Each nomination is first appraised within the county where the group is operating. This appraisal is led by the Lord Lieutenant, Her Majesty’s representative in the County, assisted by a County Assessment Panel comprising leading representatives from diverse sectors of the community. The Lord Lieutenant and/or his/her representatives may wish to arrange to visit the nominated group. Nominated groups from the Crown Dependencies of Jersey, Guernsey and the Isle of Man, and those from Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales are also assessed by the Lieutenant Governors of the Crown Dependencies and by Panels established by the Devolved Administrations.

A Specialist Assessment Panel, comprising independent experts in volunteering from across the UK, will judge nominated groups against the Award criteria, taking into account the appraisal made in the Counties, Crown Dependencies, Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales. The Specialist Assessment Panel's recommendations are passed to the Main Award Committee who advises the Minister.

HM The Queen makes the Awards on the advice of the Minister. Once Her Majesty has given Her formal approval, Award recipients are informed on a strictly confidential basis until the public announcement by the Palace is made on 2 June, the anniversary of the Queen's Coronation. A list of Award recipients is published in the London Gazette. Consolidated PR provides media advice and assistance to Award recipients.

Each nomination is judged solely on merit and there are no set numbers of Awards for a particular sector or region. However, the system does strive to achieve ‘reasonable balance’ of factors such as age, sector and demography over a period of time.

In assessing nominations, the Local Panels and The Queen's Golden Jubilee Award Committee consider whether nominated groups:

• meet a particular need;
• provide community-focused voluntary activities of a very high quality;
• have generated a high level of goodwill and respect amongst those they serve and the community as a whole;
• have evolved locally and are locally run; and
• have a proven track record of active involvement in the community, normally over a period of three years or more for the social, economic or environmental wellbeing of local individuals or groups.