Duke of Edinburgh’s Award information

In this section

Information for pupils and parents

The Duke of Edinburgh’s Award is all about going the extra mile – gaining new skills, pushing yourself physically, helping others and exploring new activities. At the same time, you’ll gather friendships, experiences and memories that will last a lifetime.

You can choose the activities that motivate you (many are already available at School as extra-curricular options) and go on your own personal journey. We know from other participants that the DofE helps you stand out from the crowd when you apply for university and jobs.

The Awards

As a DofE Directly Licensed Centre (DLC) we offer all three award levels:

Bronze – in the Third Form
Silver – in the Fourth Form
Gold – in the Sixth Form

Our DofE delivery model

Our model shows expectations by year group and month.

Activities

Each Award requires the successful completion of four section activities (five at Gold), requiring a regular commitment averaging a minimum of at least an hour a week during non-curriculum time for the required timescales.

DofE timescales Download

Find out more about the different sections (Volunteering, Physical, Skills, Expedition and Residential (at Gold Award level only).

Participant’s parent/guardian/carer takes the responsibility for sourcing and arranging Volunteering, Physical and Skill (Residential for DofE Gold / Expedition if not using schools provision) section activities with a suitable provider, who will take responsibility for activity supervision and act as an assessor.

They must be willing to provide a brief report confirming participation (averaging at least one hour a week or two hours a fortnight), for the entire timescale – and have made up for any missed time by extending the timescale.

It is the responsibility of the participant’s parent/guardian/carer to evaluate the safeguarding and health & safety policies of organisations before engagement.

Department for Education guidance for parents/guardians/carers using after-school clubs, tuition and community activities

Programme activity ideas

Theme your DofE programme around combating climate change

Current volunteering opportunities

Energy Envoys: Volunteer to learn all about energy and make a difference to the people and places around you!

Current skill opportunities

DofE Skill section activity: Cooking and / or Baking (school participation requirements).

Mrs Johnson kindly organises opportunities for DofE participants wanting to undertake cooking and / or baking as a Skill section activity and offers a number of sessions throughout the year for you to access in school. These are designed to dovetail with cooking and/or baking at home so as to meet the timescale and participation requirements of DofE.

If you would like Mrs Johnson to be your Skill section activity Assessor then you must:

Ask Mrs Johnson to agree to be your Assessor.
Agree the required timescale 3/6/12/18 months (dependent award level).
Plan a schedule (incorporating both school & home activities).
Agree how to evidence participation (diary or activity log / recipes / photos etc) for the minimum of an hour a week (or two hours a fortnight).
Agree how you will evidence progression.

Failure to make the required arrangements could very well lead to your efforts not counting towards DofE!

eDofE account

You will be allocated an individual eDofE account which can be accessed via smartphone, tablet, laptop or PC. You are required to enter personal details, along with submitting activity ideas for approval by the DofE Manager.

Only once the activity has been approved should your participation commence as outlined above. You should evidence attendance with activity logs and completion with an assessor’s report, which you upload onto your eDofE account and submit for approval by the DofE Manager. Once they approve the final section activity as completed, the account is automatically forwarded for verification.

Any queries during this process, either from the DofE Manager or DofE Verifier, will see participants alerted through a message to their eDofE account.

eDofE help:

DofE app (available to download free)
DofE App – how it works
DofE App FAQs (answers to common questions including how to download the app, forgotten passwords, and how to upload evidence)
I’ve forgotten my Username / Password

Expeditions

About expeditions

Each Award section activity is equally as important as the others in terms of individual development, however, the Expedition section generally requires more advice and guidance for pupils and parents alike.

If you are unable to attend school expedition opportunities or wish to access expeditions using alternative modes of travel then DofE Expedition Approved Activity Providers (AAPs) must be used for practice and assessed ventures.

AAP Expedition details request

Residential (Gold Award only)

This section involves spending 5 days and 4 nights away from home on a shared activity with other people you’ve never met before, along with numerous other requirements.

To ensure requirement compliance it is essential to research the opportunity, then, before making attendance arrangements, complete a Residential approval form for consideration by the DofE Manager:

Although it is not a requirement to use a DofE Residential AAP, it guarantees requirement compliance.

Watch a video, below, made by a group of our Sixth Form pupils, sharing their experiences on their Duke of Edinburgh Gold Award Assessment Expedition to Northumberland.

DofE Assessors

eDofE Assessor report portal*

*NB your assessor will need to know your award level and your eDofE ID number.

About Assessors

An Assessor checks on your progress and agrees the completion of a section of your programme. They will produce or sign off the relevant Assessor’s report for that section, which is uploaded into eDofE.

An Assessor can be anyone who is interested in helping you to achieve, has some knowledge of the activity you are doing and can be available over the time you’re doing it. From the local football club coach to a charity shop manager, from the neighbour who’s a web designer to the conservation expert leading a residential week, just about anyone can be an Assessor for the Volunteering, Physical, Skills and Residential sections.

However, Assessors MUST be independent. Therefore, they CANNOT be a member of your family (or the recipient in the case of Volunteering).

Because of the nature of expeditions, there are slightly different rules in place for Expedition Assessors.

The Assessor should have knowledge of the activity being undertaken and be aware of your objectives. Give them the Award level ‘assessor’s report’ template available from the schools website DofE page.

The Assessor should also be available at key stages throughout your experience in order to assess your contribution and development.

Once a section is complete the Assessor will meet with you to discuss your performance, experiences and achievements.

The Assessor will also decide whether you have met the DofE requirements – that you’ve demonstrated effort, perseverance, improvement and made progress towards your section goals. This information, along with comments from the Assessor, should be recorded on the Assessor’s report.

Once completed an assessor’s reports along with the section activity log should be uploaded by the participant onto their eDofE account.