The Duke of Edinburgh's International Award

The Duke of Edinburgh’s International Award equips young people for life. It is the world’s leading youth achievement award. In 2014 more than 1.1 million young people around the world took part in the Award, in 141 countries and territories.

Launched in the UK in 1956, The Award equips all young people for life regardless of their background, culture, physical ability, skills and interests. Doing the Award is a personal challenge and not a competition against others; it pushes young people to their personal limits and recognises their achievements consistently.

A great strength of the Award is that it can be used in any context where young people gather - schools, prisons, Scout/Guide/youth groups, in business, as well as by governments investing in youth development programmes.

By creating opportunities for young people to develop skills, get physically active, give service and experience adventure, the Award can play a critical role in young people's development outside the classroom. It also allows their achievement to be consistently recognised worldwide, giving young people unique international accreditation of their experiences.