When you decide to do your DofE, you'll pay a small fee to the DofE Charity in order to get your Welcome Pack, which includes your DofE Participation Place. This is currently:
- £16.00 for Bronze
- £16.00 for Silver
- £23.00 for Gold
If your school, club or whatever charges you more than this, it is because they include additional costs to them, such as administration costs etc. They MUST tell you of any additional costs and what they cover.
Once you've paid this fee (to your Leader), you'll get:
A Welcome Pack - one for each level containing:
- Participant's Handbook
- Assessor Guidance booklet
- Merchandise leaflet
- Welcome letter
- DofE Reward Card (previously the Cotswold card).
The Assessor Cards are four (five at Gold) simple cards (one for each section) that you can hand to your Assessor which outlines the section, what you have to do/for how long and what your Assessor needs to do to help you complete your section. It also gives your Assessor guidance on how they can submit their report to your Leader when you've completed your activity.
NOTE: From September 2013 we changed the design of the Welcome Packs. You can use whichever pack you are given. Details of the current packs can be found here.
DofE Reward Card
- 15% off all Cotswold Outdoor products both in store and online all year round. From expedition kit and waterproofs for your Expedition section, activity clothing and climbing/cycling gear etc. for your Physical section to travel bags and sunglasses for your Residential section. Find out more...
- The DofE also gets offers to help with your DofE programme like money off musical instruments, driving insurance, driving lessons, bikes and computers. Find out more.
An eDofE account
- This is your access to our fabulous online system where you can set up your DofE programme, get your choices agreed by your Leader and upload pictures of your activities in a variety of exciting formats (blogs, photos, videos). Your sign in details will be available to you once your Leader has set up your account.
- eDofE contains a variety of resources and support tools to help you through your DofE programme.
Limited personal accident insurance
An Achievement Pack
- You can create a personal Achievement Pack using the pictures you load into eDofE. Everyone receives a free pdf version and you can choose to professionally print a copy at a minimal cost. Find out more about the Achievement Pack.
A certificate and badge
- You will receive these once you complete your DofE programme and your Licensed Organisation (LO) has confirmed you have achieved your Award! You may receive these from your Leader or at a local presentation. Please note your Gold Award certificate comes from the DofE at a national presentation or by post if you prefer.
Gold Award Presentations
- On achievement of a Gold Award, you'll also receive an invitation to a national Gold Award Presentation, held at a royal palace in the presence of either HRH The Duke of Edinburgh or HRH The Earl of Wessex.
After that, the costs are up to you - how much it costs will depend on the activities you choose to do. When it comes to the Expedition section you can ask around and borrow items to keep the costs down.
Please note that the participation fee is the same, regardless of eDofE usage.