¶ DofE Gold Award
¶ 🔍 Overview
The DofE Gold Award is the final award that the Duke of Edinburgh Scheme offers and is often the starting point for youth looking to challenge themselves.
📌 Who is it for? Anyone aged 16-24. If you're in England & Wales, you must be at least Year 11.
📌 How does it link to Scouts? It closely aligns with the King Scout Award, meaning you can complete both awards simultaneously using the same activities.
📌 Why should you do it? It's the final award in the DofE award scheme. It helps you develop resilience, teamwork, and confidence; it looks great on university applications and job interviews! You also get to meet the Duke of Edinburgh.
¶ ☑️ Requirements
Preparation:
- Volunteering: 12 months
- Physical: 3/6 months
- Skills: 3/6 months
If you haven't completed your DofE Silver, you must complete an additional 6 months in one of the Volunteering/Physical/Skills section, even if you completed your DofE Bronze
- Depending on your chosen time frame, you must do the same activity for at least 12, 24, or 48 weeks. You'll need to show ongoing commitment at least one hour per week. One of the Physical/Skills sections must be 6 months.
- Weeks can be missed (i.e. illness), but you cannot count this; you need to show commitment over time. This means a three-month section can take five months
- Get your activity approved by your DofE leader and select an assessor.
Note: Assessors cannot be family members and must have experience in the activity you're doing (i.e. Physical, football coach)
I did Charity Retail (Volunteering), IBM Skills Build (Skills), and Gym (Physical), which is currently leading me to achieve the Gold DofE.
Training:
- Attend mandatory training
- Plan your practice expedition route with your team.
- Plan a hot meal to cook as a team (mandatory)
- Complete a practice project.
Walking guidelines:
- Distance: 17-20km per day (total: 34-40km minimum)
Team Size:
- 4-7. Anything below three team members will be a failure for safety.
Note: This is required, as the expedition environment will be considerably difficult, and you must put your skills to use to develop them.
Preparation:
- Plan your route with your team.
- Plan a hot meal to cook as a team (mandatory)
- Complete a team project.
Walking guidelines:
- Distance: 17-20km per day (total: 68-80km minimum)
Team Size:
- 4-7. Anything below three team members will be a failure for safety.
You will use an Ordnance Survey map, a navigational compass, and a copy of your route to navigate. You will be supervised remotely, and there will be water breaks along your journey.
Tip: Don't choose the most straightforward route because you'll get it rejected most of the time. Keep a mental note of your last location on your expedition at regular intervals, just in case you get lost. You can go back to this point.
The Residential section is unique to the DofE Gold Award and is a fantastic opportunity to meet new people, gain independence, and develop teamwork skills in a new environment.
You must spend at least 5 days and 4 nights away from home with people you don’t already know, working towards a shared goal. Staying with friends/family doesn't count.
You must get your residential approved by your DofE leader before booking. Choose a residential which interests you!
¶ ⌚ Example Timeline
This is a suggested timeline I made based on my personal experience. Your progress may vary depending on when you start each section.
- 0-6 months: Join DofE/Start Activity
- 6-7 months: Achieve Physical Section
- 7-9 months: Achieve Skills Section
- 9-13 months: Achieve Expedition and Residential Section
- 14-15 months: Achieve Volunteering Section
- 15-16 months: Achieve DofE Gold
¶ 🧠 Lessons Learned
- Blisters hurt really bad. This can end your expedition early, so prevent them before they become a problem!
- It may seem better to skip one week; do not do this and get stuck in!
- Stretching will help reduce pain and lower the chance of injury.
- Cleaning up with cold water sucks; bring a scouring pad and some washing-up liquid.
- Take part in navigation together and double-check each other.
- Your feet may ache like crazy; massage them when you can on your breaks, and this can reduce the pain.
¶ 📚 Helpful Resources
- Why should you do the DofE?
- DofE for Newbies
- Dealing with Blisters on your DofE Expedition
- Packing your DofE Rucksack
- What to Eat on a DofE Expedition
- Doing your DofE experience on a budget