), please email award@johnmuirtrust.org and include the reference number of the group. All certificate reissues will incur a charge of £5.

Participant certificate files are retained by the John Muir Trust for 6 months from the date processed. For this reason, we can offer replacement certificates within the 6 month period only. 

Once a Review Form has been approved, digital certificates for participants are available to download from the portal. Certificates are available for 6 months following approval, after which participant data is deleted and no longer retained by the John Muir Trust. As such, replacements cannot be issued.

If your certificates we processed prior to the Award Management portal system going live on 1st September 2026, the Award leader would have been emailed a link to download certificates.

No, hard copy certificates are no longer available to order from the John Muir Trust. Following the Award redesign, we trialled offering this paid-for service but due to low demand, it has been discontinued. Digital certificates are provided for participants in a PDF format, which you are welcome to print or explore professional printing services if you wish.

Once your organisation has successfully delivered the  John Muir Award, a digital Provider certificate will be available to download from the online portal.  A Provider certificate recognises your organisation’s contribution to wild places by delivering the John Muir Award.

We require all Award Providers to hold Group Membership of the John Muir Trust.

An Award Provider is the direct organisation whom the Award leader is associated with. Within the organisation, you can deliver the Award to multiple groups.

As an example, each school delivering the Award is required to hold a Group Membership; within this school you can deliver the Award to numerous classes / groups at no additional cost.  Find out more about Providers & leaders and Group Membership.

We recognise that for some Award Providers, the cost of Group Membership may be a barrier to delivering the John Muir Award. Find some simple ideas for ways to help cover the cost here.

In line with our inclusive ethos, the Trust is offering a limited number of complimentary (digital) Group Memberships to Providers who are unable to meet the cost and who meet all of the following criteria: 

1. Be a small community/voluntary sector organisation
2. Predominantly support individuals who experience barriers to accessing wild places - read more here
3. Be planning to deliver a John Muir Award within the next 12 months
4. Have an annual turnover below £100,000
5. Do not charge participants for your service

If your organisation meets all the criteria above, submit an application here.

The John Muir Award video playlist can be found on the John Muir Trust YouTube channel.

For now we are offering the Wild Places Guardian Award (previously Discovery level).

Further levels, referred to as the Wild Places Protector and Wild Places Champion, will undergo more significant changes and will be rolled out in due course. You can keep up to date with Award news by signing up for our Award update emails.

The John Muir Trust is a charity dedicated to the protection and restoration of the UK’s wild places, and therefore any Award activity must take place within the UK.

We are happy for you to base your own projects and activity on the Award framework and criteria but could not recognise this with a John Muir Award certificate.

No, we accepted proposals until 23rd March 2024 provided that criteria could be met and activity completed by 1st September 2024.

We allowed some flexibility beyond this date, but with the relaunch of the Award - including updated criteria and a new system, we are no longer able to issue certificates for the previous levels.

We would ask for your patience with communications.  If you have a question that is not answered above, you can contact us via award@johnmuirtrust.org and we’ll respond as soon as we can.