Free education resources for schools, parents and youth organisations

Start where you are

• Schools, colleges & youth organisations — Curriculum-friendly guides you can share with a year group, plus a straightforward route to talk to us about cohort delivery.
• DofE Leaders & Award coordinators — Reference material on the Skills section: choosing activities, setting measurable goals, recording evidence and Assessor sign-off.
• Parents & carers — Plain-English answers on how the Award works, what a Skills activity involves and how to support a young person without doing it for them.
• Young people (14–24) — Activity ideas, CV and interview practice, and university guidance you can use on your own, free of charge.

100 Duke of Edinburgh Award Questions, Answered

Our most-used reference: 100 questions on the Duke of Edinburgh's Award — the three levels, timescales, the four sections, evidence, Assessors and how the Skills section actually works — written for participants, parents and Award staff in the UK.

• Organised into clusters so Leaders can point a learner at the exact section they need.
• Covers Bronze, Silver and Gold minimum timescales and what counts as evidence.
• Written and maintained in the UK, with no sign-up and no paywall.

Open the guide

The resource library

Every item below is free and open, covering duke of edinburgh's award, ai & digital skills, careers & employability, university & study abroad.

• 100 DofE Award questions answered — A complete reference covering levels, timescales, the four sections, evidence and Assessor sign-off. (Guide; for schools & colleges, dofe leaders, parents & carers, young people)
• 60+ DofE Skills section activity ideas — Activity ideas across AI, digital, music, languages, cooking and coding, with guidance on which suit Bronze, Silver and Gold. (Guide; for dofe leaders, parents & carers, young people)
• DofE Skills evidence guide — What counts as evidence for the Skills section, how much to record and how to keep a log an Assessor can sign off. (Guide; for dofe leaders, parents & carers, young people)
• Weekly evidence checklist (PDF) — A one-page printable sheet covering Learn, Practise, Apply, Reflect and Record Evidence, with space for Assessor notes. (Checklist; for schools & colleges, dofe leaders, young people)
• DofE Skills Assessor guide — Who can act as an Assessor, what independence means in practice and what an Assessor's Report needs to say. (Guide; for schools & colleges, dofe leaders, parents & carers)
• Online DofE Skills course explained — How an online Skills activity runs week by week, how the hour-a-week commitment works and how completion is confirmed. (Guide; for schools & colleges, dofe leaders, parents & carers)
• AI & Digital Entrepreneurship programme overview — The full outline of our online Skills activity: weekly modules, topics covered and how evidence is recorded. (Guide; for schools & colleges, dofe leaders, parents & carers, young people)
• Verified course library — Search partner-provided online courses by subject and provider. Course content and pricing are supplied by the partner. (Free tool; for schools & colleges, young people)
• Guidance articles — Regularly updated articles on DofE Skills, AI tools, employability and university applications. (Guide; for schools & colleges, dofe leaders, parents & carers, young people)
• Student CV examples — Sample CVs for first jobs and part-time roles, with notes on what to include when you have little work experience. (Guide; for schools & colleges, parents & carers, young people)
• CV builder — Build a structured, ATS-friendly CV section by section, then export it. (Free tool; for schools & colleges, young people)
• CV / résumé scanner — Check a CV against applicant tracking system conventions and get specific improvements. (Free tool; for young people, schools & colleges)
• Interview practice — Practise common interview questions and get structured feedback on your answers. (Free tool; for young people, schools & colleges)
• Career direction finder — A guided way for a young person to narrow down realistic career directions to explore. (Free tool; for young people, parents & carers, schools & colleges)
• Skills gap analysis — Compare current skills against a target role and see what to learn next. (Free tool; for young people, schools & colleges)
• Higher education guidance — Choosing a course, understanding entry requirements and planning an application timeline. (Guide; for schools & colleges, parents & carers, young people)
• Scholarships guidance — How scholarship rounds work, what assessors look for and how to prepare an application. (Guide; for parents & carers, young people, schools & colleges)
• Personal statement support — A structured way to plan and draft a personal statement or statement of purpose. (Free tool; for young people, schools & colleges)
• IELTS preparation — Practice material for the four IELTS papers, for learners applying to study overseas. (Free tool; for young people, parents & carers)

Share these with your school or youth organisation

You do not need our permission to link to anything here. Copy a link into a newsletter, intranet or DofE handbook.

• 100 DofE Award questions answered
• 60+ DofE Skills activity ideas
• DofE Skills evidence guide
• Student CV examples
• Free education resources hub

For Scottish schools and youth organisations

Education Direct Worldwide Ltd is registered in Scotland (company number SC717594) with its registered office in Glasgow. We work with Scottish schools, colleges and youth organisations, and our guidance accounts for the differences Scottish learners meet.

• Scottish school-year age boundaries differ from England, Wales and Northern Ireland, which affects when a young person can start a level of the Award. Our eligibility checks use the Scottish boundary for learners in Scotland.
• Guidance covers Scottish qualification routes alongside UK-wide options, so university and careers material stays relevant to SQA learners.
• Delivery is fully online, so rural, island and dispersed cohorts get the same provision as city centres.
• Local team: our registered office is Suite 2/3, Second Floor, 48 West George Street, Glasgow, G2 1BP.

Who produces these resources

• Education Direct Worldwide is an Approved Activity Provider for the Skills section of The Duke of Edinburgh's Award.
• Listed on the UK Register of Learning Providers under UKPRN 10088653.
• Education Direct Worldwide Ltd, Suite 2/3, Second Floor, 48 West George Street, Glasgow, G2 1BP, United Kingdom — company number SC717594.

Questions about these resources

Are these resources really free?

Yes. Every guide, checklist and tool linked from this page is free to read, download and share. Our paid programmes are listed separately and are never required to use the resources here.

Do I need to give my email address to access them?

No. Nothing on this page is gated. The contact form is optional and only exists if you want us to send a resource pack or talk about cohort delivery.

Can our school or youth organisation link to these pages?

Yes, and we would encourage it. You can link to any page on this site from your intranet, newsletter or DofE handbook without asking permission.

Can we reuse the material in our own handbook?

Please link to the pages rather than copying them. The guidance is updated as DofE requirements and application cycles change, and a link means your learners always see the current version.

Who writes and checks this material?

The Education Direct Worldwide team in Glasgow. DofE material is checked against the requirements we work to as an Approved Activity Provider for the Skills section, and updated when guidance changes.

Do you deliver the whole Duke of Edinburgh's Award?

No. Education Direct Worldwide is a UK-licensed Duke of Edinburgh's Award Approved Activity Provider for the Skills section. Participants remain registered through their DofE Licensed Organisation, which manages the overall programme and final Award approval.