A standard Bronze Skills section lasts three months – a good fit for working through the course an hour or so a week. If you’ve chosen Skills as your extended six-month section, this course can’t cover the whole period on its own.
Duke of Edinburgh’s Award · Skills section
Complete your DofE Skills section while learning British Sign Language
Study online in your own time. When you’re ready, we write your assessor’s report and submit it to eDofE.
Pay What You Can from £5 · Two years’ access · No subscription
- Suitable for a three-month Bronze or Silver Skills section
- Around 1 hour per week
- CPD-certified course
- We submit your report to eDofE
Is this the right Skills activity for you?
- Learn a genuinely useful skill.
- Study online, in your own time.
- We provide the assessor’s report for eDofE.
How it works
Three steps
Start when you like, work through the course, and we submit your report to eDofE at the end.
- 1Sign up
Start the course
Sign up and pay what you can, from £5. You get two years’ access, with one payment and no subscription.
- 2≈ 3 months
Study a little each week
Study for around an hour each week. Most participants finish in about three months.
- 3We submit it
Get your assessor report
When you’re ready, request your report. We prepare it and submit it to eDofE for you within 14 days.
Two things to get right
- Enrol in the right name. At checkout, the person paying should use their own billing details. After payment, add the participant to the enrolment dashboard using the same full name as their eDofE account. Your assessor report is written for that name, so it needs to match.
- Study regularly. Aim for about an hour a week across the three months. Your report includes your access logs, so fitting the whole course into a few days may mean your DofE leader can’t approve it.
Is this for me?
For Bronze and Silver
If you’d like BSL to be your Skills activity, agree it with your DofE Leader before you start.
Same steady approach over your Skills timescale. You keep two years’ access, so there’s no rush to finish.
Doing a longer Skills section (Silver or Gold)? The course is designed for a three-month Skills section, and our report only ever covers three months. It isn’t suitable for a six-month section on its own – you’d need to combine it with other activity, so please check with your DofE co-ordinator first.
Good to know
Learn at a pace that suits you
Progress matters more than speed
You don’t have to finish every lesson to meet the Skills section. Regular study over time is what the Award is looking for.
Learn whenever it suits you
There are no deadlines during your two years’ access.
Submit whenever you’re ready
Request your report at any point, whatever your progress.
The course was extremely helpful and easy to use. I learnt lots and was able to use it for my DofE. With Pay What You Can it wasn’t expensive, plus I have access for two years. Overall, great.
When you’re ready
Getting your assessor report
There’s nothing to print or post. Your study details stay private – we only send them to the email on your course account.
- Step 1
Request your report
Enter your course username or email at enrol.british-sign.co.uk/dofe.
- Step 2
Get a secure email
We send your progress and a private link – only to your account’s email address.
- Step 3
Review your progress
See the weeks you’ve studied and your lesson scores before you confirm.
- Step 4
We submit to eDofE
Add your eDofE Participant ID from edofe.org and we submit your report within 14 days.
Request your report through the form, not by email. We write it and submit it to eDofE within 14 days.
Quick questions
Before you start
Do I need any previous experience?
No. The course starts from the very beginning with the fingerspelling alphabet and builds up gradually, so you don’t need any prior BSL.
Do I need to finish the course first?
No. The Skills section is about regular study over time, so you can request your report whatever your progress.
Do I need to contact you before I start?
No. Just enrol and begin – there’s no need to get in touch first.
Can I do this over six months instead of three?
No. The course is built around a three-month Skills section and isn’t suitable for a six-month one. If you combine it with another activity for a longer section, our report still only covers three months, so check with your DofE co-ordinator first.
I’m doing Gold – can I still use it?
Our report only covers a three-month Skills period, and Gold sections run longer than that, so the course can’t be your whole Gold Skills activity on its own. You’d need to combine it with more activity – please check with your DofE co-ordinator.
What should I put as my goal on eDofE?
It’s up to you, but something like: “To gain a basic understanding of British Sign Language and develop my non-verbal communication skills.”
A DofE form is asking for an assessor phone number.
Leave it blank – we don’t have a phone line, so there’s no number to add. Your assessor’s email is all that’s needed.
Where do I find my eDofE Participant ID?
Log in to your account at edofe.org; your Participant ID is shown there.
How will I know my report has been sent?
We email you as soon as we’ve submitted it to eDofE. It may then take a little while to appear against your eDofE account.
Assessor details
What to put on your eDofE form
When your DofE form asks for your assessor, use these details.
- Assessor name
- Simon Harvey
- Role
- Course tutor
- Phone
- Leave blank (we don’t have a phone line)
Get started
Begin your DofE Skills section today
Sign up, study in your own time, and we submit your assessor report to eDofE when you’re done. Pay What You Can, from £5.