Duke of Edinburgh's Award
Summary for new participants and parents
To gain your Award, you need to complete all four sections shown below. The timings shown are for the Bronze Award.
Skills (three or six months)*
- Any skill which involves your hands and / or brain. E.g. music, art, crafts, drama, costume-making, jewellery-making, shooting, video-making, languages, cookery.
- The activity must be in addition to anything you do in normal lessons or as part of a GCSE course (e.g. Art, Music).
Physical Recreation (three or six months)*
- Any sport you participate in on a voluntary basis. E.g. rugby, hockey, aerobics, running, dance, martial arts, croquet, canoeing, riding.
- Although the Award is voluntary, you can include sports which are compulsory in school if you show commitment (e.g. to a team) and improvement.
Expedition
- Expedition training (navigation, cooking, campcraft, safety, etc.) with CCF;
- A practice expedition (two days, one night);
- An assessed expedition with a purpose, e.g. a study of one aspect of the countryside;
- A presentation of your expedition, relevant to your purpose.
Volunteering (three or six months)*
- E.g. charity fundraising, environmental work, helping with elderly, disabled, disadvantaged or younger people.
- Regular (e.g. weekly) sessions, or four full days spread across three months. E.g. two days in the Christmas holidays and two at Easter. (As long as the start and finish are at least 13 weeks apart.)
* One section must be pursued for six months, the other two sections for three months each.
What's next?
- You and your parents / guardian complete and return the enrolment form. You will then be enrolled as a member online and issued with a record book.
- Before you start one of the sections above, you need to discuss your goals with an assessor and request online approval of your proposed activity. You can then upload evidence of your progress to your online record. The assessor can be the teacher who takes you for an activity or someone out of school (not a family member). When you finish, (s)he writes a report and signs your record-book.
- Your bronze Award will take a minimum of six months to complete. You will be expected to complete the Volunteering, Skill and Physical sections before doing your expedition.
- When you have successfully completed all four sections of your record book, you will be presented with a badge and certificate.
Older pupils can move on to the Silver or Gold Award, which take longer.
