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Duke of Edinburgh Silver award

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Comments

  • Sncjw
    Sncjw Posts: 3,541 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Photogenic Name Dropper
    I wouldn't just list d of e . I would try and write what skills you have developed while doing d of e. Don't jusybsoley rley on it. 
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  • Wyndham
    Wyndham Posts: 2,553 Forumite
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    I used to be a University admissions officer (for a 'good' University). If I was looking at an application that had the right predicted grades - in the right subject(s) - then quite honestly that was all I cared about. I didn't really read personal statements unless the student was more borderline - and yes, I know that students spend hours and a lot of angst on them! DoE may be noted, but only really in passing if the grades were right.

    Other institutions are more focussed on the rounder picture of an individual, and especially for more vocational courses then things other than grades do become more important.

    I'm not sure why the question is being asked? If it's as an 'add on' to other qualifications, or maybe even instead of them, then the circumstances really will vary as to how much notice will be taken of it.

  • TELLIT01
    TELLIT01 Posts: 17,474 Forumite
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    I certainly wasn't intending to suggest that somebody might get a job purely because they had been on the Duke of Edinburgh scheme.  It could help at interview stage as it could open up a non-work related area of discussion, and give the interviewee the opportunity to show more of themself.
  • jon81uk
    jon81uk Posts: 3,869 Forumite
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    Probably most useful to give you something to talk about in an interview if you don't have much work experience.

    So if asked "tell me about a time you worked in a team" you can say, "during my DoE award our team did this and my role was that".
    Its a good way to get problem solving and teamwork skills you can reference in interviews and applications.
  • LE3
    LE3 Posts: 612 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 500 Posts Combo Breaker
    Gold DofE is definitely worth something - it shows commitment, determination, challenge etc. It can make a difference to uni etc, but only if they can talk about what they gained from it, why they chose the options they did, the challenges they overcame etc - It will have a LOT more weight done outside of school (eg through Scouts/Guides etc) than from a school where 70% of the students do it! 
    Silver & Bronze are really only useful for a teenager getting their first job, they are completely irrelevant once you get to A levels, degree etc. 
  • Wyndham said:
    I used to be a University admissions officer (for a 'good' University). If I was looking at an application that had the right predicted grades - in the right subject(s) - then quite honestly that was all I cared about. I didn't really read personal statements unless the student was more borderline - and yes, I know that students spend hours and a lot of angst on them! DoE may be noted, but only really in passing if the grades were right.

    Other institutions are more focussed on the rounder picture of an individual, and especially for more vocational courses then things other than grades do become more important.

    I'm not sure why the question is being asked? If it's as an 'add on' to other qualifications, or maybe even instead of them, then the circumstances really will vary as to how much notice will be taken of it.

    The reason is because my 14 year old is not sure whether to do it.
    Obviously grades are more important - but hopefully they will be good (hard to say now)
  • Spendless
    Spendless Posts: 24,388 Forumite
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    Marcon said:
    How useful is this to get a job or into university in future? Thanks in advance.
    How does one ever measure how 'useful' something is? If you've earned it, add it to your cv - but be prepared for someone to ask why you didn't go on to do the Gold level.

    I wondered if anyone had personal experience like for example.
    "My son did and got into Uni x to study medicine his friend got the same A level grades and was rejected because he only had good grades and nothing else."
    Or 
    "My son did and got into Uni x to study medicine his friend got the same A level grades and was accepted because if you get the grades it doesn't matter."

    Ish. My daughter got onto a short course at a prestigious drama school (very low acceptance rate and they look at audiion not grades) because they took into account that she had made a 3.5 hour round trip to her sixth form college and had also gone and done a workshop geared to helping with the audition process when she was only 16, whereas most don't do this until a lot older. The audition panel thought this showed great dedication. 

    Does that mean everyone on her course had also done something similar to get on. No, did it make a difference to her application - absolutely.    
  • eamon
    eamon Posts: 2,319 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Photogenic
    For a young person i.e. under 24 I would have thought that a DofE award would be regarded as a positive thing to add to your CV and or application. 
  • alidai
    alidai Posts: 585 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 500 Posts Combo Breaker Name Dropper
    I think everyone above is being a bit naive, i dont think a DOE award means anything at all to any job, 
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