If the only reason for doing the DoE Award is to gain kudos when applying for Uni, I'd suggest that people shouldn't be doing it anyway. But if people want to do it for the sense of personal achievement that it can bring, then they should do it even if they've no intention of going to Uni.
Many years ago I was an instructor for the DoE Gold Award. (There are probably still people living wild in the mountains after attending my map-reading classes!). Very few of the young people I worked with were considering Uni; they just worked towards the award because it was something which they wanted to do.
Chris