How GPS Tracking Can Enhance the DofE Experience: Balancing Independence with Safety

As educators and expedition leaders responsible for Duke of Edinburgh Award programs, we constantly walk a tightrope: nurturing student independence while ensuring their safety in remote environments. The DofE Award is fundamentally about developing self-reliance, resilience, and teamwork through genuine challenge. Students navigate unfamiliar terrain, make decisions, and solve problems together—all essential experiences for their growth.

Yet this independence creates inherent risks. A wrong turn at a junction, misread contour lines, or a simple distraction can lead groups miles off route. When combined with unpredictable weather and limited communication options, these situations can escalate from educational challenges to genuine safety concerns.

The conventional methods used to mitigate expedition risks often inadvertently restrict the very independence we aim to foster:

• Student mobile phones require constant check-ins, distracting from the wilderness experience (and often don't work in remote areas) and limited battery life creates anxiety about maintaining contact

• Extra personnel stationed at checkpoints means more adult presence and oversight

• Frequent visual check-ins by staff interrupts the students' autonomous journey

These approaches not only create a false sense of security but actively diminish the expedition experience by introducing more adult intervention than ideal. With reliable satellite tracking, leaders can step back, intervene only when necessary, and allow students to explore the countryside with genuine independence and autonomy.

Whilst GPS tracking offers an elegant solution to mitigate these risks, a common objection to tracking technology is the belief that it somehow "cheats" or undermines the navigation challenge. Critics suggest that if students are being tracked, they no longer need to use maps or develop genuine navigation skills. This fundamentally misunderstands the purpose and implementation of expedition tracking. These devices don't replace maps—they simply let leaders know where students are. Students still navigate with traditional maps and compasses, making their own decisions and experiencing genuine challenges. The tracking data is only visible to those with the tracking link which the leader can share, not the participants themselves.

GPS tracking ultimately enhances the DofE experience by creating the safe space needed for true independence to flourish. When leaders are confident in their oversight capabilities, they can step back further and allow students more genuine autonomy.

The result is a more authentic expedition experience with greater educational value, reduced anxiety for all parties, and the peace of mind that comes from knowing you've implemented appropriate safeguarding measures.