The Digital Badging Commission has launched a suite of free, customisable exemplar badges to support consistent, credible recognition of skills and learning across the UK.
Developed in partnership with practitioners from education, employment, and community sectors, the 12 templates show how digital badges can be used in real-world settings – from schools and colleges to volunteering, the arts and the workplace.
Each badge is downloadable and comes with ready-made content, criteria, and platform-specific guidance for different online credential providers. The aim is to make issuing badges simpler, faster and more meaningful for organisations who are new to the practice.
Professor Sir Chris Husbands and Rebecca Garrod-Waters, co-chairs of the Digital Badging Commission, said:
“These exemplars are part of a much bigger ambition. We believe the UK needs a more inclusive and flexible way of recognising what people know, what they can do, and how they contribute – wherever that learning happens.
“Digital badges have the potential to transform the way qualifications work, particularly by giving visibility to skills and achievements that are currently overlooked or undervalued.
“This toolkit is a practical step forward to help organisations of all kinds start that journey.”
The new exemplars cover 12 different areas – including the recognition of special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) learners’ personal development, to celebrating entry-level work skills, to formalising employer professional development schemes.
This new resource forms part of the Commission’s work to explore the future of digital credentials and qualifications in the UK. Final recommendations to government, businesses and the education sector will be published in October 2025.
The Digital Bading Commission is an independent body, formed last year in partnership with the RSA (Royal Society for Arts) and Ufi VocTech Trust. It is working to design a national approach to digital badging and credentials, helping to recognise learning, participation and skills wherever they happen.
View and download the full set of exemplar badges here
We are the RSA, the royal society for arts, manufactures and commerce. We are a social impact charity that has been at the forefront of social change for 270 years. Through our Design for Life mission, we turn world-leading ideas into world-changing actions. We’re committed to a world where everyone can fulfil their potential and contribute to more resilient, rebalanced, and regenerative futures. Central to all our work is our global network of over 30,000 Fellows, who work collectively to enable people, places and the planet to flourish in harmony.
We invite you to be part of this mission by joining our Fellowship community. Together, we’ll unite people and ideas in collective action to unlock opportunities and regenerate our world.
Ufi VocTech Trust is a UK-based grant funder and investor supporting the adoption and deployment of technology to support adult vocational skills. We champion the power of technology to improve skills for work and deliver better outcomes for all.
Our vision is of a world where vocational skills are celebrated and valued by all and where the development of those skills is made possible by the best technology solutions. To date, we have supported the development of over 230 organisations with more than £37m of funding.
Find out more at ufi.co.uk
