Youth work in Scotland engages with young people within their communities; it acknowledges the wider networks of peers, community and culture; it supports the young person to realise their potential and to address life’s challenges critically and creatively; it takes account of all strands of diversity.

Youth work’s focus is on 11-25 year olds, with particular emphasis on the 11-18 year age group, and is viewed as having three essential and definitive features:

• Young people choose to participate.
• Youth work operates on young people’s own personal and recreational territory
• Youth work recognises the young person and the youth worker as partners in a learning process.