The Duke of Edinburgh's Award
Welcome to the Duke of Edinburgh's Award information page. We currently offer the opportunity for students to achieve Gold, Silver and Bronze Awards during their time at The Ashcombe School.
Bronze Award 2025/2026
The Ashcombe School is offering the Bronze Award to Year 10 for 2025/2026.
- Bronze Groups of 7 (mixed boys and girls) to be submitted by February half-term 2026 or they will be automatically allocated
- Please remember that Bronze Assessed Expeditions are during Activities Week (13th to 17th July 2026), so participants will only do 4 days Work Experience
- Groups should choose from Sunday 12th/Monday 13th July expedition OR Friday 17th/Saturday 18th July.
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Route training sessions will run at 3.20pm on Wednesdays, Thursdays and Fridays throughout May 2026.
Dates for the Diary
Final Payment: 28th May 2026
TRAINING DAYS:
Friday 17th October 2025 (INSET day) and Saturday 18th October 2025
Attendance on BOTH DAYS is required
Qualifying Expeditions: Sunday 12th July to Monday 13th July 2025 OR Friday 17th July to Saturday 18th July 2026. Participants can choose the date of their expedition, but the cohort must be divided in half so once an expedition is full, participants will have to join the other.
Route planning sessions will run on Wednesdays , Thursdays and Fridays at 3.20pmpm throughout May 2026.
There are five payment deadlines:
Deposit (non-returnable) - £40: noon Friday 23rd May 2025
Payment 1 - £50: noon Friday 27th June 2025
Payment 2 - £50: noon Friday 26th September 2025
Payment 3 - £50: noon Friday 2nd January 2026
Payment 4 - £40: noon Friday 29th May 2026
Take a look at the Information Evening presentation for Bronze Award.
Bronze Award May 2025 Information Presentation
Silver Award 2025/2026
The Ashcombe School is offering the Silver Award to Year 11 for 2025/2026.
Dates for the diary
Final Payment: Friday 27th February 2026
Practice Expedition: Thursday 25th September to Saturday 27th September 2025
Route planning: Wednesdays, Thursdays and Fridays at 3:20pm throughout September 2025 in R40
Qualifying Expedition: Thursday 26th March to Saturday 28th March 2026
Route planning: Wednesdays, Thursdays and Fridays at 3.20pm in January in R40
There are five payment deadlines:
Deposit (non-returnable) - £40 noon Tuesday 23rd July 2025
Payment 1 - £77.50: noon Friday 5th September 2025
Payment 2 - £77.50: noon Friday 31st October 2025
Payment 3 - £77.50: noon Friday 28th November 2025
Payment 4 - £77.50: noon Friday 27th Feb 2026
Gold Award 2025/2026
The Ashcombe School is offering the Gold Award to Year 12 for 2025/2026.
Expeditions
All participants will take part in the Practice Expedition in Snowdonia:
Practice Expedition: Wednesday 29th April – Sunday 3rd May 2026
However, not all students will complete the school-organised Qualifying Expedition due to a clash with the Tanzania trip. The school-led Qualifying Expedition will take place in The Lake District on the following dates:
Qualifying Expedition: Monday 13th – Friday 17th July 2026
Students wishing to complete both the Tanzania trip and the Gold DofE are encouraged to register as usual. They will take part in training and the practice expedition but will need to complete their Qualifying Expedition through an external Approved Activity Provider (AAP).
We will support students and families in identifying a suitable AAP. The cost of the school-led programme will be reduced for these students, as it will not include the Qualifying expedition.
Information
Documents in folders containing the word 'letter' or 'minute' are listed in the order they were uploaded, most recent upload at the top. Otherwise, documents are listed alphabetically.
