This is Youth:

Frequently Asked Questions

This is Youth 2024 is dedicated to recognising and celebrating the amazing stories behind The Duke of Edinburgh’s Award (DofE). Alongside our incredible young people, we have amazing adults who support them through tough times and challenges, going above and beyond to help them find adventure and fulfilment. This is Youth showcases young people and the adults who support them doing what they do best: rising above today’s challenges and making their mark on the world, their way.

Young people can be nominated in five categories:

1. Creativity: Innovator of the Year
2. Community Impact: Change Maker of the Year
3. Teamwork: All-stars of the Year
4. Leadership: Trailblazer of the Year
5. Resilience: Boundary Breaker of the Year

Adults can be nominated in two categories:

1. Inspirational Adult: Life Changer of the Year
2. Exceptional Service: Torchbearer of the Year

Achievement comes in lots of different forms, and we want to hear about amazing young people from every corner of the DofE. Whether they’ve just started their journey to Bronze, or have already made it to Gold, they’ll be making a difference – and we want to celebrate it. We’re looking for young people and adults from across the UK, wherever they’re doing or delivering the DofE – from schools to community groups and businesses to prisons.

We acknowledge that differential societal barriers exist for different people. We encourage nominations from a wide range of backgrounds, particularly from people who are Black, Asian or minority ethnic; disabled; from lower socio-economic backgrounds.

Categories 1 – 5: Young people

All current DofE participants (anyone currently doing any level of DofE Award) or recent Award holders (those who have achieved an Award since 1 September 2023) who are resident in the UK can be nominated. We are particularly keen to celebrate activity that has taken place as part of DofE programmes over the past 12 months.

People who achieved their Award prior to 1 September 2023 or who are no longer participating in a DofE programme are not eligible to enter.

Categories 6 and 7: Adults

Anyone over 18 years of age, who supports the delivery of DofE programmes for young people and is a resident of the UK can be nominated. In particular, we are hoping to recognise DofE Leaders and Managers, but you can nominate adults who support the DofE in any capacity.

Category 6: Life Changer of the Year

We are particularly keen to recognise and celebrate those who have started the role in the last two years.

Category 7: Torchbearer of the Year

Adults aged over 18 who have been supporting the DofE for 10 years or more.

Applications close at 11:59pm on Sunday 21 July 2024. Nominations received after this time will not be considered.

Anyone who has the knowledge and understanding to be able to demonstrate what the nominee has done as part of their DofE to make them worthy of recognition can nominate. This can include, but is not limited to: team members, the nominee themself, friends, DofE Leaders and Managers, DofE Assessors, representatives from their Licensed Organisation, community members and those positively impacted by their activity. When nominating someone else, you must have received their permission to share their contact details and their story before submitting the form.

Yes! Applications should be supported by evidence of impact, so if you have any testimonials from other people who can endorse your nomination, that will help make it stand out.

Absolutely! If you know more than one person whose story we should hear, then please put them forward. You will need to complete a separate nomination for each nominee, unless you are nominating a team for the Teamwork: All-stars of the Year category.

You can only submit one nomination for an individual, so please make sure that you read the category descriptions and select the most relevant category to nominate them in. If you submit multiple nominations for the same nominee, the first submission that is received will be the one that is reviewed, and all subsequent submissions will be disregarded.

A nominee can be put forward by multiple people, either in the same category or in different categories. However, a nominee will only be selected to win in a maximum of one category.

DofE staff, Trustees and their partners/spouses can’t make nominations or provide supporting evidence. In exceptional circumstances, a DofE staff member may submit a nomination on behalf of an individual who would otherwise be unable to make a nomination for reasons of accessibility.

If you require assistance with making a nomination, please contact [email protected] where a member of the team will be able to discuss this with you.

As nominations include personal details and we will need to contact all those who are selected, it is essential that you have their permission to nominate them before you submit the form. If they are under 18, you must also have secured the permission of their parent or carer. There is a declaration as part of the nomination form to confirm that you have the necessary permissions.

Young people who are resident in Northern Ireland are eligible to be nominated, regardless of whether they are working towards or have achieved a Duke of Edinburgh’s Award or a President’s Award.

Nominations must be received through the online nomination form which is available at DofE.org/ThisIsYouth. Applications submitted by email or through any other means will not be considered. You can use the form to submit video or voice note responses instead of written responses to the nomination questions if you wish – please read the information below about how to do this.

There is a word count for each written answer, and the nomination form won’t let you exceed this. We would suggest that you draft your responses in a Word document or similar and then copy and paste them into the nomination form.

If you would find it easier to make your nomination via video or voice note, rather than provide written answers to questions, you can provide a link to an uploaded video or audio file for each question. Guidance on how to upload a video to several sites is below:

Upload files and folders to Google Drive – Computer – Google Drive Help

Upload YouTube videos – Computer – YouTube Help (google.com)

Uploading basics – Vimeo Help Center

Add files and folders to your Dropbox account – Dropbox Help

When saving the file, please include the following information in the file name:

• The name of the nominee
• The category you are nominating them in
• The question number you are answering.

The video / audio file answers to each question must only be a maximum of one minute in length each. Answers that are submitted which are longer than those will only be considered up to the time limit.

In line with DofE Wales Welsh language policy, we welcome nominations in Welsh if that is your preferred language. Please use the main nomination form on DofE.org/ThisIsYouth to send in your nomination. There is no separate process for Welsh language nominations.

We want to get to know your nominee, so use your answers to tell a story and let us know why they are special. Make sure that you answer the questions – we have given some suggestions on the nomination form for things to consider when answering. If you have other things to add to your answers, please do – but make sure that you stay within the word count!

You can upload up to three additional pieces of evidence to support your nomination and to make it as strong as possible. This could include:

• Photographs of the nominee doing their DofE activities, or before and after images of their work.
• Screen shots of social media posts or local press articles.
• Supporting statements from people who have been impacted by the nominee.

When saving the file, please include the name of the nominee and the category you are nominating them for in the file name. Please note there is a 5MB file size limit per upload.

When we receive your nomination you’ll receive an automated email to confirm that we have it. This won’t contain the answers that you supplied, so we suggest that you save your own copy of these in case you want to refer back to them.

Each nomination will be reviewed by DofE staff members and may be withdrawn from consideration if it doesn’t meet the Terms and Conditions of This is Youth 2024. If your nomination is ineligible for any reason, you will be notified within seven working days of submission. It will not be possible to resubmit your nomination after 11:59pm on 21 July 2024.

You must get your nominee’s permission to put them forward for This is Youth 2024. When we receive your nomination, your nominee will receive an automated email to let them know that they have been nominated. This won’t contain the detail from your nomination or your name.

If you wish to withdraw your nomination at any time, please email [email protected] to notify the team. If you withdraw your nomination, your nominee will be notified.

A nominee can withdraw their nomination at any time. If you wish to withdraw from This is Youth 2024, email [email protected] to notify the team. If a nominee withdraws from This is Youth 2024, their nominator will be notified.

The nominations will only be viewed by DofE staff working on the project and the judging panel for each specific category. After judging, those people whose nominations are selected will be contacted and will be asked at that point to provide permission for their story to be shared more widely. If they don’t wish for their story to be shared, the DofE reserves the right to select a substitute winner.

The judging panel for each category will be made up of a minimum of three people, including a senior DofE staff member or Trustee and a current or recent DofE participant. Details of the judging panels will be released on DofE.org/ThisIsYouth.

Judging will be based on the nominations and supporting information submitted through the nomination form in response to the questions for each category. In all cases, the demonstration of impact will be an important consideration when selecting each winner.

All nominees, and their nominators, will be notified of the outcome of This is Youth 2024 by 30 September 2024.

The DofE will try to contact all selected nominees using the details provided in the nomination form. If we receive no response, we will make a minimum of two further attempts to contact the nominee and will also contact the nominator. If the recipient can’t be contacted within 14 days, we may select a substitute recipient.

If a nominee doesn’t wish to be recognised through This is Youth 2024 they can choose to decline their selection and a substitute recipient will be selected. If a nominee declines selection, their nominator will be notified.

The Duke of Edinburgh’s Award’s decision is final and binding in all matters and no correspondence will be entered into.

All winners will be invited with a guest to a special celebration event in London at the end of the year. Reasonable travel expenses to London and accommodation (where necessary) in twin rooms will be provided.