Duke of Edinburgh Award

What is The Duke of Edinburgh's International Award?

As the job market continues to get more competitive and more people gain degrees, employers are looking for other means of determining the strength and quality of candidates. Each year the Award is regularly stated by graduate employers as being a definitive qualification for demonstrating that an individual has the rounded set of skills and the qualities they are looking for. The percentage of young people that actually complete and gain their Award is very low which ensures it continues to be a very prestigious achievement and means that those that complete it will stand out from the crowd!

The main reason why the Award maintains such an excellent reputation is because it requires motivation, commitment and maturity from the participants. They have to take total responsibility for all aspects of their experience.

Our teachers will offer advice but the participant must do the work and undertake the following tasks:

1. Find activities to undertake for the different sections.

2. Ensure they attend the activities.

3. Submit the required evidence to demonstrate they have undertaken the necessary activities.

What makes up the Award?

The Duke of Edinburgh's International Award consists of four sections (help with finding activities for these sections is on the following page):

1. Skill section – Young people must spend at least one hour per week learning a new life skill (outside of school lessons). There are hundreds of different activities that young people can choose from. Popular choices include music, art, drama, cooking, DJing, committee skills, graffiti art, learning to drive and sign language. Unfortunately sports cannot count for this section (even though you need to learn skills to do them), this is because sports come under the physical recreation section.

2. Service section – This section requires young people to spend at least one hour per week doing voluntary work.
This gives young people the opportunity to get out into their communities and give something back
(Note: This cannot be working for free for a commercial organisation like a hairdressers, shop, café etc).

3. Physical Recreation section – This section requires young people to spend at least one hour per week of their own time engaging in physical recreation.
It can be any form of activity and does not need to be in a team or competitive environment.

4. Adventurous Journey section – This is explained in detail in the next pages.

The Adventurous Journey is a unique opportunity for your child to experience self-reliance and team work in an outdoor environment. The length of the Adventurous Journey varies depending on the level of the Award:

Bronze Level – Adventurous Journey takes two days (one night)
Silver Level – Adventurous Journey takes three days (two nights)
Gold Level – Adventurous Journey takes four days (three nights)

For the qualifying Adventurous Journey of all Awards, the participants must complete a self-sufficient journey. This means that the participants will walk with remote adult supervision, on an agreed route, and must carry all the equipment and food they will need for the duration of their journey. Adult leaders will monitor the progress of the groups by meeting them at checkpoints. Participants will have to undertake training to ensure they have the necessary skills and knowledge for their journey.