Welcome to the Duke of Edinburgh’s Award programme. We are excited that you’re considering taking part in this life-changing journey. The DofE programme is designed to help young people develop valuable skills, build confidence, and make a positive impact in their community. On this page, you will find all the information you need about how the programme works, the different sections involved, and how to get started. If you have any questions or need further assistance, please don’t hesitate to reach out.
What is the Duke of Edinburgh?
- A life-changing experience. An opportunity to have fun with friends. A chance to discover new interests and talents. A tool to develop essential skills for life and work. A recognised mark of achievement, respected by employers. The DofE is many things to many people, supporting generations to successfully navigate life.
- 14-24 year olds can do a DofE programme at one of three progressive levels which, when successfully completed, leads to a Bronze, Silver or Gold Duke of Edinburgh’s Award. There are four sections to complete at Bronze and Silver level and five at Gold. They involve helping the community/environment, becoming fitter and healthier, developing new skills, planning, training for and completing an expedition and, for Gold only, working with a team on a residential activity.
- Any young person can do their DofE. Achieving an Award isn’t a competition or about being first. It’s all about setting personal challenges and pushing personal boundaries.
- Through a DofE programme young people have fun, make friends, improve their self-esteem and build confidence. They gain essential skills and attributes for work and life such as resilience, problem-solving, team-working, communication and drive, enhancing CVs and university and job applications.
- The Duke of Edinburgh’s Award is a registered charity, funded by donations, participation places and licences. The charity works with Licensed Organisations (LOs) across the UK to increase opportunities for young people to gain the benefits of doing their DofE. The DofE is run in schools, youth clubs, hospitals, fostering agencies, prisons, sports clubs and more, all over the UK and internationally
- Source: https://dofe.org/do/what/
Bronze
The Duke of Edinburgh is a widely recognised qualification that students will work towards over the academic year. There are three awards to achieve – Gold, Silver and Bronze. We will be starting with the Bronze qualification in Year 9.
The award is split into four sections: physical, skills, volunteering and the expedition. Two of the sections (physical, skills or volunteering) will need to be completed once a week over a 3 month period. The third section will need to be completed once a week over a 6 month period.
Physical
Students will need to choose a physical activity to complete. They will need to complete it once a week over a 3 month period unless they have chosen to complete it for 6 months. It could be an activity they already do. If you would like to see some examples, they can be found here or here.
Volunteering
Students will need to choose a volunteering activity to complete. Again, They will need to complete it once a week over a 3 month period unless they have chosen to complete it for 6 months. It can be an activity they already do. If you would like to see some examples, they can be found here.
Skills
Students will need to choose a skill to complete. Again, They will need to complete it once a week over a 3 month period unless they have chosen to complete it for 6 months. It can be an activity they already do. If you would like to see some examples, they can be found here or here
The Expedition
The final part of the award is to complete the expedition. Students need to have completed the other 3 activities before they go on the final expedition. The expedition will include students walking unsupervised for an amount of time. They will meet teachers along the route to ensure they are following the maps correctly but they will not be walking with a teacher. They will cook their own food on the cooking equipment (they will practice using this before the expedition) and they will camp overnight in a tent.
Silver
The Duke of Edinburgh is a widely recognised qualification that students will work towards over the academic year. There are three awards to achieve – Gold, Silver and Bronze. We will be moving onto the Silver qualification in Year 10.
The award is split into four sections: physical, skills, volunteering and the expedition. Two of the sections (physical or skills and volunteering) will need to be completed once a week over a 6 month period. The third section will need to be completed once a week over a 3 month period. You will also notice that if your child did not complete the Bronze award, they will need to do a further 6 months in volunteering or complete one of the other sections for 6 months.
Physical
Students will need to choose a physical activity to complete. They will need to complete it once a week over a 3 month period unless they have chosen to complete it for 6 months. It could be an activity they already do. If you would like to see some examples, they can be found here or here
Volunteering
Students will need to choose a volunteering activity to complete. Again, They will need to complete it once a week over a 6 month period (longer than the Bronze award). It can be an activity they already do. If you would like to see some examples, they can be found here
Skills
Students will need to choose a skill to complete. Again, They will need to complete it once a week over a 3 month period unless they have chosen to complete it for 6 months. It can be an activity they already do. If you would like to see some examples, they can be found here or here
The Expedition
The final part of the award is to complete the expedition. Students need to have completed the other 3 activities before they go on the final expedition. The expedition for Silver is longer than the Bronze. There is a practice expedition and then the qualifying expedition. The qualifying expedition is 3 days and 2 nights.
Correspondence/who to contact
Miss S Harrison – DofE manager sharrison@lighthall.co.uk
Mr J Whan – DofE assistant manager jwhan@lighthall.co.uk
