29th February 2016

The Duke of Edinburgh's Awards Scheme

This well known and respected scheme, the subject of earlier RW articles, is for people between 14 and 25 years of age and consists of individual challenges in four sections:

  • Service
  • Expeditions
  • Skills
  • Physical Recreation

There are 3 levels of award, Bronze, Silver and Gold. The key thing about all parts of the awards is that they are based on personal development and progress, rather than the achievement of specific standards. Many of the opportunities within the senior Scouting and Guiding programmes can also contribute towards a D of E award, but before starting something a member must be registered for their D of E with a local unit and has to make sure that an activity satisfies its requirements.

The Skills section of the D of E programme requires a young person to:

“… follow an activity and show progression and sustained interest over a period of time … The skill may be an existing interest or something entirely new …”.

The Programmes Handbook details a number of activities that are recognised as being suitable ‘skills’. Change ringing is one of the listed activities and the Central Council Education committee can assist in providing the information and list of sample targets. When beginning a D of E skill, the young person meets with an instructor/assessor and together they agree and record appropriate targets for the individual. Progress is periodically reviewed and targets are adjusted if necessary. The emphasis is on challenging the individual, not on precise achievements.

Further information

For further advice, or assistance to do with the ringing related awards for D of E Awards discussed here, please contact me and I will do what I can to help:

Gill Hughes Tel: 01773 823115
Email: (email)

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