Navy applications

[Londonbridge21]

DS1 will be graduating from Cambridge next summer (2026) and wants to join the Navy as a Warfare Intelligence Officer. The website says it is frightfully competitive with long-lead times but he is not deterred! Does anyone have any insight as to the naval officer recruitment process please?

It's a while ago but my brother went for it after graduation and being in the cadets before Uni. He didn't get in after a weekend at a base in Devon and still maintains it was a bit of a joke. The tests involved getting your team over a bottomless chasm with various apparatus to help you, he failed to tie a knot properly between two ropes and the whole thing collapsed although somebody who polevolted over the bottomless chasm passed, ex Eton he remembers (just rang him) and daddy was an ex officer.
Also asked if he would kill someone if he had to and replied that it would be distance killing if he ordered the firing of a missile and apparently that didn't go down very well.
He still remembers it with a weird fondness and laughs about it sometimes, he said there's nothing particularly hard about it, or wasn't when he went for it.
Maybe your face has to fit.
Good luck to your son.

Not RN, but RAF, though I think the process is relatively similar. It took my DS about 15 months from application to offer, though that included a specialist medical for the role as well as the regular one. Then it was another 6 months to the start of Phase 1 training. That was for a competitive role with relatively few offers. So start early!

He should have joined the Cambridge URNU by now and get himself used to Warfare Branch and what is expected of an officer.

It will work in his favour when it comes to the recruitment process.

My DC passed out of BRNC recently. They applied for one of the most competitive positions (they have now closed applications to their chosen position). The vast majority of officer cadets are warfare specialists at Dartmouth. My best advice is to apply early as it takes about a year from application to start date. BRNC only have three intakes a year: Jan, May and Sept. The medical element took the longest time for my DC. This took 8 months. DC went into officer training post university but had other opportunities (3 Grad scheme offers) lined up if the Navy did not work out. Gook luck to your DS.