The awards recognise adolescents and young adults for completing a series of self-improvement exercises modelled on Kurt Hahn's solutions to his "Six Declines of Modern Youth".

It was first administered, and largely designed, by John Hunt, who had led the first successful ascent of Mount Everest in 1953, and had retired from the army to run The Duke of Edinburgh's Award.

It was designed to attract boys who had not been interested in joining one of the main British youth movements, such as the Scout Association.

[10] The Duke of Edinburgh's Award is a member of the National Council for Voluntary Youth Services (NCVYS).

[13] The programmes are at three progressive levels which, if successfully completed, lead to a Bronze, Silver, or Gold Duke of Edinburgh's Award.

Participants are required to show regular activity and commitment to the award for the duration of their DofE programme, which is usually at least one hour per week.

In the United States, for instance, only about 7,000[16] of the estimated 47 million eligible persons age 14 to 24[17] annually participate in the programme.

[18] The Duke of Ed in Australia is a widely recognised organising and accrediting framework of non-formal education and learning.

[19] The Duke of Edinburgh's International Award can be found in over 1,200 locations and institutions across Australia including cities, rural and remote areas, through Government and independent schools, universities, indigenous communities, refugee support programmes, detention centres, community organisations, disability groups and other youth programmes.

[21] In 2013, the Royal Bank of Canada announced a $1 million grant to help fund marketing and publicity efforts to increase awareness for the programme.

[29] More than 600 different user units, including schools, universities, uniform group youth organisations and community centres, are running the Award Scheme.

Despite the fact that there have been fewer than ten gold medal winners in eight years, there has been an exponential increase of the number of applicants in Korea.

It is a Full Member of The Duke of Edinburgh's International Association and was officially launched in Malaysia on 6 Nov 2000.

[38] The "Prémio Infante D. Henrique" is the Portuguese version of the Duke of Edinburgh's Award targeting those between 14-and-24-years-old.

[39] In 2015 the Prémio Infante D. Henrique became a licensee of the Duke of Edinburgh's Award and adopted the international brand.

[39] The Prémio Infante D. Henrique consists of a programme of personal and social development of voluntary and non-competitive activities in four areas: The Award was first introduced in 1991 by Sister Agnes in the Roman Catholic Parish of Motru, being carried on locally until 2011.

Starting in June 2013, The Duke of Edinburgh's International Award has Her Majesty Margareta, Custodian of the Romanian Crown, as Patron in Romania.

The Award Programme is a long-term process, taking between three and five years to complete all three levels of Bronze, Silver, and Gold.

Although the concept was introduced in September 1981, it was only in 1989 when the Zambian government decided to integrate it into the President's Youth Award of Zambia.

In May 1991, a pilot project started with 50 young individuals and by December the same year 30 had qualified for the Bronze Award level.

At this point, slight name variations arose in different private schools depending on organisers; however, the integrity of the award is still maintained.