Getting lost is to be expected, it is part of nearly every DofE expedition and that is completely normal. We will make sure you are trained in and understand what to do if you get lost. You and your team will spend some time trying to work out where you are and if you can’t, you can contact your expedition leader to help you work it out. 

You and your team will be independent and self sufficient while on the expeditions. Its unlikely you will have planned to walk the exact same route as another team, and you may not see other teams apart from at the start, campsite and finish. The teachers like to pop up every now and then to see how you are doing. They have a copy of your route, and you might see them at a checkpoint or walking along one of the paths. They will be at the start, campsite and finish, though they sometimes get distracted by ice cream vans and coffee shops!

The DofE requirements for the expedition sections don’t state a distance but gives a number of hours that you need to be active for, so this includes breaks and any time you spend at checkpoints or working on your team goal. As a guide, average distances are listed below. 

• Bronze - per day - 6 hours of activity - average distance = 12km

• Silver - per day - 7 hours of activity - average distance = 15 km

• Gold - per day - 8 hours of activity - average distance = 18 km

However, this does also depend on how fast your group walks, faster groups will walk further, how many hills you go up and down, walking uphill takes longer and how often you have breaks!

You wont walk as far on your training or practice expeditions as you will be spending time learning and practicing navigation skills. 

Campsites vary depending on expeditions and their location, but on the whole Bronze and Silver campsites will have toilets and a drinking water tap as a minimum. Some may have showers and a washing up area. We use a lot of Scout and Guide campsites as well as some commercial ones and some farms. Some campsites we get all to ourselves others we have to share with other groups. There will always be plenty of space to camp, cook and also an area where you can chill out. 

At Gold level there is an element of wild camping, and you will be trained in how to purify water and where to collect it from and in hygiene and sanitary procedures. 

Yes, for two reasons.

Firstly, safety, if you are in a tent with someone else it is much safer and indeed warmer, than being in a tent by yourself.

Secondly, weight, its much easier to carry a tent if you can share it out between a couple of people and not have to carry the whole thing yourself – tents are heavy!

If you are worried about sharing a tent or who to share a tent with, please speak to the DofE manager at your school/organisation. Trust us though, you will be so tired from a day walking as soon as you are in your sleeping bag you will be fast asleep, well at least the teachers hope you will be. 

Mobile phones are not allowed on DofE expeditions. They can be easily lost, broken or damaged and quickly run out of battery. There is often limited or no signal in the expedition areas we use. Each team will be issued with an emergency phone – for use in an emergency only and trained on what to do and how to use it. If someone needs to contact you during the expedition our Duty Officer will be available on 01245 830300 and they will get a message to you via your expedition leader. If you would like to take photos of your expedition or video for your team goal or just the memories to look back on, then you can bring a camera to do this.