Duke of Edinburgh's Award

For bronze, the minimum age is 14 (or 13, if in S3).

For silver, the minimum age is 15 (or 14, if in S4).

For gold, the minimum age is 16 (or 15, if in S5).

You have until you are 25 to complete your Duke of Edinburgh (DofE), so if you have never enrolled before (or you've previously enrolled and paused your DofE journey) - don't worry, there's still plenty of time.

Stages of the Award

For bronze and silver, there are 4 stages of your DofE journey. 

For gold participants, there's an additional stage called 'Residential'.

Volunteering

This stage is about choosing to give your time to help people or your community, the environment or animals. 

Activities that you are paid to do, or you do as part of your timetable at school cannot be counted as volunteering, it needs to be something extra that you give your time to that helps others. 

Physical

This stage is about getting active. You can choose any sport, dance or fitness activity - it could be something brand new to you, or something you are already involved in - for example, sports teams or running clubs. 

For this stage, it's not a fitness test and your choice of activity only needs to be a challenge for you. 

Skills

This stage is about choosing a skill you want to improve. It's about doing something that you can prove you have broadened your understanding of or improved your existing skill level in. 

There's hundreds of activities you can choose from for this stage, from cooking to playing an instrument, learning to drive to coaching. 

Expedition

This is the part of your DofE that you complete as part of a team (between four to seven people doing the same level as you). For this, your group must plan, train for and complete an unaccompanied, self-reliant expedition. 

For most groups, this will involve walking and camping outdoors, however there are options to do your expedition differently.

Residential (gold award only)

This stage is only for those undertaking their gold DofE and involves a participant undertaking a shared activity or specific course with people they don't know, in a residential setting away from home and in an unfamiliar environment for five days.

Timescales for each stage

The timescales that you do each stage for is different depending on the level you are undertaking:

• bronze is 6 months
• silver is 6 months (if you have progressed from bronze)
• gold is 12 months (if you have progressed from silver) 

If you want to learn more about the timescales go to the Duke of Edinburgh website