Approved Activity Providers
Approved Activity Providers (AAPs) are organisations, both commercial and charitable, whose opportunities have been approved by the DofE as meeting our sectional conditions and can count towards the achievement of a DofE Award.
AAPs are usually able to provide a section in its entirety, including training, supervision, assessment and reports on eDofE.
Find out what activities our AAPs offer on the Opportunity Finder.
The AAP licence is a quality standard on an organisation’s activity, meeting the programme and sectional requirements of the DofE. Please note that the AAP licence does not guarantee the suitability of an AAP in terms of health and safety or its financial stability. LOs working with AAPs will have their own process for checking the suitability of the AAP’s programme in terms of health and safety requirements for their young people. Similarly, it is the responsibility of the participant’s parent/guardian/carer to evaluate the safeguarding and health and safety policies the organisation has, if a participant is engaging directly with an AAP.
Thank you for showing an interest in working with the Duke of Edinburgh’s Award, specifically in becoming an Approved Activity Provider (AAP). We look forward to working with you to build an exceptional programme that will meet the sectional requirements, enabling you to confidently state that your programmes count towards an Award.
The first step in applying to become an AAP is to complete an Initial Interest Form. Upon receipt a member of the AAP team will contact you, usually within 2 – 3 weeks, to discuss your proposed programmes. If suitable we will then send out the application pack for you to complete. At present, for the Volunteering, Skills and Physical Sections, we will be prioritising AAP licence applications from organisations that operate nationally.
An AAP licence is not compulsory for organisations offering opportunities suitable for the Volunteering, Physical, Skill and Residential sections of a DofE programme. However, due to the increased level of responsibility that expedition providers have, an AAP licence is compulsory for all organisations offering opportunities suitable for the Expedition section of a DofE programme.
Please note for the Volunteering, Physical and Skills sections we can only accept applications from national providers or providers offering distance learning courses.
There are a number of benefits associated with holding an AAP licence regardless of the section(s) that you wish to offer (please note that it is compulsory for an organisation to hold an AAP licence in order to offer the Expedition section):
- AAP logo: Whether you are a large provider or a sole trader, the AAP licence provides a quality ‘kite mark’ for your DofE activities.
- Pre-approved activity programme(s): Your approved programmes will be treated as being pre-approved for fulfilling DofE requirements for the relevant section(s).
- Website: a listing on the DofE website.
- DofE network: We will notify our network of your new partnership status.
- Marketing opportunities: Access to discounted marketing opportunities in the DofE magazine and website.
- Support: We will support you to create and develop new DofE programmes.
- Contact: Direct contact and support from the AAP Team.
- Training: Training courses are available for AAP staff members
T: 01753 727400 and ask for the AAP team
