Award Sections

The Physical section of the Duke of Edinburgh (DofE) Award is all about improving your fitness, health, and performance in a physical activity. The aim of this section is to inspire young people to achieve greater physical fitness and a healthy lifestyle through participation and improvement in sport or a physical activity of their choice.

For Bronze, you must complete your physical activity for 3 months (or 6 months if you choose to spend 3 months on the other sections).

For Silver, you must complete one section (either physical or skill) for 6 months and the other section for 3 months.

If you did not do Bronze, you need to do an extra 6 months of either volunteering, or the longer of the physical or skills section. 

For Gold, you must complete one section (either physical or skill) for 12 months and the other section for 6 months.

Skills is about developing personal interests, and practical and social skills. Throughout the section, you should keep learning and get better at your activity.

From podcasting to playing an instrument, fine art to web design, cookery to learning to drive, the sky’s the limit!

For Bronze, you must complete your skill section for 3 months (or 6 months if you choose to spend 3 months on the other sections).

For Silver, you must complete one section (either physical or skill) for 6 months and the other section for 3 months.

If you did not do Bronze, you need to do an extra 6 months of either volunteering, or the longer of the physical or skills section. 

For Gold, you must complete one section (either physical or skill) for 12 months and the other section for 6 months.

Click here to find out more about the Duke of Edinburgh award skills section. 

Volunteering is about making a meaningful contribution in your community, influencing change and shaping the world you want to live in.

You should look for an activity that is meaningful to you. You can volunteer alone or in a team, in person or online.

For more volunteering ideas, click here. 

For Bronze, you must complete your volunteering section for 3 months (or 6 months if you choose to spend 3 months on the other sections).

For Silver, you must complete oyour volunteering section for 6 months.

If you did not do Bronze, you need to do an extra 6 months of either volunteering, or the longer of the physical or skills section. 

For Gold, you must complete your volunteering section for 12 months.

This flowchart gives an overview of the steps involved for a young person to complete their Expedition section.

Team: Participants form a team of between four and seven.

Aim: The team will agree their expedition aim.

Training: Bronze participants will undertake a training session in school to learn the required navigation, camp, and first aid skills, and to cover key Health and Safety messages. Bronze and Silver participants will also have an in-school refresher on key information in the week before their expeditions. Participants should also begin physical and fitness training outside of school for their practice (if Silver) and qualifying expeditions.

Paperwork: Before undertaking expeditions, participants will need to provide up-to-date medical information and parental/carer consent.

Practice Expedition (Silver): Practice expeditions will be followed by reflection and additional training to fully prepare participants for their qualifying expedition.

Planning and Preparation: Each team will ensure they have everything in place for their qualifying expedition including paperwork, a project aim, and route cards.

First Contact and Assessor’s Pre-Expedition Check: The Accredited Assessor will discuss the proposed route with the team, provide any local information that may be helpful and once agreed, approve the route. The Assessor will meet the team in the expedition area on the morning of the expedition. 

Qualifying Expedition: Once fully prepared the team will undertake their expedition, which will be remotely supervised and observed by their DofE Accredited Assessor. The Supervisor and Assessor will meet the team from time to time, keeping intrusion to a minimum, ensuring the team’s safety and that the DofE’s 20 conditions are being met.

Debrief: At the end of the expedition the Assessor will conduct an oral debrief with the team. This is an opportunity to congratulate the team and help them to review their expedition.

Presentation (Silver): Paticipants will deliver a short presentation (5 minutes) on their expedition aim to DofE staff upon their return to school. This can take a number of formats and will be discussed with the participants prior to the qualifying expedition.

The Bronze expedition consists of 1 night camping and 2 days walking.

The Silver expedition consists of 2 nights camping and 3 days walking.