All DofE qualifying expeditions must be assessed by a DofE accredited expedition assessor. The aim of this requirement is to ensure that assessors undertake this role and fully prepared and aware of the 20 conditions of the expedition section and help them facilitate young people’s success.
To be an assessor you need to have sufficient technical competence in at least one mode of travel for the expedition section; walking, horse riding, cycling, canoeing etc. Evidence for this is provided in section D of the delegate application form which needs to be signed off by the DofE Manager for Scouts Scotland, before you attend the Expedition Assessor Accreditation Course. Please contact Scottish Headquarters in the first instance.
To endorse your technical competence the DofE Manager will review any activity permits you currently hold, external qualifications and past experience. Please note that you need to hold a permit/qualification appropriate to type and level of the expedition you are going to assess, for example:
- to assess a walking expedition in terrain 0 you need to provide evidence of your outdoor and navigation skills through your past experience.
- to assess a walking expedition in terrain 1 you need to have a hillwalking terrain 1 permit, an equivalent external qualification or a statement of technical competence from a Scout Assessor.
- to assess a canoeing expedition on class B1 water you need to have a canoeing permit, an equivalent external qualification or a statement of technical competence from a Scout Assessor.
Note: accreditation will be awarded for bronze and silver or gold expeditions and your ID card will not state the activity/activities that you can assess. All Scout assessors are trusted to operate within their usual activity remit; if you can’t normally lead the activity with young people then you can’t assess it!
Those wishing to assess expeditions within wild country (at any level Bronze/Silver/Gold) are required to hold gold accreditation.
Note that a significant proportion of Scotland is considered to be wild country!
Before attending this one-day course, participants are required to complete two online learning modules: DofE e-induction and EAAS pre-course learning.
Those wishing to assess gold level expeditions or bronze and silver expeditions in wild country areas will also need to complete an additional e-learning gold module.
After the course, participants are required to undertake a supported assessment; this is done by going out on assessment with a supervising assessor (this person is required to have been an accredited assessor for two years plus) who checks that you can put what you have learned into practice.
Help in arranging your supported assessment can come from Scottish Headquarters and your supported assessment must be completed within two years from the date of the training course attended.
Successful applicants receive a certificate and an ID card with their assessor accreditation number.
Details of the whole accreditation process can be found in the EAAS Process Guide.
If you are already an accredited assessor for another organisation but would also like to assess within Scouting you will need to have your technical competence approved as above along with completing the Expedition Assessors Registration Form (EAAS12).
All paperwork for becoming an accredited DofE Expedition Assessor in Scouting should be sent to the DofE Manager at Scottish Headquarters.