Features: Inside view: Becoming a graduate army officer

Sourced by Graham Allchurch, Editor, Graduate Prospects, February 2013

A graduate of the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst gives us a first-hand account about training for a career leading troops in the army, what is required of candidates and how to make the most of your time at the famous institution

All officers in the British army train for their responsibilities at the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst, in Surrey, where they take the 48-week Commissioning Course for Regular Army Officers.

More than 80% of the cohort is made up of university graduates, with the remainder consisting of those with A-levels or equivalent qualifications, serving soldiers who have been selected for promotion, and international soldiers chosen by their own armies to train at the academy.

Army officer applications

I chose to be an officer once I finished my degree. I really enjoyed my time in the Combined Cadet Force (CCF) at school and the Officers' Training Corps (OTC) at university and I wanted to do it for real. Plus, I didn't want to get to the age of 50 and wish I could've done it when I had the chance and was physically fit enough.

The application process first involves attending the Army Officer Selection Board (AOSB) in Westbury, Wiltshire.

Here you attend an AOSB briefing course, which is a two-day course that you must pass before taking the main AOSB. It's a simplified version of the main AOSB and is designed to test both your suitability to attend and to measure your likelihood of success at AOSB. It's run along similar lines but the tests are more basic. This is so you're forced to do proper preparation for the actual one.

It's fairly similar to assessment centres for graduate jobs in that you do command tasks, interviews, IQ and general tests, and some physical tests too.

Royal Military Academy Sandhurst

Sandhurst has often been described as boarding school for grown ups - there are still a lot of people who attend who come from privileged backgrounds who recognise the rigmarole well.

The first five weeks are notorious. They're designed to mould you from 30 individuals into a platoon. And the pace is relentless. After that it eases off very slightly - for example you no longer have to sing the national anthem and down a litre of water in the mornings.

Your time at Sandhurst is divided into three terms: juniors, inters and seniors.

• Juniors is your basic army training, so drills, weapons handling, signals, first aid and plenty of nights in the cold and wet Brecon Beacons for some character building.
• Inters is where you learn more tactics and how to write and deliver orders and lead a platoon.
• Seniors surrounds officership, so involves lots of lessons on current affairs, military history and psychology - the sort of things that make us well rounded officers.

All three terms do overlap. The one constant is physical training and sport, and the only difference is the pace slackens off as you progress as it's expected that you have the motivation to work on your own.

Sandhurst is rightly regarded as the finest leadership and management school in the world. I enjoyed my time there immensely and if you are willing to put in the effort you will be rewarded with one of the best years of your life.

Succeeding at Sandhurst

You need three things: determination, a good sense of humour and, most importantly, you must turn up fit.

You also need to do your research before going. Know where you want to commission in to and find out as much as you can about the different arms and services of the army, as time to do this is fairly limited once you start.

Ambitions

I don't plan to have a long career in the army. You're tied in to a contract for three years, after which you can leave if you provide a year's notice.

My ambition is to lead soldiers on operations; I deploy on Herrick 19. I then want to work in the City and use the skills I gained, such as man management, the ability to plan and organise a team, and the ability to work in a highly pressured environment in my next role. This is actually a well-developed and popular route for ex-officers.