Duke of Edinburgh

The Duke of Edinburgh Awards Scheme is a nationally recognised award which is viewed highly by both universities and employers alike. At Bradford Girls’ Grammar School we give all girls in Year 10 the opportunity to take part in this scheme which they can then continue into sixth form.

There are three levels of the award, Bronze, Silver and Gold. At the age of 14 or above students are able to participate in the Bronze award.

The Bronze Award

In order to complete the Bronze award students must complete 3 months of the three sections with one of the sections being taken for a further 3 months. The three sections are:-

• Physical
• Volunteering
• Skills

In addition to these components, students must train for and complete one practice and one assessed expedition. At Bronze level these are two day, one night expeditions in which students are expected to navigate, camp and cook for themselves. They are also expected to carry all the equipment that they need. Students are also expected to plan their routes for these expeditions.

Bronze Award Timescales:

Volunteering	Physical	Skills	Expedition
3 months	3 months	3 months	Plan, train for and undertake a 2 day, 1 night expedition.
All participants must undertake a further 3 months in the Volunteering, Physical or Skills sections.

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The Silver Award

The next step up from Bronze… students will need to be at least 15 to start doing their Silver DofE programme.

As with Bronze, the Silver DofE programme has 3 sections, Volunteering, Physical and Skills. Students will need to do at least 6 months Volunteering and a minimum of 6 months on either Physical or Skills and 6 months on the other.

In addition to these components, students must train for and complete one practice and one assessed expedition. At Silver level these are three day, two night expeditions in which students are expected to navigate, camp and cook for themselves.

Silver Award Timescale:

Volunteering	Physical	Skills	Expedition
6 months	One section for 6 months and the other section for 3 months		Plan, train for and undertake a 3 day,  2 night expedition.
Direct entrants must undertake a further 6 months in either the Volunteering or the longer of the Physical or Skills sections.

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The Gold Award

The Gold Duke of Edinburgh programme takes 18 months to complete and pupils must be at least 16.  There are five sections to the Gold Award:

• Volunteering
• Physical
• Skills
• Expedition
• Residential

Students spend 12 months on their Volunteering section. For Physical and Skills students must spend 12 months on one and six months on the other – they decide which way round to do it. The expedition will be for four days and three nights (plus an acclimatisation day) and in the past had taken place in the Lake District, or Yorkshire Dales.

The big difference at Gold is that students also complete a Residential section – staying away from home for five days and four nights doing a shared activity with young people from across the country. It is great fun and a real chance to do something different!

Volunteering	Physical	Skills	Expedition	Residential
12 months	One section for 12 months and the other section for 6 months		Plan, train for and undertake a 4 day, 3 night expedition.	Undertake a shared activity in a residential setting away from home for 5 days and 4 nights.
Direct entrants must undertake a further 6 months in either the Volunteering or the longer of the Physical or Skills sections.

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Further information can be found at: www.dofe.org