Is DofE worth it? An honest review from a former participant
I am not here to sell you DofE. I’m not that overzealous teacher telling you that future employers’ mouths will start watering the moment they see “Silver DofE” on a CV — because they don’t. DofE is a brilliant opportunity in so many ways, but there’s no denying that it is not for everyone. So, I’m here to answer the question, from one participant to another: is DofE worth it?
Gold DofE, and to an extent Silver as well, have been known to work favourably for university and job applications — most people will find their Award fun and fulfilling too. However, if hiking and camping is something that you will simply hate every minute of, then DofE is likely not for you.
First things first…
I am not here to sell you DofE. I created this blog because I deeply believed that the internet lacked high quality advice on DofE from a former participant — not a former-participant-cum-assessor who did their DofE 30 years ago, but someone young and relatable. So, I tried to fill this gap (if you want to read more about me check out My Story).
Is DofE a good qualification?
The Bronze Award
I’m going to put this as bluntly as possible: Bronze DofE is not an exceptional standalone qualification.
By holding a Bronze DofE certificate you will likely not stand out amongst your peers. The numbers make this clear: in the 2019/20 academic year, 27.6% of all 14-year-olds in the UK started their Bronze Award (you can see the official infographic here). That is a huge proportion of 14-year-olds.
It’s also important to consider your intention. Are you starting your Award with an open mind — the sort of mindset whereby you allow yourself to be pleasantly surprised and decide to continue on to Silver? Because if not: if your intention is to do Bronze DofE without any desire or even open-mindedness to take it further to Silver and/or Gold, it may be worth reconsidering. Why is it that you are taking Bronze DofE in the first place? Is it for the qualification, or just for the lolz 🤪?
The point that I’m making is this: if you are starting Bronze DofE in order to get involved with your community, or to spend your first few nights under canvas, or even simply because the year-aboves said it was ‘jokes’, then that’s the right choice for you. But if you think that Bronze DofE alone will revolutionise your Personal Statement or land you jobs within the month, it won’t.
Treat Bronze DofE as a free trial with minimal commitment that allows you to discover whether the Award is something you’d like to take further — not as a standalone way to significantly develop your prospects for the future.
The Silver Award
Silver DofE is where the DofE qualification becomes much more impressive. It shows higher levels of commitment and the expeditions are notably tougher.
With a Silver DofE Award you can start to talk much more confidently about the transferrable skills you learned during your Award, with the qualification to back it up. Maybe you developed your problem solving skills after getting lost, with just a map and compass for navigation? Or maybe you learned how to better work in team after volunteering at a charity shop for six months?
Silver DofE has about 30% as many participants as Bronze DofE, making it a notably rarer qualification. That said, Silver DofE still does not speak for itself. Simply dumping it on your CV or Personal Statement won’t produce any wows — you need to explain what you learned and how DofE helped you to develop as a person. To learn how to do this, check out my post on How to use DofE to make your CV and Personal Statement shine.
The Gold Award
Gold DofE is an amazing achievement. There is a reason that every single person who completes their Gold Award gets invited to Buckingham Palace Gardens.
Not only does Gold have significantly fewer participants starting the award than Bronze and Silver, but the Gold Award has a completion rate of around 40%, compared to 55% for both Bronze and Silver. This statistic is a testament to the real dedication it takes to complete every single Section of Gold DofE, which can take up to 18 months.
The completion rate also further emphasises the difficulty of the Gold Expedition, which takes place in “wild country … remote from habitation”, and often involves participants attaining a much higher level of self-sufficiency, from water purification to wild camping.
While I would always recommend any DofE Award holder to especially write home about the transferrable skills they developed over the course of their Award (because this is what employers really want to see), a Gold Award is often considered impressive in isolation. Read my article on How to use DofE to make your CV and Personal Statement shine to make the most out of a Gold Award.
Does DofE look good on a CV and Personal Statement?
Of course, the answer to this question varies hugely depending on the Award. However, I promised to give you the blunt truth, and so I will.
Bronze DofE does not particularly stand out on a CV or Personal Statement. Due to the numbers of students that complete the Bronze Award each year (well over 100,000) it simply doesn’t separate you from the rest. As well as this, the shorter nature of both the Sections and the Expedition makes it harder to talk convincingly about the soft skills you learned.
Silver DofE is certainly a noteworthy qualification. Having spent at least six months volunteering, and with some real camping/hiking experience under your belt, it’s time to start talking about all the different soft skills you learnt along the way.
Gold DofE is an achievement to be really proud of. Not only can you strongly emphasise the soft skills you developed, but you can speak about the various experiences you had over your Expedition and Skills, Physical and Volunteering Sections with a much more commanding opinion. This article by the Guardian interviewed a boy who, come A Level results day, didn’t make his university offer grades. The university nonetheless contacted him to say “they wanted me to do the course as I had shown so much passion for the subject through my DofE activities.”
Is DofE fun?
I loved DofE, a lot — but my experience does not necessarily reflect that of the average person. I was fortunate enough that I didn’t have to take up any new activities for the Physical, Skill and Volunteering Sections, because I was already doing them on a weekly basis. As such, for me, the Expedition felt like the ‘real’ DofE.
This is not the experience everyone has. For some people, the hour learning to improve their finger painting skills on a Thursday after school is loathed, not looked forward to, and this will drastically affect how much you enjoy DofE.
The Sections
I cannot understate how important it is to find Physical, Skill, and Volunteering sections that you’ll enjoy and find rewarding. If you have to drag yourself to three separate weekly activities for 3, 6, or 12 months, then DofE won’t feel fun.
These activities don’t have to be groundbreaking — just find something you’ll enjoy. If possible, I highly recommend doing your Section activities with a friend or two. Suddenly finger painting on a Thursday after school with a couple of your best mates doesn’t seem so bad…
For ideas on what to do for your each of your Sections, check out my posts listed below.
What Physicals can you do for DofE? 9 original ideas you didn't know about
What Skills can you do for DofE? 8 brilliant ideas you won’t have thought of
What volunteering can you do for DofE? 7 simple ideas anyone can sign up for
The Expedition
The Expedition is what most people would associate with DofE. On Bronze, I had two one-night/two-day Expeditions (one practise, one assessment), whereas for Gold I had two four-night/five-day Expeditions, in much tougher terrain, hiking more distance each day, and with a heavier pack. Every aspect of Gold is harder than Silver, which is harder than Bronze — with the exception of how much I enjoyed it.
I enjoyed my Bronze Expeditions the least, and my Gold the most. Seems counterintuitive? I can understand why, but let me explain. On my Bronze Expedition, me and all my group were inexperienced. We got lost and didn’t know what to do. What pitched out tents poorly and our bags got damp. Those two days were a painful experience.
Compare this to my Gold Expedition, which I still look back on as one of my most enjoyable and rewarding standalone five days ever. This was for a number of reasons: firstly, the scenery was in a different league — both the Peak District and Snowdownia (where I did my Gold practise and assessment respectively) are stunning national parks, and make you appreciate the areas you’re hiking in so much more.
Secondly, we knew how it all worked. Less faff, more do. Mornings were efficient and evenings were relaxing — unlike on Bronze, when mornings were stressful and evenings were, guess what, stressful too. There is this brilliant, hard-to-describe feeling when everything starts to click, especially when you’re working as a group.
Thirdly, and possibly most importantly, the people. I am going to be harsh here, but it’s true: the people who do Bronze DofE are less cut out for an Expedition than the people who do Gold, and that makes a difference. I did Bronze DofE with a group made up of some of my best friends, but when you’re trying to navigate through a muddy field and arguing over whether to go left or right, or when someone start complaining their leg hurts but don’t do anything about it, friendships can be pushed to the edge.
The people I did Gold with, however, knew what DofE was all about. We were a group of self-selected guys who enjoyed hiking and enjoyed camping. When you get to the end of the day and can sit around the camping stove, chatting and laughing, the Expedition just feels fundamentally better.
So, in answer to the question, is DofE fun? I loved it, other people hated it. If you don’t intuitively know which side you fall, the only way to find out is by trying it. And there is no better reason to take up DofE than wanting to get a real taste of the great outdoors.
The verdict?
So, the big question, is DofE worth it? Hand-on-heart, I believe that DofE is worth it for almost all young people. When done properly it is genuinely fun, will provide a real sense of achievement, and as you progress to Silver and Gold, becomes an admirable qualification.
There are a few instances, though, in which I would advice against starting a DofE Award:
You have tried camping/hiking before and hated it — it simply wasn’t for you and this opinion is not likely to change
You are thinking of starting Bronze DofE with no intention of continuing to Silver or Gold, even if the overall experience of Bronze is better than you expect
You have no feasible options for Physical, Skill, and Volunteering sections that you’ll at least slightly enjoy (there are a huge range of activities you can do for your Sections, so this point will only truly apply to a tiny number of people)