Design a CAS project idea around collaboration
Turn an appealing idea into a purposeful project with shared roles, learning and realistic scope.
Find a purpose that a team can own
Start with a shared interest or a need identified with the people involved. A project should give collaborators a reason to plan and act together, rather than assigning several unrelated individual activities the same name. Write the intended outcome and who will use or experience it. Discuss the proposed project with your coordinator and confirm how it meets the project requirements. Choose a scale your team can manage. A reliable, thoughtfully designed local project can offer more learning than an ambitious promise without an achievable plan.
Generate options from what is available
Look at the skills, spaces, partnerships and resources your team already has. A creative team might develop and stage an original performance. A physically active group could plan a supported introduction to a new activity. A service team might help an established organization test a needed resource. The project may involve one or several CAS strands. Avoid adding a strand only to make the label broader. Identify the substantive work associated with each strand and how it contributes to the purpose.
Describe collaboration as decisions
List decisions the group must make jointly: audience, format, access, schedule, roles, quality checks or response to feedback. Assign responsibilities while keeping communication visible. Collaboration includes listening, negotiation and adapting when another person's idea improves the plan. Make provision for uneven availability and a member leaving. Each student should understand their own contribution and learning. A group product alone does not explain that. Keep brief records of consequential decisions rather than writing elaborate minutes for every routine conversation.
Try a worked project brief
An illustrative team proposes an accessible short walking route guide for a community group. Before designing it, they ask the group which information is useful and what accessibility concerns matter. Roles include route observation, illustration, draft layout and feedback coordination. The group tests a draft and the students revise unclear descriptions. Their brief states the purpose, intended user, constraints, responsibilities and review points. The project's value lies in this collaborative development; producing a glossy map without consulting users could miss the actual need.
Check responsibility and feasibility early
Identify necessary approvals, relevant adult support, costs, permissions and access limitations. Avoid committing partners to dates before checking these. If the project involves other people, consider consent, privacy, accessibility and the consequences of failure to follow through. Build a modest fallback that preserves the purpose. For example, a smaller pilot may be more realistic than a public event when space is uncertain. Tell partners promptly about changes. Responsibility is part of project design, not an administrative paragraph added after decisions are made.
Choose learning opportunities without forcing them
Discuss the skills and dispositions the project may develop, using the school's learning-outcome guidance. Possible areas include planning, commitment, collaboration and ethical judgment. Let actual experiences determine what you can evidence later. Keep a starting-point note, relevant products and reflections on significant changes. After comparing options, choose the project your team can explain, sustain and complete responsibly. Document why it was selected and what your first shared action will be. A well-designed idea should make the next step clearer for everyone.
Your next-step checklist
Checklist choices stay in this browser.
Official references
This is an original practical guide from IBvia. The examples are illustrative; your subject guide, assessment year and school instructions determine the requirements.
Keep working on your next step
Start a balanced CAS programme with clear goals
Build sustained experiences across creativity, activity and service with a practical evidence plan.
Read the guide ↗
Choose CAS experiences that have a purpose
Adapt creativity, activity and service ideas around your interests, starting point and community needs.
Read the guide ↗