Duke of Edinburgh bronze award is giving me the rage. Please help me get a grip or share my frustration!!

He has until 20 something to complete it. He just needs to upload his evidence on his E D of E account. It doesn’t have to be eg every park run he’s helped at but a few pics, a bit of a commentary on what he’s done and his assessors report.

Our school lends them everything, even walking boots if they want them.

It costs barely anything.

I think the expedition alone is worth the award. Fwiw, my eldest did his gold and at least 40% of his friends fabricated most of their skills. I was very shocked, but it seems to be the norm.

Oh wow, I was wondering what you'd possibly have spent loads of money on and then I saw your post 😐 back when I did it we were loaned all of the equipment, it's crazy to have to buy it all just for two nights camping.

Only Oxbridge, Medics and Vets get interviewed. Hardly anyone else. Some admissions tutors on MN say they don’t even read the PS.

Unconditional offers are about bums on seats at courses that might not fill up. If you believe it was DifE, that’s fine, but it’s far more to do with university finance and the need to fill courses!

A personal statement full of d of e stuff isn't what universities are looking for. They want interest in the subject. How will he demonstrate this? I don’t think my DDs even mentioned DofE because so many do it and it’s no longer special. They did have a lot more to say that was more important in support of their applications.

'plenty of people' don't get a chance to do almost everything and they can't discount it all! They must go by something, otherwise how would they make a choice? It's certainly not just predicted grades as my DS was not interviewed and has distinctly mediocre predictions but still got an unconditional offer. It contributes to an overall picture; I'm not suggesting it's the be-all and end-all in itself.

My daughter did everything for the Gold Award - yomped across Derbyshire with a pack the size of a tank, all the service to community etc etc - except writing up the bloody thing. She just couldn’t be arsed. I’ve just about got over it....

Pretty I think it is important that teens have done something and shown commitment to it, whether it is sport, music, drama, chess, or DofE. I think it is 'good for them'.

From various reading threads where university admissions people have commented though, I have got the distinct impression that it is a) predicted results and b) enthusiasm for subject that matters, and it is unlikely that 'has Bronze DofE' would make a difference to getting or not getting a uni offer.

However, I fully admit that I have no current first hand experience as DD1 has not gone to uni, and I suspect DD2 won't either.

My ds not daughter

So he's done well at the practice expedition, almost done the volunteering, pretty much done 6 months of physical skills?

Sorry I think he's done really well. Just the skill plus a bit of sorting on the paperwork side. I'd do a bit of praise tbh. My daughter has almost finished his bronze and at 14 I'd say it is something to be proud of even if he has needed a bit more support than you were expecting.

£250 is way too much for gear!!! Mine borrowed a lot. You have over invested in this.

University takes no notice of it at all and neither do employers. A friend of DD had gold but no offers from any university she applied to either and she was an academic scholar! If a child does it, they do it for them. Other children don’t always get the opportunity so it’s not seen as important by anyone. However, just try and get him to plod through it. It’s obviously not his thing. My DDs got Bronze but it wasn’t life changing.

I don't agree, teen - plenty of people DON'T do them, and they are looking for differentiators at that age when young people tend not to have a huge amount to put on a 'CV'. It might just be the thing that x has that y hasn't. I am with you about the general broadening of horizons, though.

How much did you pay? We paid £33 for silver which I didn't think was too much.

You should be right to be disappointed in him. Sorry.

Tell him that if he can't motivate himself to get on with getting the different DofE sections signed off, you expect to have the money you paid refunded by him.

I would worry about his GCSE's on the horizon - how will he motivate himself for those?

A firm talking to is in order, I think.

They don’t all have to be complete before the expedition though? It sounds like he’s doing ok tbh.

From what I have read, Bronze (& Silver) DofE are so widely done that they are of more or less no benefit as a certificate when it comes to unis.

However the skills and insight learned can be very beneficial, so it isn't a 'pointless' thing to do.

For DD, she learned that she could push herself physically way more than she realised. She learned a new physical activity (ice skating) that gives her great pleasure, and her volunteering was based around trying something as a potential career direction (that she in fact has now gone into after college.) She wouldn't have done any of that without the structure of DofE.

Personally I don't think it's worth doing the silver unless you're going to do gold as well. The gold makes you stand out as someone really quite special, a proper high-achiever; hardly anyone's got gold. The bronze shows an employer/uni that you are generally someone who can show resilience and perseverance, and are prepared to face new situations and see things through over a period of time. I think the bronze is plenty if the latter is what you're hoping for. My DS got an unconditional offer with the bronze among other things on his personal statement. I'm prepared to be corrected about the silver, though.