The Cabinet Office has announced that the pilot for a shorter National Citizen Service will take place in Northern Ireland this autumn.

It has launched a competitive grants process to find a provider to deliver 250 places to year 11 students. Students will take part in a residential week and deliver two social action projects. The young people that take part will also have the opportunity to travel to England at the end of the year and meet other participants.

Neil McCausland, MLA (member of the legislative assembly of Northern Ireland), the minister for social development said: “I welcome the invitation to launch a Northern Ireland pilot of the National Citizen Service. It is entirely complementary to the programmes my department is delivering under neighbourhood renewal and community development, and also under my responsibilities for volunteering.”

The scheme piloted last year on the mainland offered 10,000 young people the opportunity to take part in a three-week programme, through a range of providers. This year the number of NCS places has increased to 30,000 with the set to go up as many as 90,000 by 2014.

In May the Office for Civil Society revealed that the intention to pilot a one-week version of NCS.

As part of the process there will be an information session at the Nicva offices on 11 July. For more information on how to apply click here.