The Duke of Edinburgh’s Award

TKASA DofE Coordinator: Mr R Swaine

We are pleased to offer all three levels of The Duke of Edinburgh’s Award at TKASA. 

Bronze for students in Year 9 and above and takes six to nine months to complete.
Silver for students in Year 10 and above and takes about a year.
Gold for students aged 16+ and takes about 18 months. 

The Duke of Edinburgh’s Award is a great chance for students to broaden their horizons, discover new interests and talents, have fun with friends, develop essential skills for their future and achieve an internationally renowned Award. The DofE is non-competitive and open to all young people – it's about setting personal challenges and pushing personal boundaries.
Through their DofE, students will make friends and memories and build traits like confidence, resilience and self-esteem, which can benefit mental health. They’ll gain skills and attributes for work and life, like problem-solving, team-working and self-motivation – and they’ll achieve an Award that’s recognised by top employers and can help them stand out when applying for uni or jobs.
Every young person’s DofE programme is personal to them – they can choose what they’d like to do for their Skills, Volunteering and Physical sections, and most activities can count. We will provide guidance and support, and students can either choose to continue an activity they already do or discover something completely new.

Activities for each section take a minimum of one hour a week over a set period of time, so they can fit around studying, hobbies and social lives.

For more information about Skills, Volunteering and Physical sections please click below.

Expedition

The Expedition section involves working as part of a small team to plan their expedition’s aim, choose a location and do some training to make sure they're fully prepared – before spending two days and one night (Bronze Level) in the countryside. Ahead of this, they will take part in a weekend training day in school covering basic expedition principles and introducing them to expedition equipment.  There will also be a practice expedition as well as a number of training sessions in which your child and their group will plan their route and prepare. Participants will only be able to do their expedition if they attend the organised training.

Expedition Dates and Training 2023-2024

Bronze Award
Training Weekend: Saturday, 16th March (training) and Sunday, 17th March 2024 (walk) Letter 1/03/24
Expedition Practice: Saturday, 20th April to Sunday, 21st April 2024
Expedition Qualifying: Saturday, 18th May to Sunday, 19th May 2024

Silver and Gold Award
Silver and Gold Expedition Practice - Amended dates Wednesday, 19th June to Friday, 21st June 2024
Silver and Gold Expedition Qualifying - Friday, 5th July to Tuesday, 9th July 2024

eDofE and the DofE app

Participants can create their DofE programme and record their progress using eDofE, the DofE’s digital system, available online at eDofE.org and through the DofE app – downloadable for free from Google Play and the App Store.
Once enrolled, we will set up their eDofE account and they will receive details of how to sign in and get started.

Cost

Payments made via Weduc
The cost of the award includes the cost of the expeditions and a non refundable £50 for the participation place
The participant’s participation Welcome Pack will be sent to their home address and includes their personalised DofE Discount Card. The cost also includes a levy fee set by Somerset County Council who are the operating authority for DofE in Somerset.

Bronze Award - £125 - Bronze Letter(2023/2024)
Silver Award - £175 - Silver Letter(2023/2024)
Gold Award - £195 - Gold Letter(2023/2024)

Residential – Gold Award only
Participants need to participate in residential activity which may incur additional costs.  This is down to the individual.

Financial help
If the cost of taking part is prohibitive, please consider applying to the Somerset Duke of Edinburgh’s Award Committee Bursary Fund - click here to download the application form. For more information please speak to Mrs Williams, Learning Resources Manager.

If you have any questions about The Duke of Edinburgh Award at TKASA please contact us via the Contact TKASA DofE button.

To Enrol
Complete the appropriate enrolment form (see tabs below)
Payments are made via Weduc app