Ready to Serve – Careers in the Army

Our award-winning Careers provision includes presentations by a wide range of speakers in regular Careers Seminars. On Thursday 8 December, the Army visited the School to talk to pupils about recruitment, selection, scholarships, bursaries and how to prepare for a life in the Military.

The Army Careers visitors explained how the Army provides a wide range of career opportunities for people wanting to join as a soldier or officer. The types of roles available include combat; engineering; HR, finance and support; intelligence, communications and IT; medical; logistics and support; and music. Pupils also learned that the Army engages in various roles and situations, from the more obvious area of national defence and tackling the causes of instability, fragility and conflict overseas, to providing assistance in the event of a large-scale emergency. From floods in the UK, to humanitarian assistance overseas in Africa following the Ebola outbreak, or the Caribbean after the hurricanes, it is the same highly trained soldiers who help support the NHS, deal with floods and also train up partner military forces abroad.

There was great interest and engagement from our pupils with Regional Recruitment Officer David Oakes responding to a wide range of questions ranging from roles and salaries to financial support and bursaries for Army careers. There were also questions about routes into the Army in non-combat-facing roles and the Army’s wider role in handling crises and humanitarian issues. The pupils all agreed that they left with a far greater understanding of the role of the modern Army, regardless of whether they wish to pursue a career in the armed forces.