In Northern Ireland The Duke of Edinburgh’s Award has a joint agreement with Gaisce – The President’s Award which enables young people who complete the programme to have a choice of award certification: a Duke of Edinburgh’s Award Certificate, a Gaisce –The President’s Award certificate or an International Award Certificate.

The Duke of Edinburgh and Joint Initiative Awards have helped to improve the learning outcomes for young people engaging within OLS programmes.  The Awards are for young people aged 14 to 25 years old and are delivered in three progressive levels, Bronze, Silver and Gold.  All award participants must complete four sections for each award level this involves, helping the community/environment, becoming fitter, developing new skills, planning, training for and completing an expedition and, for gold only, working with a team on a residential activity.  These programme elements individually and combined aid in the personal and social development of all participants.

The Education Authority is a licenced organisation for the delivery of the awards.  There are currently over 150 centres registered with the EA for the delivery of the programme. These are led by over 660 volunteers and they support over 15,000 young people who are currently registered with the EA for the completion of the DofE/JAI programme.