The Duke Edinburgh’s International Award is an internationally recognized program for young people, building their skills to equip them for life and work. By creating opportunities for young people to develop skills, get physically active, give service and experience adventure, the Award can play a critical role in their development.

The Duke of Edinburgh’s International Award is a global award that allows young people to determine what they are passionate about, regardless of their background, culture or access to resources.

There are links at the bottom of this page to DofE in the UK and Canada.

The FRAMEWORK

There are three levels of programme you can do which, when successfully completed, lead to a Bronze, Silver or Gold Duke of Edinburgh’s Award.

There are four Sections of activities for all Award levels, plus a Gold Project at the Gold.

GIVE BACK

Through the Service section you can volunteer in your community, meet people and see how your service benefits those around you. Volunteering over a period of time enables you to meet people within the community whom you might not otherwise engage with and realize the positive impact you can make to your community. It can also help improve skills such as team work, communication and self-confidence.

FIND YOUR GENIUS

Through the Skills section you can develop your personal interests, as well as practical and social skills.You could choose to improve on an existing skill or try something new. This section is all about trying and learning something, getting better at it and giving yourself a sense of achievement and well being. Colleges, universities and employers like to see that you have life skills too!

BREAK A SWEAT

The Physical Recreation section of the Award encourages you to improve your health and fitness, whatever your starting point. You could choose to do a team sport, solo sport or any healthy activity. It could be something you already do regularly, have tried before or something completely new to you. The Physical Recreation section should make you feel healthy and happy, and should help you build valuable team skills, self-esteem and confidence. It’s also great fun!

Get Wild & Explore

For the Adventurous Journey section you’ll need a sense of adventure and discovery as you go on a team journey, expedition or exploration. You’ll have the opportunity to learn more about the environment, as well as develop self-confidence, team work and optimize your health. It is a tough challenge and you might be taken out of your comfort zone for a bit but you will be safe with suitable training and supervision, and you won’t regret it.

Go away, explore, discover

For the Gold Project section you’ll need a sense of adventure and discovery as you go on a team journey, expedition or exploration. It will involve you undertaking a shared activity or specific course with people you don’t know that will build on a talent you’ve developed in another section, learn something completely new on an intensive course or do something to help others. It’s a big, exciting and very fulfilling experience that will leave you with a great sense of achievement.

The main differences between them are the minimum length of time they take to complete, how challenging they are and the minimum age you can start.

DofE in Canada

DofE in Germany

DofE in New Zealand

DofE in the United Kingdom

Home - The Duke of Edinburgh's AwardThe Duke of Edinburgh's Award is the world's leading youth achievement award, with over 438,000 young people currently doing their DofE in the UK.