The Award Sections:
Skills

"The aim of this section is "To encourage the discovery and development of personal interests, and social and practical skills".*

You can either choose to complete this in 6 or 12 months depending on how long you want to spend on the Physical Recreation section. If you choose Skills to be the 12 month section you must then make a further choice of whether to spend an additional 6 months on this or the Service section, if you are a direct Gold entrant.

The skills section allows you to develop a skill you may already be undertaking or to take up a new challenge and start something you perhaps would not have thought of before. It can be anything from fashion, flying, radio construction, playing a musical instrument, arts and crafts, or more practical tasks such as car maintenance or languages - the choice is yours! Have a look at the Award Handbook, alternatively go to www.theaward.org for a complete list of your options. Throughout this section you will be assessed and must demonstrate a commitment to the skill, consistency, and genuine effort and improvement.

Once again this section has many rewards for you such as meeting new people, trying something new, developing new skills, making progress and getting organised.

*Quotation and section benefits from The Duke of Edinburgh Gold Award entrance pack.

Case Study - Philip Jones

As with the Residential and Volunteering sections, participants can either choose a new venture or develop an existing one. Philip Jones is completing his Gold Award and decided to combine learning to pass his driving test with his Skills section.

"I started the Duke of Edinburgh Gold Award just over sixth months ago and to begin with was unsure about what skill I should do as I did not play a musical instrument or do anything in the lists they gave me. It turned out a lot easier than I had expected in the end when I found out that driving lessons could count towards the skill! This was good as I would be learning to drive as well as getting time and experience towards my award! The lessons were a bit hairy to start with but eventually it just clicked. I passed my test in 6 months which is the minimum amount of time you can spend on a skill. I am intending to keep with the driving and take my pass plus which would continue the Duke of Edinburgh time. If you are unsure of what to do for a skill I strongly recommend you think about driving"