Duke of Edinburgh Award Scheme for Explorer Scouts and Scout Network
The Duke Of Edinburgh Award Scheme (DofE) is usually open to young people from the beginning of school year 9 (i.e. the school year in which they become 14 years of age) through to their 25th Birthday. The DofE Award Scheme forms part of the Explorer Scouts (including Young Leaders) and Scout Network programmes and as the normal minimum age for Explorer Scouts (and Young Leaders) is 13½ years of age, the Scout Association may not register participants for the DofE Bronze award until they are 13½ years of age. It is possible to register to participate in the DofE Bronze Award level while you are in school year 9 even if you are still attending Scouts and not fully transitioned to Explorer Scouts but will need to wait until reaching 13½ years of age – Don’t let this delay starting activities for the award as once you are 13½ years of age and register for the award we can update the award start date back to the beginning of the school year (1st September) so your activities towards a section of the awards undertaken prior to 13½ can then be recognised.
Some schools and local authority groups also run the DofE Award Scheme but please note it can be over £150 cheaper (and in most cases vastly more) to register for DofE and do your DofE expedition through your Explorer Scout Unit. If you are under 13½ years of age, although schools may pressure you to join through them at the start of school year 9, it will not be long before you are old enough to register for minimal charge through Scouting and have the start date backdated to the beginning of the school year (see above).
To support the Chief Scout Platinum, Chief Scout Diamond and King’s Scout Awards, which are linked closely to the Duke of Edinburgh Award Scheme Bronze, Silver and Gold Awards, all of our Explorer Scout Units are registered DofE Award Centres.
To register to participate in the DofE Award through one of our District Units please complete the Enrolment Form which is available from the Avon Scouts DofE Webpage, The registration form needs to be returned to the email address on the registration form and the payment made by BACS / electronic transfer to the bank account as specified on the registration form (cheques are no longer being accepted). Please make sure you also notify your Network or Explorer Scout Unit DofE Leader that you have registered. When completing the registration form it asks for your DofE Group – in Cotswold Edge District the DofE Group is your Explorer Scout Unit name (i.e. “Challenger ESU”, “Endeavour ESU”, “Mvumbuzi ESU”, “Nike ESU”, “Sharman ESU”, “Zeus ESU”, ) except for Phoenix ESU who must select “Thornbury ESU” (Do not select “Phoenix ESU” as there are 3 Phoenix ESUs in Avon County and you will end up registered in the wrong one!) and for anyone between 18 and 25 your DofE Group is “Cotswold Edge Network”. Even if you are still attending scouts and have turned 13½ years of age you MUST select one of the Units listed above.
If any Explorer Scout wishes to continue their DofE Award after they turn 18 years of age their registration will be transferred to the Cotswold Edge Network DofE group.
If you have registered for DofE through another organisation it is possible to transfer your registration to Scouts either while completing an award level or after completing an award level and starting the next.
Other DofE resources (including expedition registration forms, activity log sheets and activity ideas) are available from either the Avon Scouts DofE or main DofE websites. Ideas for activities that you can chose to participate in can be found in the DofE Ideas section of the DofE website.
For those who would also like the opportunity to participate in Ten Tors, you may be able to achieve at least 2 sections of the DofE award through your training for the Ten Tors event: The Ten Tors training usually includes an assessed DofE Bronze expedition (or Silver practice), the opportunity to use Keep Fit/Walking For Fitness as your Physical activity (3 or 6 months), and for those keen to learn detailed navigation use Navigation as your Skills Activity (3 months) and that only leaves the Volunteering section for which you could help at a younger section at a Scout Group as a Young Leader (for 3 or 6 months).
Please NOTE that anyone assisting at a Scout Group for their Volunteering for DofE (whether as an Explorer Scout doing DofE or anyone from an outside organisation e.g. a School) must complete the Young Leader Module A during their period of volunteering. The DofE expects that when a person Volunteers for an organisation then there is likely to be some form of training also required by the organisation – the Scout Association requires all young helpers to complete YL Module A (for Silver Level Module A and at least one other YL module and for Gold level Module A plus at least 2 other YL modules). The Module A (and other modules) completion certificate(s) must be uploaded to the participants online eDofE record before the assessor can write their assessment report for Volunteering in a Scout section (Beavers, Cubs or Scouts). Any young person wishing to volunteer at a section in Scouting must be registered with the Young Leader Unit to ensure they receive the required training. Please note that the Scout Association do not permit anyone under 13½ years of age to volunteer or assist at a section within a scout group, so although a young person may be able to register for DofE before this age (i.e. under 13½ at start of school year 9) they must wait until they are 13½ years of age before starting to volunteer (we do permit a potential volunteer to attend Module A up to 3 months before the are 13½) see our Young Leaders webpages for more information.
If you have any questions about participating in DofE through Scouts ask your Explorer Scout Unit leaders or Email: DofE cesd which will send an email to the primary DofE contacts in the District.
