The Duke of Edinburgh’s Award (DofE) puts young people’s safety and care above all else.

It is The DofE’s policy to protect all young people who take part in our activities from physical, sexual and emotional harm.

This is true regardless of their:

• sex
• ethnic or national origin
• sexual orientation
• disability
• religion or beliefs

When young people sign up to do their DofE, they do so with a Licensed Organisation (LO). We only license reputable organisations, like schools and local authorities, to run DofE. This is because they have policies and procedures in place for safeguarding and health and safety. All DofE Leaders and Expedition Supervisors complete checks and training through their LO. This is to make sure young people have access to a high quality programme.

Your safeguarding responsibilities

When a young person does their DofE activities, they’re likely to interact with other organisations and individuals. This could be charity shops, music instructors, sports clubs and expedition providers.

As a parent/carer/guardian of participants under 18, participants with additional needs, or vulnerable adults, it’s your responsibility to check that activities done with these organisations are delivered in a safe and proper manner. DofE participants over 18 are responsible for checking themselves.

We recommend you do some checks to see how the organisation keeps young people safe before starting an activity.

You could:

• ask to see relevant policies like a child protection policy or staff code of conduct
• check that the adults running the activity are qualified
• check that the organisation has the right insurance in place
• ask for a main point of contact you can speak to if you have any concerns

You should feel satisfied that an activity is safe for your child before getting started.

Reporting concerns

If you or your child have safeguarding concerns around

• bullying
• harassment
• experiencing anything sexual or racially offensive

report it to your child’s school or youth organisation.

The organisations we licence have to report any safeguarding concerns about DofE participation to us. If you are unhappy with how they dealt with your concern, contact us on [email protected].

If you want more information on child protection, contact NSPCC’s helpline for support.

Find out more about how the DofE keeps young people safe from harm.