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The Duke of Edinburgh's Award
Beacon Academy is accredited as a licensed organisation and offers The Duke of Edinburgh's Award at Bronze, Silver and Gold level. We are proud to be one of the East Sussex providers with the largest number of students undertaking the Award.
We recognise that The Duke of Edinburgh’s Award offers young people a life changing experience: an opportunity to discover new interests and talents, set their minds to a personal challenge and gain essential skills and attributes for work life.
With support from our designated staff, each participant at Beacon Academy builds their own DofE programmes – picking their own activities and choosing which cause to volunteer for – in order to achieve a Bronze, Silver or Gold DofE Award.
Any young person between the ages of 14 and 24 can do their DofE – regardless of ability, gender or background. It isn’t a competition but rather about setting personal challenges and reaching personal goals.
At Bronze and Silver level participants will: volunteer to help a person or community, become fitter, develop new skills, plan, train for and complete an expedition and, for Gold only, work with a team on a residential activity.
It will usually take 6 months to complete your Bronze programme. The Award is made up of the following four sections:
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Volunteering: 3 months
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Skills: 3 months
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Physical: 3 months
- Expedition: 2 days / 1 night
Participants will also undertake an extra three months on either one of the Volunteering, Skills or Physical sections.
It will usually take 6 months to complete your Silver programme. The Award is made up of the following four sections:
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Volunteering: 6 months
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Skills: 3 months (please see below)
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Physical: 3 months (please see below)
- Expedition: 3 days / 2 nights
Participants will also undertake an extra three months in either the Skill or Physical sections.
Direct entrants (those who haven’t completed the Bronze Award) must undertake an additional 6 months in either the Volunteering or the longer of the Physical or Skill Sections.
For Gold, you’ll need to do your programme for at least 12 months if you’ve achieved your Silver Award, or 18 months if you’ve started at Gold level without doing your Silver – even if you’ve done Bronze. The big difference at Gold is you’ll also do a Residential section – staying away from home for five days and four nights doing a shared activity with people you don’t know.
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Volunteering section: 12 months
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Physical and Skills sections: One section for 12 months and the other section for 6 months
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Expedition section: 4 days / 3 nights
- Residential section:: Undertake a shared activity in a residential setting away from home for 5 days and 4 nights.
If you didn’t do Silver, you must undertake a further 6 months in either the Volunteering or the longer of the Physical or Skills sections.
Gold Award participants will be directed to an open expedition to complete their expedition and residential sections.
Useful links
To find out more about doing your DofE with Beacon Academy, please refer to the links below.
Do DofE: How to get started on your DofE journey
Log your progress on eDofE: For participants working towards their Award