Guidance for Expedition Assessors

• Make sure you hold a full adult volunteer role: This means you’re more than an occasional helper, which includes a disclosure check, getting started training and mandatory ongoing learning.
• eDofE account: you'll need an eDofE account - a Leader account if you are supporting young people, otherwise a helper account. Your County/Area DofE Lead will be able to help. If you are not sure who this is, please email dofe@scouts.org.uk. 
• Complete the Foundation & Expedition Supervisor and Assessor Training pathway (EASTC): You can enrol here using the Opportunity Finder - The Duke of Edinburgh's Award (dofe.org) Starting from the date you finish, you’ll have two years to become accredited.
• Register (Affiliate) to assess with Scouts: This makes sure you have the right experience for the mode of travel you’ll be assessing. While the supervisor is responsible for the safety and wellbeing of the team, the assessor needs to provide advice to the group and assess the team safely. See section below for more on this. 
• Complete the remaining steps on eDofE: This includes the EASTC knowledge check and assessor directory preferences. Please see this eDofE help page if you’d like more information.
• Log in to your eDofE account: add a photo, preferred modes of travel, qualifications, experience and technical declaration.
• Submit for accreditation: follow the steps for accreditation 

• If you hold a Scout Activity Permit  we will verify this on the scouts website. If you have a National Governing Body (NGB) qualification, for example you’re a Lowland Leader, Mountain Leader or Canoe Coach, you can complete this form and upload your relevant evidence.
• If you have the relevant experience, but don’t hold a permit or qualification, you will need to contact your DofE Lead and discuss your experience, either face to face or virtually. Your DofE Lead can then complete the registration form on your behalf. To make sure you’re prepared, please look at the DofE Lead Endorsement form before the meeting.
• If you’re not sure about who your DofE Lead is, please complete the Assessor Affiliation Smartsheet, leaving the DofE Lead section blank and HQ will ask your DofE Lead to get in touch with you.

This completes your affiliation to Scouts. Your affiliation will remain valid for 5 years, after which you will be prompted to re-affiliate.

• Every 5 years assessors will need to renew their accreditation with DofE using the eDofE process. You’ll also be prompted to renew your affiliation with Scouts.
• To renew your affiliation, you will need to complete the Assessor Affiliation Smartsheet and submit it yourself.
• You’ll be asked to confirm you are still fit enough to assess safely. You’ll also have chance to update your permits or qualifications if you would like to. Scouts HQ will notify your County DofE Lead when a request for affiliation has been submitted. The  County DofE Lead doesn’t need to add a new endorsement, unless your experience has changed since your last affiliation and you’d like to update the terrain or modes of travel you wish to operate in. The assessor and the County DofE Lead will be notified when the affiliation has been approved.
• If your affiliation has lapsed for more than 2 years you will need the relevant permits, NGB qualifications or an endorsement from your County DofE Lead.

DofE assessors will often be a part of an assessor team in your county, area or region. The County DofE Lead for your area will be notified of expeditions. They will check the assessor is either approved to assess that expedition, or works with someone who has the relevant technical competence.

• You’ll support leaders who’d like to become assessors by helping them access their training and answering any questions they may have.
• You’ll keep a list of assessors within your area. As soon as new assessors become affiliated, DofE Leads will be notified. Your lists of county assessors can be sent to you by emailing: dofe@scouts.org.uk
• You’ll support groups in finding new and suitable assessors.
• You’ll make sure all DofE expeditions are registered and the allocated assessor is well-trained to evaluate the expedition.
• If new assessors don’t hold a permit or qualifications, you'll meet them to make sure they have the right experience to assess the expedition.
• You may seek funding from the County to invest in DofE Assessors, in order to get permits and qualifications for supporting future expeditions and other areas of adventurous activity.

• To become an assessor, they will need to hold a full adult volunteer role, which includes a criminal record check and package of learning. You could help them find a role within the county/area or district. Whichever role they are appointed to, it will need to include a criminal record check, Growing Roots and mandatory ongoing learning.

• Assessors who have a Scout activity permit or National Governing Body qualification (for example, they’re a Lowland leader, Mountain Leader or Canoe Coach) will be able to fill in the Smartsheet themselves. Once they are affiliated, County DofE Leads will be notified so they can update their records.
• Assessors without permits will contact their County DofE Leads to endorse their experience. It’s important that County DofE Leads, who aren’t already familiar with the individual’s experience, arrange to meet the assessor either virtually or face-to-face. This is so the adviser can confirm their experience.
• If the County DofE Lead feels they don’t have the required skills to make this assessment, they can ask an Activity Permit assessor or activity adviser to carry out the assessment on their behalf.
• The Activity Permit scheme is a great basis to assess their skills. You can find out more about each activity at: https://www.scouts.org.uk/volunteers/running-your-section/programme-guidance/general-activity-guidance/
• On the Assessor Endorsement form we’ll ask you to confirm which walking terrains or type of land/water activities you're happy for them to assess. Please read the form before the meeting takes place, and following the meeting make a note of the reasons why you think they can assess in the modes of travel you’ve stated, for example: “Joe has 20 years’ experience of hillwalking in the Lake District and Scotland” or “Jane has recently led a group cycling tour from Lands’ End to John O’Groats”.
• All assessors must be experienced in their mode of travel and be able to assess their group. They’re only responsible for their own safety, so we need to be sure they can operate safely and responsibly in the terrain and environment they would be assessing in.
• We don’t believe applicants need to show their experience in a practical assessment, unless the County DofE Lead recommends this. We recommended that at the end of the meeting, the County DofE Lead completes the Endorsement form, attach it to the Smartsheet and submit it for the applicant.
• HQ will let both the applicant and the County DofE Lead know when their affiliation has been successful. We also suggest the County DofE Lead record their details (in line with GDPR) and note down when their affiliation is due to be renewed. This will be 5 years from the date of their approval.
• After affiliation, they will need to complete further steps to become accredited/re-accredited.

• Each assessor with Scouts needs to renew their DofE Assessor registration every 5 years, which they can do easily by filling in this form DofE Assessor Affiliation Form
• They’ll need to declare they can still carry out their role safely and they’ll have the chance to update their permits or qualifications.
• The County DofE Lead may need to add a new endorsement to confirm the terrain or modes of travel the County DofE Lead is happy for them to work in. If their affiliation has lapsed for more than 2 years they will need the relevant permits, NGB qualifications or an endorsement from you as County DofE Lead.
• Scouts HQ will notify you when an assessor has completed the form to be affiliated to Scouts. 
• We’ll let the assessor and the County DofE Lead know when the affiliation has been renewed. We’d then recommend County DofE Leads record their details and note when the affiliation needs to be approved again, which will be 5 years from the approval date.

• If an assessor decides to step down from their role, they’ll need to be removed from eDofE (if their only role is assessing) and let HQ know so they can be taken off the assessor list. They can do this by emailing dofe@scouts.org.uk 
• If the County DofE Lead decides an assessor shouldn’t continue to assess with Scouts, they’ll need to contact the DofE team at HQ straight away by emailing dofe@scouts.org.uk 

If the County DofE Lead thinks the assessor shouldn’t be assessing for any organisation, the Scout HQ Team will let the DofE team at Head Office know and ask them to terminate the assessors accreditation.