Finding genuine CAS ideas across all three strands — Creativity, Activity, and Service — is easier when you start from real interests rather than searching for whatever “looks good” on a portfolio. Below are 30 ideas organized by strand, each intended as a starting point to adapt to your own genuine interests and circumstances.
Creativity Ideas
- Learn a new instrument or musical skill and document your progress over a full term
- Start a creative writing project (short stories, poetry) with a specific goal, like a small self-published collection
- Design and build a piece of functional art or furniture from recycled materials
- Create a podcast or video series on a topic you’re genuinely passionate about
- Learn digital design or photography and produce a body of work with a specific theme
- Write and direct a short film with classmates
- Design a board game or card game from concept to a playable prototype
- Start a school arts newsletter or zine
- Learn a new visual art medium (printmaking, ceramics, digital illustration) and build a small portfolio
- Compose original music for a specific purpose (a school event, a short film)
Activity Ideas
- Train for and complete a specific physical challenge (a organized run, a hiking route) with a documented training plan
- Join or start a recreational sports team not offered formally at your school
- Learn a new physical skill entirely from scratch (rock climbing, martial arts, dance) and track your progress
- Organize a regular fitness or wellness session for classmates
- Take up a sustained outdoor activity (trail running, cycling) with specific, measurable personal goals
- Train for a role in a physically demanding school production (dance, physical theatre)
- Start a recreational sports club at school for students without team experience
- Commit to a structured personal fitness program with clear before/after documentation
- Learn a new individual sport (swimming technique, tennis) with a qualified instructor and track skill development
- Organize an inter-school or inter-house sports event
Service Ideas
- Volunteer consistently (not one-off) at a local community organization aligned with a cause you care about
- Tutor younger students in a subject you’re strong in, on a regular schedule
- Organize a fundraising campaign for a specific, well-researched cause
- Start an environmental initiative addressing a genuine local issue (a cleanup program, a recycling system at school)
- Volunteer with an organization supporting elderly community members, on a sustained basis
- Create and lead a peer support or mentoring program for younger students
- Translate materials or provide language support for a local organization, if multilingual
- Organize a donation drive addressing a specific, identified community need
- Volunteer with an organization supporting a specific accessibility or inclusion need
- Lead a health or safety education initiative at your school or in your community
How to Turn Any Idea Into a Strong CAS Experience
A good idea alone isn’t enough — what makes it count is sustained engagement, genuine challenge, and real reflection tied to specific learning outcomes. Before starting, ask: is this genuinely sustained (not a single afternoon)? Does it involve real challenge or growth? Can I document it properly as I go (see our guide on organizing your CAS portfolio on Managebac)?
Combining Ideas Into a CAS Project
Several of these ideas naturally combine into a single sustained CAS Project spanning multiple strands — for example, organizing a charity fun run (Activity + Service) or creating educational creative content for a cause you care about (Creativity + Service). See our full guide on planning a long-term CAS group initiative for how to structure this properly.
Common Mistakes When Choosing CAS Activities
- Picking activities purely because they sound impressive, without genuine interest behind them
- Choosing only one-off experiences instead of at least some sustained, ongoing commitments
- Not balancing all three strands across the full 18 months, leaving gaps that surface only at a coordinator review
Final Tip
Don’t try to force all 30 ideas or even a large number of them — a smaller number of genuinely sustained, well-reflected activities across all three strands will always produce a stronger CAS portfolio than a long list of shallow, disconnected experiences.