The Duke of Edinburgh’s Award aims to provide an enjoyable, challenging and rewarding programme of personal development for young people, which is of the highest quality and widest reach.
The Award is a programme of activities undertaken voluntarily by the young people involved, in their own free and leisure time. The Award offers a challenge to all young people aged 14 to 25 to serve others, acquire new or develop existing skills both practical and social, participate in physical activity, experience a spirit of adventure and discovery all whilst making new friends.
The scheme is non-competitive and anyone with perseverance, enterprise and effort can achieve an Award. The young people design their own programme of activities to suit their personal interests within a programme offering a wide ranging and balanced choice of activities under its sections.
There are three Awards: Bronze for those over 14, Silver for those over 15 and Gold for those over 16. Each Award is separate and a young person can either choose to progress through all three or start where they wish, depending on their age.
Each level has four common sections which are outlined below:
Service which aims to encourage service to individuals and the community.
Skills which aims to encourage the discovery and development of practical and social skills and personal interest.
Physical Recreation which aims to encourage participation and improvement in physical activity.
Expeditions which aims to encourage a spirit of adventure and discovery.
The Duke Of Edinburgh Award website
