From conquering challenges to personal growth and helping your community, the Duke of Edinburgh Award is a fantastic way to unlock your full potential and discover the great outdoors. 

The award consists of three medals: Bronze, Silver, and Gold. To achieve these medals, you need to complete a series of tasks that develop your personal growth, help your community, and complete an expedition. All awards should take a minimum of six months to complete.

See below the requirements and timescales for each award:

BRONZE
  • 3 months Volunteering
  • 3 months Physical
  • 3 months Skill
  • 2 days/1 night Expedition
SILVER
  • 6 months Volunteering
  • 6 months Physical
  • 6 months Skill
  • 3 days/2 nights Expedition
GOLD
  • 12 months Volunteering
  • 12 months of Physical and/or Skills (can do 6 months of one)
  • 4 days/3 nights Expedition
  • 5 days/4 nights Residential (shared activity away from home)

You can start at any level, but most people start at bronze and work their way up. Anyone can complete the DofE award regardless of gender, ability, background or location. The award is all about problem-solving, resilience, teamwork and enhancing your personal ability.

History of the Duke of Edinburgh Award

Often referred to as the DofE Award, it was founded in 1956 by Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, husband of Queen Elizabeth. This award brought the importance of life skills to youth development and was inspired by a German educationalist, Kurt Hahn. 

Philip saw a gap in the education system regarding the development of young people's skills and how they can contribute to the community. The award was born, and in its first year, 7000 boys joined, and 1000 awards were achieved.

Now, fast-forward to 2024. The award is very accessible and open to girls and boys from ages 14 to 25. An estimated 323,000 youths joined the DofE programme in 2023, dedicating 3.5 million hours of voluntary work to support their communities. 

Continuing to inspire young people, the award has gone from strength to strength in recent years and operates in 140 countries across the world, empowering young minds.

What do I need to do for my Duke of Edinburgh Award?

To complete your Duke of Edinburgh award, you need to complete 4 key sections and contribute time each week. For Gold awards, there are 5 sections with added residential placement. 

Each section offers the participant a different tool to develop skills. Below are the sections to complete and examples of how to do so.

Volunteering

The first section of the DofE award is Volunteering. You must dedicate a proportion of your time each week to helping others in the community. This could consist of tutoring, mentoring, supporting a local charity shop, helping a neighbour walk their dog, picking up the food shopping, or even helping a sports and arts organisation. Whatever you decide to do, volunteering benefits you and the community, gaining a sense of fulfilment from the good given.

Physical

The physical aspect of the DofE award is all about embracing an active lifestyle. You don’t need to be a seasoned athlete to enjoy physical activity, and it could just be as simple as swimming for one hour after school a week.

Popular choices include football, yoga, rock climbing, and Zumba. The physical award is all about enjoying exercise, so pick something you love!

Skill

Use the DofE award as an opportunity to learn a new skill or develop an existing one. You could learn a new instrument, perfect a sports trick or learn an important life skill like first aid.

Our world has endless skills waiting to be learnt, so don’t be afraid to try something new!

Expedition

Now, here's the fun part! The Expedition part of your DofE award is all about getting outside and enjoying the great outdoors! It is typically a hike where you must navigate through landscapes, forests and bridleways.

You will be working as part of a team, learning valuable survival skills. Reading a map, navigating with a compass, putting up a tent, and cooking on basic rations are all part of the fun while making memories that will last a lifetime!

Residential

The Residential aspect of your gold award is about making a meaningful contribution to a community or project. Get involved with a cultural programme, join a student exchange around the world or take part in a conservation project for the environment or animals - there are lots of options out there!

For the Gold award, you must stay overnight for four nights and five days. This could be on your own or as part of a team.

Completing your award

Congratulations you have finished the 4 tasks for the DofE award, but what's next? Once you have completed all your activities, you will need to upload all your evidence to the DofE e portal.

You will also need to provide a report from each accessor in each section and how they believe you have met your goals, progressed and enjoyed the section. 

Your DofE leader will submit your award to their licensed organisation, which will check that everything is in order. Finally you will be contacted if you have achieved the award.

If you are a Gold Duke of Edinburgh participant, you will be invited to attend a Gold Award celebration event at the Royal Palace, which is attended by a member of the Royal Family. Achieving the gold award is a big deal, and this is a chance for you to meet like-minded young people and celebrate your success!

You will also receive a gold badge or broth to wear proudly on your chest, this will be posted to you the month following your award completion. 

What comes after DofE?

Suppose you’ve achieved the highest award (gold). There are lost of opportunities to continue your success. You can continue to work with the organisation by sharing your experience on social media, fundraising for your local group, or becoming a group leader to help kids like you. 

Whatever award you have achieved, bronze, silver or gold, it is a massive achievement and will be praised when you are job hunting after school. Future universities and employers will look for many skills gained on the Duke of Edinburgh award.

A final note from us

The Duke of Edinburgh Award offers participants the chance to discover new talents, learn new skills, and work in their community safely. Wherever you are based in the UK, you can participate in the Duke of Edinburgh Award from ages 14 to 25. Feel free to get in touch with your school to see how you can get involved, ff they don’t already offer the scheme, consider setting it up - we promise you won't be disappointed!

At Attwoolls Outdoors, we support several local schools for DofE award kits. Check with your school for the updated DofE kit list needed, and come into the store to view our extensive range of hiking, walking, and camping gear. We have plenty of inspirational blogs too. Looking for more walking and hiking inspiration? Check out our other blogs on DofE kit lists.