The Duke of Edinburgh's Award

We are proud to deliver The Duke of Edinburgh's Award at Queen Elizabeth's Grammar School. On this page you will find information about our programme and how to get involved.

In each of the last four years there have been more than 100 students taking part in the Bronze Award and we have had successful participants on the Gold Award too.

Please explore the expanders below for details of our programme.

Students at Queen Elizabeth's Grammar School are offered the chance to take part in The Duke of Edinburgh's Bronze Award in Year 10.

Their DofE journey is as follows;

  • Term 1 - enrol on the Award and start activity sections
  • Terms 2 & 3 - training sessions commence;
    • Expedetions & Kit
    • First Aid
    • Navigation
    • Camp craft
  • Terms 3 & 4 - participants will start to complete their activity sections
  • Term 4 - practice walk in the local area to test out their navigational skills within their groups
  • Term 5 - prepare for and complete their Practice Expedition and their Assessed Expedition
  • Term 6 - receive their certificates and badges

Timescales for activity sections;

  • Volunteering: 3 months/13 weeks
  • Physical: 3 months/13 weeks
  • Skills: 3 months/13 weeks
  • Expedition: 2 days/1 night

One of Volunteering/Physical/Skills must also have an additional 3 months to be 6 months in total. It is your choice which section you choose!

Students at Queen Elizabeth's Grammar School are offered the chance to take part in The Duke of Edinburgh's Gold Award at the start of Year 12 and finish after their A Levels in Year 13.

The Gold Award expands to 5 sections;

  • Volunteering: 12 months/52 weeks
  • Physical and Skills: One section for 12 months/52 weeks and the other section for 6 months/26 weeks
  • Expedition: 4 days/3 nights
  • Residential: Do a shared activity in a residential setting away from home for 5 days and 4 nights

To give students the best chance to focus on their A Level studies, students are advised to have their activity sections pre-arranged. It is best if they are already consistently doing them so that it does not create extra work for them.

We offer a practice expedition in July of Year 12. In 2026 our students travelled to Snowdonia for a 5 day expedition to prepare themselves for their assessed expedition.

Following this we provide students with support to access expeditions and residentials. Using the Opportunity Finder on the DofE website is a great place to start.

We are proud to deliver all of our training in house. Bronze Award participants attend training in First Aid, Navigation and Camp Craft. They are led by staff on a 10km walk to practice their navigation skills. An after school session is organised for them to practice using tents and campstoves. QE staff volunteer to support both expeditions.

Participants are able to borrow kit and equipment for their expeditions that means they do not have to buy it for themselves and then potentially not use it again;

  • Tents
  • Rucksacks
  • Camp stoves
  • Rollmats
  • Maps
  • Map cases
  • Compasses

All of the above goes a long way to ensuring that the cost of the Award is kept as low as possible. We aim to make the Award accessible for all students regardless of their circumstances, including offering financial support where appropriate.

Roles;

Mr Cowlam - LO Manager and Award Coordinator

Mr Anderson - Administrator

Mr Charlton - Award Verifier

Please email office@queenelizabeths.kent.sch.uk and mark your email as 'FAO Mr Cowlam - DofE'

The Duke of Edinburgh's Award website - LINK

Information for Parents and Carers - LINK

Finding places/organisations/clubs to do your activity sections can be difficult but the DofE website has a helpful Opportunity Finder to make things easier - LINK

Discounts available through the DofE card - LINK