THE DUKE OF EDINBURGH'S AWARD

The Duke of Edinburgh's Award is open to young people aged 14-24. Experience Outdoors operates as part of the City of Edinburgh Council's license to deliver the Award programme at all levels. Based in the Bangholm Outdoor Centre in Edinburgh the DofE Unit supports 44 DofE Centres across the city including 21 out of the 23 secondary schools. So, if you are looking to start your award's journey, there will be a Centre in your local learning community.

There are three levels of the programme you can do which, when completed, lead to a Bronze, Silver or Gold Duke of Edinburgh’s Award. The main differences between the levels are the minimum length of time they take to complete, how challenging they are and the minimum age you can start.

The award levels sectioned which build into a holistic, progressive, self-development programme. Activities for each DofE section take a minimum of one hour a week over a set period to complete so that they can fit in around academic study, hobbies and social lives. The participants set goals at the start of each section, so they can track their progress and reflect on their success before moving on to the next part. All participants must complete the activities before their 25th birthday.

Experience Outdoors have an events section on this website where you can learn more and book your award course. Visit the awards and achievements events section to explore our current courses. Our recent course has included the residential gold award in snow sports which takes place at our Lagganlia Outdoor Centre near Aviemore and the Wildlife of Scotland gold award tour which takes in Scotland's west coast based at our Benmore Outdoor Centre before travelling to Lagganlia for the second part of the tour, a truly unique course.

Each DofE Award is a unique journey where young people develop through completing diverse activities that can be outside their comfort zone to help them build confidence and resilience.

To get involved visit our events page or enquire using the form. If you would like more information on the wider DofE Awards, visit The Duke of Edinburgh's Award Website +


AWARD LEVELS

Bronze

DofE Bronze Award Diagram

  • For those aged 14+ years
  • Volunteering section - three months 
  • Physical section - three months 
  • Skills section - three months 
  • Expedition section - two days and one night 
  • You also have to do three more months in one of the Volunteering, Physical or Skills sections.

Silver

DofE Silver Award Diagram
  • For those aged 15+ years 
  • Volunteering section - six months 
  • Physical and Skills sections - one section for six months and the other section for three months 
  • Expedition section - three days and two nights 
  • If you didn’t do Bronze, you must undertake a further six months in either the Volunteering or the longer of the Physical or Skills sections.

Gold

DofE Gold Award Diagram
  • For those aged 16+ years 
  • Volunteering section - 12 months 
  • Physical and Skills sections - one section for 12 months and the other section for six months 
  • Expedition section - four days and three nights 
  • Residential section - undertake a shared activity in a residential setting away from home for five days and four nights
  • If you didn’t do Silver, you must embark on a further six months in either the Volunteering or the longer of the Physical or Skills sections.