The Duke of Edinburgh’s Award gives young people the skills for work

Find out why over 100 top UK employers have endorsed a DofE Award as a mark of a young person’s soft skills competence from The Duke of Edinburgh’s Award’s Chief Executive, Peter Westgarth.

This year, The Duke of Edinburgh’s Award (DofE) launched the DofE Skills for Work campaign, supported by British Gas, to raise awareness of the work-ready skills DofE Award holders have to offer. Over 100 top UK employers and senior figures from companies including British Gas, Asda, Google, ITV, Burberry, DFS and Heathrow have all stated that they recognise a DofE Award as a mark of a young person’s soft skills competence, and that they highly value Award holders in their workplace.

In an increasingly competitive job market, it isn’t surprising that employers are looking for more than academic results. Research from British Gas tells us that 94%[2] but this isn’t what the research is showing us. We should be leading from the top and encouraging the workforce of tomorrow to develop skills such as communication, team working and resilience, which come from being pushed out of your comfort zone and facing new, but exciting challenges.

The calibre of businesses that have already committed to the DofE Skills for Work campaign is exceptional; as employers they want to attract the right candidate and they know that DofE Award holders really do have something special.

Throughout 2016, the DofE is celebrating its Diamond Anniversary and I am proud to say that the Charity’s influence on the positive prospects of young people, from all backgrounds and circumstances is as strong as ever. We’ve announced our ambition to reach out to two million more young people by 2020, 400,000 from disadvantaged backgrounds, and give them the opportunities that a DofE Award brings. We look forward to working together to make this happen.

The Duke of Edinburgh’s Award’s Chief Executive, Peter Westgarth.