Project delivery

The project has been successfully piloted and is being rolled out across three schools during autumn 2023.

Youth Compass has attracted widespread interest from academics, practitioners and funding bodies – including the Leadership Partnership Schools Network (LPSN) which has enabled us to secure the participation of three secondary schools in the second stage of our trials.

We began our research in this area several years ago. At the time, there was a growing body of evidence that people who do not consider it wrong to break rules are significantly more likely to engage in antisocial behaviour and acts of crime.

With no intervention programme to encourage rule-following in young people, Dr Neema Trivedi-Bateman decided to create the Youth Compass programme. Evidence-based, the programme and its resources are co-created – shaped by feedback from the participants and adult facilitators.

Four young people, chatting - walking away from the camera in a park

The Cambridgeshire pilot

The successful pilot was an adventure and learning experience for the young people and researchers alike.
Close-up - looking down on to a group of young people sitting in a circle, chatting

The “school run”

We look forward to working with three secondary schools this autumn - to deliver Youth Compass.

RCT and ethical approval

Randomised Controlled Trial (RCT)

Our trials are conducted and reported in accordance with the requirements of the Consolidated Standards of Reporting Trials (CONSORT) Statement. The randomised design allows us to compare individual differences between the Experimental and Control Groups. About half of the participants are randomly allocated to the Control Group, and the rest to the Experimental Group that undertakes the programme. At the end of the programme, the Experimental Group are assessed for enhanced positive attitudes and behaviour in comparison to the Control Group.

Loughborough University Research Ethics Sub-Committee approval

  • The Pilot Study was granted approval in April 2022
    Proposal Number: 2022-7834-9130
  • The School Delivery (2023-24) was granted approval in July 2023
    Proposal Number: 2023-14569-15303