Sectional Certificates & Certificate of Achievement

Sectional Certificates

It is a huge achievement to complete The Duke of Edinburgh’s Award, but each section is a milestone to be celebrated. Sectional Certificates reward the commitment and effort it takes to reach that point in their programme.

We will shortly be introducing a functionality on eDofE so that when participants complete any section of their Duke of Edinburgh’s Award, they’ll receive a digital certificate to celebrate their achievement. As soon as any section of their Award receives its final approval on eDofE, they will be able to download their certificate either through their eDofE account or the DofE app.

Presenting these certificates is also a fantastic way to encourage a participant to continue to complete their full Award and celebrate the milestones on the way to doing so. As a DofE Leader you can order certificate paper through DofE Essentials and present paper copies of sectional certificates if you choose to. These are an excellent addition to celebration events where you may have participants who are yet to achieve their full Award.

If you have any questions about this, please contact your Operations Officer.

Certificate of Achievement

Completing multiple sections of an Award deserves recognition. A Certificate of Achievement is available for you to give to participants who have completed any three sections of their Duke of Edinburgh’s Award.

The Certificate of Achievement is a recognition of a young person’s dedication to their programme and everything they’ve achieved through these 3 sections. It can be added to their CV or personal statement, helping highlight the many skills and useful experiences they’ve gained.

We absolutely encourage young people to continue their programme and complete the final sections of their DofE Award if they’re able to as all sections provide hugely valuable experiences that develop vital skills and character. We understand that sometimes completely all sections may not be possible for some young people, hence offering the Certificate of Achievement.

We’ll shortly introduce a new functionality to eDofE that will allow you to award the Certificate of Achievement to your participants – so look out for more information when this is available. If you have any questions in the meantime, please ask your Operations Officer.

Frequently Asked Questions

Q: Did the temporary flexibility that allowed participants to progress to the next level with the shorter timescales after completing the Certificate of Achievement end on October 31, 2023?

A: One of the programme flexibilities within #DofEWithaDifference allowed participants to progress to the next Award level after achieving the Certificate of Achievement on the shorter non-direct timescale due to the delays with completing an expedition under restrictions.

However, participants still had to eventually complete their full Award (including the expedition) to complete their subsequent Award as a non-direct participant. As there are no longer the same issues with completing the Expedition section, as reflected in the changes being made to the Certificate of Achievement, this flexibility is no longer needed to help participants to progress to the next Award level.

From 1 November 2023, adults on eDofE will not be allowed to switch participants from direct to non-direct entrant when they start the next Award level. Participants will only move from direct to non-direct when they have completed all 4 sections of the lower level. Once completed, the timescales will automatically change to those of a non-direct entrant.

 

Q: Can an Award Verifier still query an Award once it is completed, if a participant has received the Certificate of Achievement?

A: Yes. Certificates of Achievement will be based on the sections being approved by a participant’s DofE Leader. So, if the participant goes on to complete their remaining sections, each section will still be quality checked by a trained Award Verifier – although the expectation is that the programme requirements will have been met. Even if a participant receives the Certificate of Achievement, an Award Verifier can still query a completed section and may require changes to be made before the section(s) can be completed and their Award achieved.

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