Gold Duke of Edinburgh

Here at Ashton Sixth Form College you can complete your Duke of Edinburgh Gold Award. Many participants describe it as a life-changing changing experience through adventures, caring for others and being creative. It's all about pushing personal boundaries, gaining new skills and meeting new people. The award will help you develop skills highly sought after by universities and employers as well as providing you with incredible experiences outside of your normal college routine.

Even if you've never completed any previous levels of the Duke of Edinburgh Award you can directly complete your Gold Award at Ashton Sixth Form and we also welcome those with previous Duke of Edinburgh levels.

Overcoming the challenges DofE Gold faced me was fulfilling and moreover, the people I met on this experience have become great friends of mine and it was fantastic to share this experience with them

Throughout your time with us, you will be supported by our DofE coordinator, based within the college.

 

Timescales

At Ashton, we offer two pathways to the Gold Award; Fast track and Direct Entry.

  • Fast track is a 12-month programme for students who have already achieved their Silver Award.
    Fast track Timescales: 12 months 12 months 6 months
  • Direct Entry allows students who have not yet completed their Bronze or Silver Awards to go straight to achieving their Gold Award by following an 18-month programme.
    Direct entry timescales: 18months 12months 6 months

Volunteering

Physical

Skills

Expedition

Residential

 

 12 months

One section for 12 months and the other section for 6 months

Plan, train for and undertake a 4 day, 3 night expedition.

 Undertake a shared activity in a residential setting away from home for 5 days and 4 nights.

Direct entrants must undertake a further 6 months in either the Volunteering or the longer of the Physical or Skills sections.

Volunteering, either for fast track or direct entry, must be completed over the 12-month timescale. If you are direct entry, you can add your additional 6 months to volunteering too, making it 18 months.

 

Skills, Physical and Volunteering

  • You must spend 12 months (1 hour per week) volunteering.
  • You must complete a regular (1 hour per week) physical activity.
  • Spend at least an hour a week on learning a new skill.

Students will be expected to make their own arrangements for these sections although this could involve participation in an existing enrichment or activity either at college or at a club you already attend (running, judo, chess etc). These can be backdated to your initial registration and our in-college coordinator will help you choose suitable activities and help you gather evidence.

Volunteering Ideas

Physical Ideas

Skill Ideas

 

Residential

You will need to undertake a five-day residential as part of the Gold Award. The Residential can be of your choice, but you will need to be away from home for 5 days and 4 nights with people you don’t already know.

Residential Ideas

Find some residentials here: https://www.dofe.org/opportunity-finder/opportunity-for-dofe-participant/?paged=1&type_opp=residential&level=gold

 

Expedition

You will take part in a four-day expedition, which will take place in ‘wild country’. This will be run by a fully qualified expedition leader, and over the award, they will work with you to prepare you for your expedition. This will include training sessions, a practice expedition and the qualifying four-day expedition. You will be given the dates for the practice and qualifying expeditions when applications open so you can confirm you are able to attend.

Whilst at most centre’s you are only given the opportunity to complete your expedition on foot, here at Ashton Sixth Form College we offer you the opportunity to canoe based on interest.

 

Assessor reports

Assessor reports must be completed by your chosen assessor when you come to the end of completing your section. Every section and question must be completed accurately for it to be approved. This can be done through the following ways:

  • Your assessor can complete your report online by following this link. They will need your DofE ID number, the section they are assessing and your award level. Link here: https://www.dofe.org/assessor
  • Your assessor can complete the assessor reports that you receive through the post. This can be completed by hand where you will then upload a clear photograph of this and upload it as your assessor report. If you misplace your assessor reports you can find them below.

Assessor Report Cards

 

Cost

Our Duke of Edinburgh programme is non-profit keeping the price as low as possible for you.

The Gold programme costs £395 (£50 sign up, £175 1st instalment and £170 2nd instalment), and there is an additional fee of £50 if you choose to canoe (which is spent directly on canoe hire).

 

E-DofE

Login to eDofE here: https://edofe.org/

Alternatively, download the app on your phone.

Once you have signed up and your gold place has been purchased, you will be able to access your eDofE account. Here you will upload all your section details and keep on top of uploading your evidence for each section.

 

Contact

For further information or application packs, please contact megan.sykes@asfc.ac.uk

 

My DofE has made me realise I can be whoever I want to be.