Digital Xtra supports extracurricular tech activities, which enables young people to learn innovative digital technologies skills outside the core school education curriculum; whilst providing a safe, fun, and sociable environment.

Activities delivered in a school environment – such as youth clubs, lunchtime clubs, after-school clubs, or touring programmes – are considered extracurricular provided they do not form part of core school curriculum daily activity.

Supported activities must teach applied computing skills such as computational thinking, coding, robotics, games design, data science, or cybersecurity. Young people should also be given opportunities to apply this knowledge in meaningful and creative ways allowing them to become more confident with digital technologies.

Some examples of what the grant can support include:

• Financial costs incurred during the delivery of the activity e.g., staff wages, equipment and materials, room hire, catering, travel within Scotland (travel costs for young people is submissible as part of a grant application, however, all costs must meet the criteria of providing good value for money as judged by the Application Evaluation Panel)
• Staff, teacher, or volunteer training (please note, any training undertaken must be essential for the proposed extracurricular activity)
• Course/content development
• Essential marketing and evaluation materials
• Software or hardware specific to the delivery of the initiative. Applicants will need to provide insurance, maintenance, and secure storage for any items and ensure the software/hardware is maintained to support the sustainability of the initiative
• Other costs specific to the delivery of the initiative and directly related to outcome may be considered provided their need is clearly explained in the application.

As highlighted above, proposed activities must teach applied computing skills and allow young people to understand and create with technology, not simply use it. As such, activities which teach other skills related to digital literacy or digital media are excluded from funding. Digital literacy or digital media skills can be defined as:

• the general use of digital applications (e.g., Microsoft Office, Photoshop, iMovie, social media) excluding apps used for teaching coding/computing science
• the ability to access general information online
• the administration and monitoring of digital content
• methods of communicating with technology including, but not limited to:
  • videography / photography
  • video / photo editing
  • vlogging / blogging
  • digital / online marketing
  • graphic design

Digital Xtra also will not fund the following:

• Standard work to improve employability skills e.g. Microsoft Office training, training on CV writing, interview skills, etc.
• Equipment used exclusively for general classroom use e.g., tablets, laptops, or printers to assist pupils with day-to-day learning
• Interventions based predominantly on raising awareness of careers e.g., careers fairs
• Initiatives that promote political or religious beliefs
• Initiatives which take place outwith Scotland
• Initiatives whose primary audience is older than 16 years
• Individuals or organisations that benefit only one person
• Initiatives where the primary purpose is to conduct research
• Business start-up or scale-up activity
• Customs and/or international shipping costs
• General appeals or circulars (activity must have defined targets and outcomes and delivered during the specified grant delivery phase)

The grant also cannot cover funding retrospectively or as a substitute for programmed ‘core’ spend. This means ‘business as usual’ costs or costs for which alternative funding has already been allocated. However, increasing capacity of existing activity is acceptable and a percentage of costs associated with this increased capacity is admissible.

To be eligible for a grant award, applicants must meet the following criteria:

• The Main Applicant is a UK registered company, UK registered charity, chartered body, local authority, school, college, or university actively involved in the provision of computing education and/or digital technologies related activities for young people. Please note, the Main Applicant cannot be a Partner or Supporter of Digital Xtra.
• The proposed initiative meets the Core Objective of Digital Xtra (as defined in the Round IX Grant Guidelines)
• The grant requested is between £500 and £5,000
• The proposed initiative is an ‘extracurricular activity’
• The primary audience are young people aged 16 years and under
• The proposed initiative will commence after 1 July 2024 and be completed by 30 June 2025 (as outlined in the ‘Project Plan’ submitted as part of the grant application)
• The proposed initiative will be delivered entirely in Scotland

The primary audience for all supported activities must be young people aged 16 years or under.

Digital Xtra also places a strong emphasis on promoting diversity and inclusion to help break down barriers at a grassroots level. In particular, key audiences include areas often excluded from digital tech activities through lack of local resources or geography (i.e., areas of high deprivation and/or rural isolation) and groups underrepresented in the digital technologies sector (i.e., girls and young women, minority groups, children and young people with additional support needs).

Please indicate in your application if your initiative proactively targets any of these key audiences. For definitions and more information about key audiences, please refer to the Round IX (2024/25) Grant Guidelines.

Proposed initiatives are to start and end during the following academic year (July to June). Projects supported duing the Round IX grants cycle should commence after 1 July 2024 and be completed before 30 June 2025.

Grants are paid in three instalments – 60% after the Grant Offer Acceptance Letter (G.O.A.L.) is submitted, 30% upon receipt of the midpoint evaluation (as agreed in the G.O.A.L), and 10% upon receipt of the final evaluation. Any unspent funding must be repaid to Digital Xtra at the conclusion of the grant delivery phase. All grant recipients will be required to co-operate with Digital Xtra in our management of the funding.

No, the charity will not fund applications from individuals. The Main Applicant must be a UK registered company, UK registered charity, chartered body, local authority, school, college, or university actively involved in the provision of computing education and/or digital technologies related activities for young people. Please note, the Main Applicant cannot be a Partner or Supporter of Digital Xtra Fund.

Yes, you can apply for partial funding. If the grant amount requested does not fully fund the proposed initiative and/or you are receiving any additional funding or in-kind support towards the project, then you must provide details of additional funding sources (i.e., paid through internal budget, tickets sales, other grants/sponsorship, or equipment donations). Please also indicate if these sources are confirmed or not and if they will cover all outstanding project costs or is additional funding still required to deliver the proposed initiative.

Please note, all project costs must be secured prior to project commencement. Failure to secure all required funding by project commencement will result in the grant award being withheld until such time that all required funding is obtained. Failure to obtain all required funding may result in partial or complete cancellation of the grant award.

Yes, provided a newly completed application is submitted. This includes both funding for a new activity or for an activity previously supported by Digital Xtra which is notably being developed beyond the initial delivery and/or will significantly increase overall capacity beyond what has already been achieved. Previously supported initiatives which are projected to achieve the same Targets and Outcomes as previous years will not be considered.

Eligible applications will be evaluated by the Application Evaluation Panel which is made up of representatives from industry, education & skills organisations, and other relevant stakeholders. Decisions will be based only on the information provided within the application form. Please be as clear and concise as possible as you will not have the opportunity to provide any additional information once the application has been submitted.

Applications will be evaluated in accordance with a set scoring methodology and evaluation criteria. Please refer to the Grant Guidelines for more information on this methodology.

Once independent evaluations are completed and verified, the Panel will jointly agree on a final cumulative score for each application. Applications will then be ranked in order of total score achieved with top-ranked applicants invited to go through a due diligence process before funding is released.

Please read the Grant Guidelines and Application Form thoroughly prior to completion. Additional resources such as a sample Project Plan, sample Budget, various Case Studies, online webinars, and in-person seminars are also available (details in Guidelines). Incomplete or ineligible forms will not be considered.

Please also consult Digital Xtra’s website and social media channels for any updates throughout the grant application period.

If you have any questions or clarification, please contact Digital Xtra via email at [email protected].