Members Hub
How to complete badges at home
Your young person can work towards badges away from Monday nights — at home, on holiday, or wherever something interesting is happening. This guide walks through how to send us the evidence using Online Scout Manager, and what makes a submission easy for a leader to say yes to.
This is an opportunity, not homework
Badge work at home is entirely optional, and it is not a competition. Lots of badge work happens at meetings and camps instead. If you do fancy it, pick something your young person already enjoys — that is where it works best.
Before you start
Three things need to be true:
You have an OSM account linked to your young person
The link we email you is what connects your child to your account — it is not a generic sign-up. If you have never had one, or it no longer works, email info@144glasgowscouts.org and we will sort it. Please do not share an account or password with another adult.
You are the one operating the account
Submissions should be made by a parent or carer rather than by the young person themselves. They can absolutely choose the badge, do the work and pick the photo — but an adult should be the one uploading it.
The badge is shown in your account
You will only see badges that are available to submit this way. Not every badge in Scouting can be completed at home, so work from the list in front of you rather than a wishlist.
A note on naming: OSM calls this feature Badges at Home, but inside the parent portal the menu is labelled Completable At Home and the button is Complete at Home. They are all the same thing.
Step by step
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Sign in to your OSM account
Use the adult account that your young person is linked to. If more than one child is linked to your account, choose the right one before you go any further.
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Open Badges, then Completable At Home
You will see the badges that are available to your young person to work on at home. Only the badges shown in your account can be submitted this way.
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Choose a badge and read the requirements
Opening a badge shows its requirements and its progress. Check whether the badge or module asks for everything to be done, or only a stated number of items — it varies.
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Select Complete at Home
This opens the evidence form. Despite the name, this does not complete the badge on its own — it starts a submission for a leader to review.
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Upload your evidence
Under Add your evidence, upload a clear photo, a short video or a document that shows what your young person did.
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Tick the requirements your evidence shows
The tick boxes only become available once something is uploaded. Tick only what that piece of evidence genuinely demonstrates — this tells the leader which requirements to look at.
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Add a comment if it helps
A sentence of context goes a long way: what they did, roughly when, what their own role was, and which part of a longer activity the evidence covers.
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Submit, then wait for a leader
A volunteer will review the evidence and update the badge record. They may come back and ask for a bit more.
What makes useful evidence
The best evidence shows your young person's own work, and shows the thing the requirement actually asks for. Where a requirement is about doing something — a skill, a process, taking part over time — a photo of the finished article on its own does not always tell that story. A sentence in the comments box usually fills the gap.
These are illustrative examples created for this guide, not submissions from our members.
A good comment answers
- What did they do?
- Roughly when?
- What was their own part in it?
- If it ran over weeks, which bit does this show?
Keeping it private and safe
Please check before you upload
Upload only what is needed for the requirement. Have a proper look at the background for home addresses, school logos, letters and paperwork, screens, or anything else you would not want a stranger to read. And please do not include other children unless you have their parent's permission.
Faces are often unnecessary
Evidence can usually focus on the activity, the hands, the work or the kit. That is frequently a better photo of the requirement anyway.
An upload is not permission to publish
Evidence you send through OSM goes to the leaders reviewing it. We will not reuse it on the website, in emails or on social media on the strength of that upload — if we ever wanted to use a photo publicly, we would ask you separately.
Where the file lives
Uploads sit in OSM, our member-records system, which is password-protected and restricted to authorised volunteers. Files are not deleted automatically. If you want something removed, email data-protection@144glasgowscouts.org and we will deal with it. See our data protection page for the wider picture.
What happens next
Your submission goes to our volunteers. One of them will look at the evidence, decide which requirements it covers, and update your young person's badge record. Sometimes they will come back and ask for a bit more — that is completely normal and not a mark against anyone.
Two things worth being clear about. Uploading evidence is not the same as the requirement being signed off, and neither is the same as the physical badge being in your hand — badges are ordered and presented in batches. And ticking the requirement boxes is your account of what the evidence shows; it does not override a badge that says "do all of these" or "choose four".
We cannot promise a turnaround time. Our leaders review submissions when they can, around running the programme. If something looks like it has been forgotten, just ask your section leader — that is much easier than wondering.
If something goes wrong
I cannot sign in, or my link has expired
Email us and we will send a fresh link. The link matters — it is what attaches your child to your account.
I cannot see Completable At Home, or the badge I wanted
What you can see depends on your young person's section and what is set up for them. Check you have the right child selected, then ask your section leader.
The requirement tick boxes are greyed out
They stay locked until a file has uploaded. Upload the evidence first, then tick.
My file will not upload
Try a smaller file — a still photo instead of a long video, or a shorter clip. OSM shows a remaining-storage figure on the screen; if you are close to it, or an upload keeps failing, let us know rather than fighting it.
I uploaded the wrong thing
Tell your section leader as soon as you notice, especially if the file showed something private. We would far rather hear about it straight away.
Questions we get asked
Does my child have to do badges at home?
No. Badge work at home is completely optional. Plenty of badge work happens at meetings, camps and events instead. If you do want to try one, pick something your young person actually enjoys — it should never feel like homework.
Can every badge be done this way?
No. Only the badges shown under Completable At Home in your account are available to submit this way. If a badge you were expecting is not listed, speak to your section leader.
Does uploading evidence mean the badge is awarded?
No. Uploading is a submission for consideration. A leader reviews it and updates the badge record, and they may ask for more information. Ticking requirements is your description of what the evidence shows — it does not approve anything by itself.
How long does a review take?
We cannot give a fixed time. Our volunteers review submissions when they can, around everything else they do. Please be patient, and do ask your section leader if something seems to have been missed.
Should my child upload the evidence themselves?
No — the submission account should be operated by a parent or carer. That is a safeguarding expectation, not just an OSM one.
What if I do not have an OSM login?
You need the invitation link we send, because that link is what connects your child to your account. If you have not had one, or it has expired, email us and we will send a new one. Please do not share logins between adults.
Not sure where to start?
Have a look at what your young person can work towards, or just ask us — we are happy to suggest something that fits what they already like doing.