The Duke of Edinburgh Award scheme is the world’s leading achievement award for young people. At Branston Community Academy we launch the Duke of Edinburgh Bronze Award in Year 9 through their assembly. It is open to all Year 9 students interested in the scheme.
The Bronze Award is made up of the following sections:
- Volunteering - 3 months
- Physical - 3 months
- Skills - 3 Months
- Expedition - 2 Days, 1 Night
- Plus a further 3 months in either the Volunteering, Physical or Skills sections
The Bronze expedition is 2 days and 1 night with 6 hours of planned activity each day, at least 3 hours must be spent travelling; there will be extensive training, route planning, a practice expedition and assessed expedition. The Expedition is run inhouse and is a walking expedition.
The training for the expedition section takes place on a Tuesday afterschool for 1 hour a week, in addition to a navigation training walk in April, an over night training day in May before the qualifying expedition in June.
More information can be found here:
Students in Year 10 may progress to their Silver Award.
The Silver Award includes the same sections as Bronze: Volunteering, Physical, Skills, and Expedition, with a commitment of one hour per week for the sections and there are still minimum timeframes for taking part; the young people will choose their longest section when they first access their Silver account.
The Expedition is 3 days and 2 nights with 7 hours of planned activity each day, at least 3.5 hours must be spent travelling; there will be a practice expedition and the assessed expedition. Training will be more rigorous than on previous levels as the locations that the students will navigate and camp in are far more challenging.
The enrolment can take place in year 10 as soon as the young person has completed their Bronze Award.
The training for the expedition section takes place on a Tuesday afterschool for 1 hour a week, in addition to a navigation training walk in April, an over night training day in May before the practise expedition that is being planned for July and the qualifying expedition in the September of year 11.
More information can be found here:
The Gold Award includes the same sections as other Awards: Volunteering, Physical, Skills, and Expedition, with a commitment of one hour per week for the sections and there are still minimum timeframes for taking part; the young people will choose their longest section when they first access their Gold account.
The Expedition is 4 days and 3 nights with 8 hours of planned activity each day, at least 4 hours must be spent travelling; there will be a practice expedition and the assessed expedition. Training will be more rigorous than on previous levels as the locations that the students will navigate and camp in are far more challenging.
The Residential Section. To earn the Gold Award, participants must complete an additional section – the Residential. This involves an exciting and rewarding experience: spending five days and four nights away from home, engaged in a shared activity with unfamiliar people.
The enrolment can take place in year 11 as soon as the young person is 16 years old and has completed their Silver Award.
We are planning to be able to deliver the expedition in house form September 2026. The proposal is for the training for the expedition section takes place on a Tuesday afterschool for 1 hour a week, in addition to a two day navigation training weekend. A Practise expedition In July at the end of year 12 and the Qualifying expedition in July at the end of year 13.
More information can be found here: