The Student Room Group

The Great Big D of E Megathread

There's loads of people asking about D of E at the minute which is great! I thought we'd try and get all the questions and things in one place and people can chat about it :smile:

The Duke of Edinburgh Awards are in their 60th year now. There are three main awards- Gold, Silver and Bronze and also the Diamond Challenge to celebrate the diamond anniversary this year. For silver and bronze the categories are physical, skill, volunteering and expedition and for gold there is an extra residential one. These all have different purposes as explained on this page and each has to be completed over a set time period to get the award.

I'm sure you've all heard stories about people who loved/hated doing D of E and what they did or didn't get out of it! I'm definitely in the love it category and did all three, I love the ideas behind them too and hearing what different people get up to. My gold award was the first thing I was asked about in one of my uni interviews and whilst this definitely wasn't why I did it, it was a useful thing to be able to talk about! I did mine through school but all sorts of places run the awards, from guiding and scouts to cadets, councils and universities. If you're under 24 and want to do it sure you can find a way!

What do people think? Anyone doing D of E awards now, or have you in the past? What did you do and how did you find it? All comments, questions, chat and discussion welcome!

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Original post by furryface12
There's loads of people asking about D of E at the minute which is great! I thought we'd try and get all the questions and things in one place and people can chat about it :smile:

The Duke of Edinburgh Awards are in their 60th year now. There are three main awards- Gold, Silver and Bronze and also the Diamond Challenge to celebrate the diamond anniversary this year. For silver and bronze the categories are physical, skill, volunteering and expedition and for gold there is an extra residential one. These all have different purposes as explained on this page and each has to be completed over a set time period to get the award.

I'm sure you've all heard stories about people who loved/hated doing D of E and what they did or didn't get out of it! I'm definitely in the love it category and did all three, I love the ideas behind them too and hearing what different people get up to. My gold award was the first thing I was asked about in one of my uni interviews and whilst this definitely wasn't why I did it, it was a useful thing to be able to talk about! I did mine through school but all sorts of places run the awards, from guiding and scouts to cadets, councils and universities. If you're under 24 and want to do it sure you can find a way!

What do people think? Anyone doing D of E awards now, or have you in the past? What did you do and how did you find it? All comments, questions, chat and discussion welcome!


this sounds an interesting thread
I did my bronze in year 11 a coulple of years ago
our camping site was next to a graveyard which was near the toilets...
our practise one was a whole load better
we also walked a few miles longer than we should have (same wrong path we did for practise run which we realised was wrong but in the real thing i forgot that, and by the time it was over most of us were crying!!!!!!!!
I was meant to be doing silver but I kinda abandoned it cos I moved to college last september which doesn't do it and I don't know if I want to do the silver expedition tbh
(edited 7 years ago)
Reply 2
I'm still annoyed about mine. Did all the work for bronze and silver, but because it was during the foot and mouth era, could never do the expedition.
Original post by bizzy_penguin
this sounds an interesting thread
I did my bronze in year 11 a coulple of years ago
our camping site was next to a graveyard which was near the toilets...
our practise one was a whole load better
we also walked a few miles longer than we should have (same wrong path we did for practise run which we realised was wrong but in the real thing i forgot that, and by the time it was over most of us were crying!!!!!!!!
I was meant to be doing silver but I kinda abandoned it cos I moved to college last september which doesn't do it and I don't know if I want to do the silver expedition tbh

Good! They sound pretty typical for d of e experiences tbh, all part of the experience though I guess! Least you had toilets too, even if getting to them was maybe slightly scary :tongue: you could always look into doing one of the others when you get to uni if you still want to then? :smile:


Original post by Drewski
I'm still annoyed about mine. Did all the work for bronze and silver, but because it was during the foot and mouth era, could never do the expedition.

This sounds a complete pain! Assuming you're over the age limit now if you were in foot and mouth era, would've said finish them off separately otherwise. Annoying to do the work and not get the recognition for it, the expeditions are the best (and possibly worst :lol:) bits too!
Original post by furryface12
Good! They sound pretty typical for d of e experiences tbh, all part of the experience though I guess! Least you had toilets too, even if getting to them was maybe slightly scary :tongue: you could always look into doing one of the others when you get to uni if you still want to then? :smile:

This sounds a complete pain! Assuming you're over the age limit now if you were in foot and mouth era, would've said finish them off separately otherwise. Annoying to do the work and not get the recognition for it, the expeditions are the best (and possibly worst :lol:) bits too!


lol, I'd be worried if I was over 25 :tongue: :biggrin: I'm 17 atm, so will hopefully still have time to find somewhere before aged 25.
I don't think the vocational college I go now to offer it,
I was meant to do silver in Year 12 last year at sixth form which everyone who wanted to do it had a meeting about, and it was never mentioned again. (I'd paid at the end of year 11, so my Sport section for silver is complete, but not volunteering or skills
yes the expeditions were pretty fun, though exhausting:tongue:
but it would mean the teachers at my old sixth form would be assessors but they said it cpuld be transferred to the new assessors at my new college, if they offered D of E.
Original post by bizzy_penguin
lol, I'd be worried if I was over 25 :tongue: :biggrin: I'm 17 atm, so will hopefully still have time to find somewhere before aged 25.
I don't think the vocational college I go now to offer it,
I was meant to do silver in Year 12 last year at sixth form which everyone who wanted to do it had a meeting about, and it was never mentioned again. (I'd paid at the end of year 11, so my Sport section for silver is complete, but not volunteering or skills
yes the expeditions were pretty fun, though exhausting:tongue:
but it would mean the teachers at my old sixth form would be assessors but they said it cpuld be transferred to the new assessors at my new college, if they offered D of E.

I meant Drewski but yeah, know you're not :tongue: oh okay, yeah. You have plenty of time though as you say! It can be changed over whenever or you can restart or go straight to gold, there's lots of different options :smile: good luck!
Original post by furryface12
There's loads of people asking about D of E at the minute which is great! I thought we'd try and get all the questions and things in one place and people can chat about it :smile:

The Duke of Edinburgh Awards are in their 60th year now. There are three main awards- Gold, Silver and Bronze and also the Diamond Challenge to celebrate the diamond anniversary this year. For silver and bronze the categories are physical, skill, volunteering and expedition and for gold there is an extra residential one. These all have different purposes as explained on this page and each has to be completed over a set time period to get the award.

I'm sure you've all heard stories about people who loved/hated doing D of E and what they did or didn't get out of it! I'm definitely in the love it category and did all three, I love the ideas behind them too and hearing what different people get up to. My gold award was the first thing I was asked about in one of my uni interviews and whilst this definitely wasn't why I did it, it was a useful thing to be able to talk about! I did mine through school but all sorts of places run the awards, from guiding and scouts to cadets, councils and universities. If you're under 24 and want to do it sure you can find a way!

What do people think? Anyone doing D of E awards now, or have you in the past? What did you do and how did you find it? All comments, questions, chat and discussion welcome!

I'll drop in here to say I'm happy to answer any and all questions. I'm a Bronze and Silver holder and a Gold participant.
Reply 7
Do you think tutoring my brother for his sats could count towards my volunteering aspect of my bronze DofE?
Original post by sofiaw.x
Do you think tutoring my brother for his sats could count towards my volunteering aspect of my bronze DofE?

Id ask the people running the d of e to find out for definite.
How about volunteering at a local brownies/guides group? I know you can do that as part of your d of e.
Original post by sofiaw.x
Do you think tutoring my brother for his sats could count towards my volunteering aspect of my bronze DofE?

Who'd be your assessor?
Reply 10
Original post by sofiaw.x
Do you think tutoring my brother for his sats could count towards my volunteering aspect of my bronze DofE?



Depends because while it is your own time, you would need someone to sign it off and it can't be your parents. Maybe see if your brother's teacher at school might be willing to help.
(edited 5 years ago)
Original post by sofiaw.x
Do you think tutoring my brother for his sats could count towards my volunteering aspect of my bronze DofE?


No -
Hi,
Im currently searching for a Gold Duke of Edinburgh residential. Ideally I would rather not pay any more than £150 if possible. Any suggestions?
Thanks
Hi, can anyone help me to create a meal plan for my Silver DofE? I was thinking of just add water porridge for breakfast (I'll put it in sandwich bags to take less space) and JAW rice sachets for tea. Snacks would be flapjacks and dried fruit with a packet of sweets for the last day (the sweets would be a large enough packet for my whole team, as a morale booster). I need ideas for lunches as the crackers and babybels i had for practice didn't properly fill me. I can't have anything that will melt in 27 degrees Celsius/80.6 Fahrenheit or higher as we're expeditioning in Summer. Help?
Reply 14
Original post by Historystudent5
Hi,
Im currently searching for a Gold Duke of Edinburgh residential. Ideally I would rather not pay any more than £150 if possible. Any suggestions?
Thanks


Whilst I can't help you i'm going to bump this thread and hope someone else can! :biggrin:
Reply 15
My assessor says I need 2/3 sections completed to go to the expedition. Is he lying or do I not need 2 completed?
Reply 16
Original post by onlynsd
My assessor says I need 2/3 sections completed to go to the expedition. Is he lying or do I not need 2 completed?


u do have to complete them
(edited 5 years ago)
Reply 17
Original post by onlynsd
My assessor says I need 2/3 sections completed to go to the expedition. Is he lying or do I not need 2 completed?



btw I've done d of e so ik
(edited 5 years ago)
Reply 18
Oh, so if I don't I can't go and I fail?

u do have to complete them
Original post by onlynsd
My assessor says I need 2/3 sections completed to go to the expedition. Is he lying or do I not need 2 completed?



At our school you can do the expedition no matter how many sections you have completed, you have until you’re 25 to complete it all! But I guess it could be down to your individual school as to wether they allow you or not
(edited 5 years ago)

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