Within the scheme, a young and gifted individual was defined as: "...children and young people with one or more abilities developed to a level significantly ahead of their year group (or with the potential to develop those abilities)”. Entrance to the scheme was granted via a validation process performed by the student's school or college and was based on criteria including: • For students aged between 4–11, there was no set percentage and they were identified by their performance and ability relative to their cohort. • For students aged between 11–19, that they fell within the top 5% of students as identified by the national eligibility criteria provided by
The Department for Children, Schools and Families (DCSF). Alternatively they could be selected by the use of local sectional that identified them as above average in their cohort within their school age group. While the onus was on schools to determine the size of their gifted and talented population, clear justification for the size of the group and the benefit to all members must be clearly identified. The DCSF used 10% of any given school population as the assumption of size during the planning process. == Operations ==