A record number of young people started their Duke of Edinburgh’s Award in 2025/26 as we continue our work to widen access and remove barriers to participation.
More than 345,900 young people across the UK started their DofE last year. This is the highest since the charity was founded 70 years ago, suggesting an increasing appetite among young people for opportunities to take on their own challenges, grow in self-belief, connect with their local community and gain vital skills they can’t always get in a classroom.
The annual statistics show
- Overall, 589,237 young people were actively taking part in 2025/26 – a 3% increase on 2024/25.
- Participants clocked up a huge 6 million hours of volunteering as part of their DofE with an estimated total value of £45.4m.
- Young people achieved more than 177,000 Awards.
- 30.9% of 14-year-olds in the UK started their Bronze DofE in 2025/26.
- The number of Licensed Organisations delivering the DofE has again increased, to 5,023 – with 97 new secondary schools, 117 centres supporting young people with SEND, 62 new community organisations, 24 new FE colleges and 7 new prisons and other secure settings.
- An amazing 38,951 Leaders and volunteers kept our work going.
Our work in action
With the help of volunteers, supporters, funders and partners, the DofE has reviewed and updated its programme to make it more flexible and accessible, launched targeted funding to dismantle financial barriers faced by organisations and young people, and partnered with hundreds more schools in deprived areas, community organisations, colleges, centres for young people with additional needs, and prisons and young offender institutions.
