Recognising Spiritual, Moral,
Social and Cultural Development

Schools – achieve recognition for excellence in SMSC!

Review your school’s provision! Young Citizens has worked with experts in the field to create a self-review tool and verification service to help your school implement your vision and improve your delivery of pupils’ SMSC Development.

Are you educating your children to be the best versions of themselves? Review your delivery of SMSC and judge your school against our standards.

How to apply

What is SMSC?

Spiritual, Moral, Social and Cultural (SMSC) development is the over-arching umbrella that encompasses personal development across the whole curriculum.

find out more

The Benefits

Strong evidence shows that promoting SMSC in schools can contribute to raising academic standards and improving children's life chances.

find out more

How to Apply

Whether you are new to SMSC or highly experienced with this Ofsted requirement, we can help. Learn more about applying for the self-review tool and the verification process.

find out more

I've attended many SMSC events and have learnt a lot in the process. It's been a really valuable experience for myself and the pupils, too.
Rebecca Hastings, Headteacher, Cedars Manor School, Harrow

Our Vision

SMSC is essential to the academic progress of pupils. It doesn’t happen in isolation – it saturates through the school and is linked to everything the school does, its ethos and attitude. It needs to be supported and articulated by school leaders and governors, and should be visible in all day-to-day decisions and relationships.

All areas of the curriculum contribute to SMSC development. Some of this will occur as a result of informal, opportunistic or accidental occurrences, but it cannot be left to chance – it needs to be the foundation of well-planned learning, supported by the Continuing Professional Development (CPD) of staff, enabling children and the adults who work with them, to flourish.

We hope this Quality Mark will help schools deliver on their statutory responsibilities and the broad and balanced curriculum that is the entitlement and expectation for all pupils.

Be Inspired by Good Practice

We aim for this website to be the go-to resource of best practice in SMSC.

As our verifiers visit schools, they will collect the best ideas and, with the permission of the schools, will post them here for all to share.

If you would like to share examples of activities in your school please send your pictures, with a short description, to smsc@youngcitizens.org

If you know that you are making a difference to learners, apply for the SMSC Quality Mark.

Apply Now