DS1 has the opportunity to take part in the Bronze level of the Duke of Edinburgh through the school this year. I was just wondering what people’s experiences of this were and whether you felt it worthwhile / beneficial for your child. DH thinks it sounds a bit woolly, but we know that DS needs to do more extra curricular and have additional things on his CV other than exam results.

Do it if he is interested in that sort of thing but do not do it for his CV. Universities take not one jot of interest in DoE at Bronze level as it is a complete tick box exercise - they take more interest in Silver and are generally impressed by Gold.

Far better that he get up and go and volunteer off his own back (which is the best bit about the DoE in my opinion) - now that would be impressive - and he would learn a lot about himself and the world.

There is a difference between a CV and the Personal Statement for university applications.
The former has a much greater focus on experience and skills.
For the PS it's about demonstrating a passion for the subject and the ability to succeed at university level study.

For some courses like vet science and medicine or related there are specific requirements for 'work' experience.
For the vast majority any non subject related extra curricular activities are irrelevant. Music to grade 8, school captain etc etc mean very little on a PS.

Extra curricular activities, including D of E if done as it was originally intended, are valuable because of how the young person develops through the experience. So they should choose something they will be committed to and not just go through the motions.

Even when it comes to a CV they still need to be able to demonstrate the relevant skills they have gained from each experience, not just list them as hoops they have jumped through.

My DD has enjoyed DofE - she is doing Gold now. She tracked down an external provider for Bronze/Silver as school offered Cadets and she didn't want to do that. The volunteering element was quite challenging to sort out at bronze as no one would take an under 16.
If you are a family that already hikes/camps etc then it might be a bit 'more of the same' at the entry levels but some of the kids in her group had never done anything like this. Not all the Bronzes came back for Silver!

This has been discussed here lots of times. I have posted the link below to the most recent iteration of the topic. The general consensus is don't bother if you are doing it for the perceived advantage on CV/UCAS because there won't be one; if you are doing it for other reasons then sure, give it a go.



viewtopic.php?f=39&t=54831

Apologies, should have looked for past threads - was doing it while I remembered before heading off to Swindon this morning! From what I've read, and DS's and DH's lack of appetite for it, it's probably best that he just volunteers at the local preserved railway when the season starts again - for him to volunteer for anything it has to be something he's interested in, and as he wants to be a train driver that's probably a good place to start!

My DD hasn’t done DofE (wasn’t offered at school and I’m not sure she would have done it if it was). However she has done a fair bit of voluntary work of various sorts, just because she wanted to. However of lot of it has helped steer her choice of degree and quite possibly her career path, so it’s sort of worked the other way.

Whilst she wouldn’t mind ‘sleeping rough’ and could probably manage to actually cook something tasty over a campfire (I do a fair bit if cooking over fire in various ways), the walking element would be a struggle as she has foot issues. It’s not a problem day to day, but any long distance walking is not really something g she should be doing.

Just to note, the expedition doesn't have to involve walking (although this is normally the most popular type)



http://trekco.com/the-duke-of-edinburgh ... uirements/

Thanks. Though I suspect it would mean finding enough other people to do it the same way and that might be a limiting factor. She is now busy doing other stuff on top of A levels and doesn’t feel the need to do it, but it was something she thought about a couple of years ago as one of her friends has done it with an external agency.

Might be useful to someone else though.

As a general point it's worth noting that young people with permanent disabilities of whatever kind should not be excluded from D of E if it is in any way possible to make arrangements for them to participate.