Duke of Edinburgh

This is the next step up from Bronze. You need to be at least 15 to start doing your Silver, so most of our 30-40 Silver candidates are in the Upper Fifth, though a few join us from the Sixth Form.

You need to do at least 6 months Volunteering and a minimum of 6 months on either Physical or Skills and 3 months on the other. It’s up to you which one you do for longer.

The Expedition section involves planning, training for and doing a three-day (two-night) expedition. The three-day practice expedition is undertaken in the local Surrey Hills during the Lent term and the assessed trip is in the New Forest just after GCSE exams.

If you start the Silver without doing Bronze first you’ll have to do an extra 6 months volunteering or doing whichever of the Physical or Skills sections you have spent more time on.

GGB is the Silver Co-ordinator (ggb@cranleigh.org)

The Gold Award is a much more serious undertaking than Bronze or Silver, and all participants are in the Sixth Form, as you have to be 16. You’ll spend 12 months on your Volunteering section. For Physical and Skills you must spend 12 months on one and six months on the other – you decide which way round you do it. 

The big difference at Gold, is you'll also do a Residential section - staying away from home for five days and four nights doing a shared activity with people you don't know. It's great fun and a real chance to do something different! 

If you’ve jumped straight into your Gold DofE programme you’ll need to do a further six months either volunteering or whichever one of your physical or skills activities you spent the most time on.
Many manage to finish the award whilst still at Cranleigh, though technically they have until they are twenty five to complete it. Usually there are about 25-30 candidates each year. 

The practice expedition is usually run in the Black Mountains in S. Wales over the Easter Holiday and the arduous four day Assessed Expedition takes place in the Plumlumon area of Mid-Wales, over the infamous Alenedd (“The Green Desert”) at the end of the Summer term after AS level exams

Many Gold and Silver candidates also help run other OE activities such as CCF as the “Volunteering” section of their award.