About the awards
The Duke of Edinburgh’s Award (DofE) is a voluntary, non-competitive programme of activities for anyone aged 14-24. Doing their DofE gives young people the opportunity to experience new activities or develop existing skills.
There are three progressive levels of programmes which, when successfully completed, lead to a bronze, silver or gold award. Young people create their own DofE programme by choosing volunteering, physical and skills activities, going on an expedition and, for their gold only, taking part in a residential activity.
Within Scouting, this links directly to the chief scout’s platinum, diamond and Queen’s scout awards.
The DofE is delivered through a number of licensed providers, of which The Scout Association is one of the largest in the country
Bronze Award
It will usually take you at least 6 months to complete your Bronze programme.
- Volunteering section: 3 months
- Physical section: 3 months
- Skills section: 3 months
- Expedition section: 2 days/1 night
You also have to spend an extra three months on one of the Volunteering, Physical or Skills sections – it’s your choice which one
Silver Award
It will take you at least 6 months for Silver if you’ve already achieved your Bronze, or 12 months if you’ve jumped straight into Silver.
- Volunteering section: 6 months
- Physical and Skills sections: One section for 6 months and the other section for 3 months
- Expedition section: 3 days/2 nights
If you didn’t do Bronze, you’ll need to undertake a further 6 months in either the Volunteering or the longer of the Physical or Skills sections.
Gold Award
For Gold, you’ll need to do your programme for at least 12 months if you’ve achieved your Silver Award, or 18 months if you’ve started at Gold level without doing your Silver – even if you’ve done Bronze. The big difference at Gold is you’ll also do a Residential section – staying away from home for five days and four nights doing a shared activity with people you don’t know.
- Volunteering section: 12 months
- Physical and Skills sections: One section for 12 months and the other section for 6 months
- Expedition section: 4 days/3 nights
- Residential section: Undertake a shared activity in a residential setting away from home for 5 days and 4 nights.
If you didn’t do Silver, you must undertake a further 6 months in either the Volunteering or the longer of the Physical or Skills sections.
We don’t run Gold expeditions but there’s plenty of organisations who’ll help you out. Before heading off on your residential section, you’ll need to get approval from us to ensure it’s suitable.
