Timescales
The Award has three levels: Bronze, Silver and Gold. The Award is designed to be progressive and participants can start from the school year in which they turn 14 (Year 10) and have up until their 25th Birthday to complete! Participants can start at any level, but most people prefer to start at Bronze and continue through each level.
With each level, the timescales increase for each sectional activity and you can see below what these are for each level.
Sectional activities need to average an hour a week, with the first and last activities being the full section duration apart.
It will take you at least 6 months to complete your Bronze programme.
– Volunteering: 3 months
– Physical: 3 months
– Skills: 3 months
– Expedition: 2 days/1 night
You also have to spend an extra three months on one of the Volunteering, Physical or Skills sections. It’s your choice which one and, though you can change your mind later, you should decide which section you want to do for longer at the beginning. Knowing how long you’re going to do it for will help you to choose your activity and set your goals for each section.
If you have completed your Bronze Award, it will take you at least 6 months to complete your Silver Award. If you haven’t completed Bronze and are a Direct Entrant to Silver, it will take at least 12 months to complete the programme.
– Volunteering: 6 months
– Physical and Skills: One section for 6 months and the other section for 3 months
– Expedition: 3 days/2 nights
If you didn’t do Bronze, you must undertake a further 6 months in either the Volunteering or the longer of the Physical or Skills sections.
For Gold, you’ll need to do your programme for at least 12 months if you’ve achieved your Silver Award, or 18 months if you’ve started at Gold level, without doing your Silver – even if you’ve done Bronze. 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.
– Volunteering: 12 months
– Physical and Skills: One section for 12 months and the other section for 6 months
– Expedition: 4 days/3 nights
– Residential: Undertake a shared activity in a residential setting away from home for 5 days and 4 nights.
If you didn’t do Silver, you must undertake a further 6 months in either the Volunteering or the longer of the Physical or Skills sections.