Army Officer Selection Board (AOSB), British Army

The Army Officer Selection Board (AOSB) is the assessment British Army officer applicants must pass before they can go to Sandhurst. It takes place at Westbury, Wiltshire, in two parts: AOSB Briefing and AOSB Main Board. For regular officer candidates, the Briefing lasts two days, over which candidates are assessed on physical and practical exercises and learn how to prepare for the Main Board; its programme includes psychometric tests, a group discussion, a practice planning exercise, an interview, practical and leaderless tasks and physical tests. For regular officer candidates, the Main Board, a residential assessment, lasts four days: psychometric tests, a short essay on current affairs, the multi-stage fitness test, outdoor group tasks, an interview, a five-minute lecture, a planning exercise (a solo written assessment followed by a group discussion; the open answer sheet covers aims, factors, options and your plan, which you are then asked to justify), command tasks in which candidates take turns to lead, an individual task course and a final group command task. Army Reserve officer candidates attend a 24 hour Briefing and are tested over 3 1/2 days at the Main Board. Professionally Qualified Officers (PQOs) will not normally attend Briefing; they attend a three-day Main Board (Short), which includes the preparation covered at Briefing. To join as an officer, the Army asks applicants to be between 18 and 29; higher age limits apply for specialists.