Army Officer Selection Board briefing

[ElderAve]

DS2 has just won his medical appeal, almost 2 years since he submitted his application, so his dream of being an Army Officer is back on.

He has almost 3 months to prepare for the 2 day briefing. Any tips?

I passed the 3 day selection board for Sandhurst in 1974. All I remember is that they were intrigued that I had been expelled from my public boarding school for messing about too much.
Perhaps get your Ds to try that !!

Fitness, being as fit as reasonably possible (without causing an injury) really helps, remember that the pass rates are minimums. Make sure he keeps on top of current affairs, and knows a fair bit about which part of the army he would like to join; and keep up to date with the army website. Remember that all of it counts, from the moment you arrive to leave, its important he is himself though, as it's a chance for him as well to see if it is what he wants.

Im sure he has seen this but keep an eye for any updates on here:

apply.army.mod.uk/how-to-join/joining-process/officer-recruitment-steps/army-officer-selection#

I passed in 2009, I didn't join in the end as I needed ACL surgery, good luck to him/!

DS has this amazing quiet confidence, completely sure of himself but never comes across as cocky. Once you get to know him this becomes clear but I'm worried he'll come across as very shy, and not get involved enough, especially when he is nervous.

The physical aspects shouldn't be a problem for him but academically, he had to work very hard to meet the 3Ds at Alevel standard, he can do the reasoning tests but might be slow. I can't find out what the required standard is?

He's also very much a Comprehensive School kid, not even a fancy, sought after Comp, I'm not sure how much that matters anymore, but I expect he'll look and dress quite differently to most other candidates? If he's successful he'll help meet their quota of entrant from deprived postcodes though! (do they even have one?!)

Good luck to you3 son

When I did we had to wear suits unless on physical activities.
Bearing in mind it was about 12 years ago... Fitness test (check current standards). Problem solving. Leadership and working as a team. Obstacle course. And written tests.

(DH is a current army officer. He's from a small Yorkshire town, grammar school but nothing fancy- then university as the Army insisted it would mature him. He got sent on a culture course...)

I can assure you that nowadays it doesn't matter a hoot what type of school you come from.
In my day an Army officer was very much of a certain type, to the detriment of the Army and everyone in it.
Thank God today we are over that dreadful class thing.
Being from a Comprehensive will make no difference at all ti the examining board. It may even work in his favour.
I did 4 years in the Army. Never regretted it.

I'm sure it wont affect the board, I'm more concerned about him feeling like a fish out of water among all the public school kids. There must surely still be a lot of them?

Research!! I'm Civil Service and its astonishing when I ask ," what do you know about X or what do we do" and I get blank faces! The general information is in the public domain!! Major Mark's lost for me!!

If he has access to the mess bar, one pint and make it last. I saw a candidate at Biggin Hill fail because he had 4. I failed the same selection due to eyesight, but at least I had the consolation of not being an incontinent fuckwit.

I honestly couldn't tell you the breakdown of public school Vs state school. But most candidates were early 20s university students/graduates. Some will be know it all gits trying to undermine everyone else. Some will be nice, supportive people. Some will be nervous. But it's not a competition with each other.

Congratulations to DS, very well done for persisting and not giving up.
Look at the Army Rumour Service's forum "Joining Up" - there's a complete section for officers.
As others have said, be yourself, be natural, be prepared - have a grasp of current affairs, know what the Army is doing & where. Be clued up about your chosen regiment or corps.
You are being assessed from the moment you arrive so be aware of that, watch the drinks in the bar as someone said.
Be as fit as possible.
Finally, Go Rifles! (shameless regimental plug!)

Can anyone point us in the direction of some practice questions for the reasoning tests? There are lots of different offerings on line, some quite expensive but not actually "official" Army things. I'd hate him to spend a lot of time practicing the wrong thing!

Any are good to practice to be honest, it's more being confident in working through the questions quickly (you don't get much time), so any sort of test and time it. Bit old school now but I used brain training on the ds as well just to get me really used to processing questions and being able to answer quickly. Timing it for sure though, if you had all of the time you needed the questions tend to be quite simple; but with the time restraint it's not.

@ElderAve
Try your local careers office, they might have practice papers available. Amazon has these available
PLANNING EXERCISES for the Armed Forces: Sample planning exercises for the Army Officer AOSB, RAF Officer OASC and the Royal Navy Officer AIB: 1 (Testing Series) www.amazon.co.uk/dp/190922958X/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_JanzEb506WHAJ?tag=mumsnetforu03-21
Army Officer Selection Board (AOSB): Expert advice on how to pass the Army Officer Selection Board (AOSB). Includes insider tips on how to pass the Army Officer selection process www.amazon.co.uk/dp/191060254X/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_yanzEbFXK9ADP?tag=mumsnetforu03-21
Army Officer Selection Board (AOSB): Expert advice on how to pass the Army Officer Selection Board (AOSB). Includes insider tips on how to pass the Army Officer selection process www.amazon.co.uk/dp/191060254X/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_j.mzEbVY9CMFV?tag=mumsnetforu03-21

Oops! Seem to have doubled the last one.