Royal Hospital School student one of the youngest people to finish award

A pupil at the Royal Hospital School near Ipswich has become one of the school's youngest to finish the Duke of Edinburgh award.

Year 12 student Callum Corbould built rafts and canooed in Dorset and slept in a tent in Scotland to snag the completion.

Happy Callum has been part of the DofE since Year 9 and has steadily worked his way through the tiers.

His gold award saw him hike mountains and dodge landslides in bad weather as well as coasteering, power boating and other stunts.

All that remains is for him to receive his award from Prince Edward at Buckingham Palace.

Callum plans to stay involved with the scheme after he finishes, and will act as an ambassador starting next year.

Regarding the award, he said: "As I have continued to do similar activities for each award, I have developed a deeper understanding of working with others and my individual skills have improved.

"Recording my progress also gave me a feeling of achievement for myself. I have also realised that it doesn't take much to make new friends; most people are keen to chat, just some find starting conversations difficult."

He said the DofE Award taught him self-reliance and to help others in any situation.

He added: "I have enjoyed all my activities and especially the expeditions where I discovered new areas of the country. I am really happy to have gained something for doing the things that I enjoy and have learned so much from.”

Callum completed the award alongside the other extracurricular activities he participated in school.

This included playing rugby, volunteering as a swimming teacher and playing the drums.

His final expedition to Scotland was tackled under tricky weather conditions.

The Royal Hospital School is an Independent Operating Authority for the award - one of the few in the country.

All year 9s are encouraged to take part in the bronze award, and over 400 pupils are registered.

At least 100 students are currently participating in the gold scheme.

Each tier ends with an expedition to either Northumberland or Scotland for land-based challenges, or Cornwall for water-based ones.

Callum completed his final expedition in Rannoch Moor with year 13 students.