Duke of Edinburgh Award

What does the award involve?

Students need to complete four section to fulfil the requirements of the award – voluntary, skills, physical and an expedition. For Gold Award there is also a requirement to complete a 5 day residential to be organised by the student themselves.

Bronze timescales

• Volunteering section: 3 months
• Physical section: 3 months
• Skills section: 3 months
• Expedition section: 2 days/1 night
• You also have to do 3 more months in one of the Volunteering, Physical or Skills sections.

Silver timescales

• Volunteering section: 6 months
• Physical and Skills sections: One section for 6 months and the other section for 3 months
• Expedition section: 3 days/2 nights
• If you didn’t do Bronze, you must undertake a further 6 months in either the Volunteering or the longer of the Physical or Skills sections.

Gold timescales

• Volunteering section: 12 months
• Physical and Skills sections: One section for 12 months and the other section for 6 months
• Expedition section: 4 days/3 nights
• Residential section: Undertake a shared section in a residential setting away from home for 5 days and 4 nights.

For the skills, physical and voluntary section students can choose to do something which they already do, something totally new, or a mixture of both. To gain an idea of the sections possible the Duke of Edinburgh website has many ideas and further information on the award at Do your D of E

Students must be completing the sections in their own time, for example, it cannot be part of their school coursework or something they are doing in lesson time. Also, the sections need to be completed on a consistent basis, it is expected students will do an hour a week for the time allotted for the section.

How can my child sign up for the award?

To proceed with the award you will need to purchase a log book and login details for the online system eDofE. The logbook costs for April 2019 – April 2020 are below. Please note there is also a cost for the expedition and the costs for this are further down the page.

The deadline for all payments for awards in 2019-2020 is 18th October 2019

Can I get a refund if my child changes their mind?

No, the payment buys a personal log-in for your child and therefore cannot be allocated to another child.

How does my child complete each section?

The online system is the method by which all sections are monitored and assessed. It is called eDofE and students will be allocated a username and password once they receive their logbooks. Students need to get approval for each section before they start it. This will be submitted via this online system. Only once the approval has been given would we recommend a student starting a section. Students are required to update evidence for each section every week.

Why has my child not received approval for their section?

Your child may not have pressed the button to seek approval for their section and it may still be in draft form on the system. Or they many have had something queried by ourselves and need to add more information. Students need to regularly check their accounts to see if they have any messages from us.

How does my child sign-off on a section of the award?

For each section your child will need to assign an assessor, someone who can verify they have competed the section each week for approximately an hour. At the end of the section, whether 3 months or 6 months, the supervisor will be required to complete an assessors report, either on paper and scanned into eDofE or typed up via the Duke of Edinburgh Award website Assessor Page
Please be aware that parents cannot be supervisors. Staff in school can be assessors as long as they can guarantee that the section has been completed every week for an hour.

What support will my child be offered whilst completing their award?

In 2020 we will be having the following lunchtime drop-in sessions on the following dates; 7th Jan, 25th February, 21st April and 2nd June. Students are more than welcome to come and see us at lunch or break if they have any queries outside these dates. The onus is on the student to be pro-active in completing their award, part of the award is to help develop independence.

My child has forgotten their username?

The username is the first and surname of your child. This will usually have a number after dependent on how many children across the country have this name, for example JohnSmith134. Your child will need to contact the DofE administrator in the school for their username on the contact above if they have forgotten once it has been allocated.

My child has forgotten their password

Students can re-set their own passwords through the forgotten password link on this website Duke of Edinburgh Award . They will need their username or Award ID to be able to do so.

How long will it take to receive my child’s logbook once I have made the payment?

Students will receive log-ins for this once they have been registered on the eDofE system, this can take up to 6 weeks from the reply slip being handed in.

How does my child receive their certificate once they have completed the award?

It is assumed that the average student will complete the award in 12 months. The certificates for the award will be given out at the Academy Awards Evening in October the year after students signed up for the award. If students have not completed by this date the awards will be posted home once they are received in school.

What does my child need to have done before they will be able to undertake the expeditions?

Students will be required to have completed one section of their award by the end of the spring term 2020. This will involve having uploaded all evidence to the eDofE system and for it to have been signed off by ourselves. This will show a students commitment to completing their award within a reasonable time.