Duke of Edinburgh Award

The DofE is non-competitive and open to all young people – it's about setting personal challenges and pushing personal boundaries. There are three levels of DofE programme which, when successfully completed, lead to a Bronze, Silver or Gold Award. Through their DofE, scholars will make friends and memories and build traits like confidence, resilience and self-esteem, which can benefit mental health. They’ll gain skills and attributes for work and life, like problem-solving, team-working and self-motivation – and they’ll achieve an Award that’s recognised by top employers and can help them stand out when applying for university or jobs. To achieve their Silver Award, participants must complete four sections: ‘skills’, ‘volunteering’, ‘physical’ and their ‘expedition’. Every young person’s DofE programme is personal to them – they can choose what they would like to do for their ‘skills’, ‘volunteering’ and ‘physical’ sections. All of these can be completed through the AGFS extra curricular programme, or outside of school. Activities for each section must take a minimum of one hour a week over a set period of time, so they can fit around studying, hobbies and social lives. For more details about programmes and timescales visit DofE.org/do. The ‘expedition’ section involves your child working as part of a small team to plan their expedition’s aim, route and meals for a three day expedition.