Officer joining requirements

[icarus11]

Hi everyone, I was looking at the Warfare Intelligence Officer role and wanted to ask about the entry requirements. It says you need 72 UCAS points / 5 GCSE’s. All I was wondering was do you need both the UCAS points and the GCSE’s? I have over 72 UCAS points but not 5 GCSE’s so I was wondering wether that would be enough or you need both to join as an officer, thanks in advance.

 

[soleil]

Hi everyone, I was looking at the Warfare Intelligence Officer role and wanted to ask about the entry requirements. It says you need 72 UCAS points / 5 GCSE’s. All I was wondering was do you need both the UCAS points and the GCSE’s? I have over 72 UCAS points but not 5 GCSE’s so I was wondering wether that would be enough or you need both to join as an officer, thanks in advance.

Did you take an alternative exam to the GCSEs, Icarus or did something happen which meant that you sat your GCSES but didn't pass any?

 

[icarus11]

Did you take an alternative exam to the GCSEs, Icarus or did something happen which meant that you sat your GCSES but didn't pass any?

I probably could’ve worded that better haha. I have sat my scottish equivalent to gcse (national 5/higher) in high school but i only have 3 of them, not 5 as the eligibility states. I do however have over 72 UCAS points which is the amount required which makes me wonder if that would be enough to join as an officer or if I would need more gcse’s in which i’d join as a rating (which is my main goal however curious as to wether this is enough to join as an officer)

 

[soleil]

I probably could’ve worded that better haha. I have sat my scottish equivalent to gcse (national 5/higher) in high school but i only have 3 of them, not 5 as the eligibility states. I do however have over 72 UCAS points which is the amount required which makes me wonder if that would be enough to join as an officer or if I would need more gcse’s in which i’d join as a rating (which is my main goal however curious as to wether this is enough to join as an officer)

Which subjects are your Scottish N5s in and at which grades?

 

[icarus11]

Which subjects are your Scottish N5s in and at which grades?

I have History at (Nat 5 - A) (Higher A) (Adv higher B)
Modern studies national 5 at C
English (nat 5 B) (Higher D)
I only have the basic national 4 maths and national 4 german however which i don’t think counts as a gcse since you don’t sit an exam for it, it’s pass or fail. I feel my qualifications are in a similar subject area but again it’s the UCAS points i have which make me curious , could be one for afco to answer

 

[janner]

A wether is a castrated ram (a male sheep) or a castrated billy (a male goat). Farmers will castrate their male goats or sheep to create wethers to ensure only the best male breeds with the females.

 

[soleil]

Icarus

I've been referring to a document called BR3 to try to understand whether what you are offering as your GCSE equivalents would match what is asked of Officer applicants.

Para. 0756 seeks to clarify the equivalents in the modern Scottish system.

https://www.royalnavy.mod.uk/-/media/royal-navy-responsive/documents/reference-library/br-3-vol-1/chapter-07.pdf

What it says is "Within a National 5, a student will receive a grade A to D. There is no A* however grades A to C map across to the equivalent GCSE grade (A to C). Therefore, where the matrix currently stipulates that a candidate must hold a GCSE A* to C, this will equate to a National 5 grade C or above."

A quick calculation suggests to me that you might be missing 2 at N5 level and that one of the missing 2 is Maths.

Can you say how you have calculated your UCAS points?

PS You will need to run this past the AFCO as well, just for confirmation.

 

[soleil]

Something which I wanted to add was a suggestion that you ask at local colleges whether you could study for the two N5s you are missing, making sure that one of them is Maths, during the next 12 months.

I'm not quite sure whether actual classes will be available, but they may be planning online tuition, at least for this coming term.

 

[icarus11]

Icarus

I've been referring to a document called BR3 to try to understand whether what you are offering as your GCSE equivalents would match what is asked of Officer applicants.

Para. 0756 seeks to clarify the equivalents in the modern Scottish system.

https://www.royalnavy.mod.uk/-/media/royal-navy-responsive/documents/reference-library/br-3-vol-1/chapter-07.pdf

What it says is "Within a National 5, a student will receive a grade A to D. There is no A* however grades A to C map across to the equivalent GCSE grade (A to C). Therefore, where the matrix currently stipulates that a candidate must hold a GCSE A* to C, this will equate to a National 5 grade C or above."

A quick calculation suggests to me that you might be missing 2 at N5 level and that one of the missing 2 is Maths.

Can you say how you have calculated your UCAS points?

PS You will need to run this past the AFCO as well, just for confirmation.

I entered my qualifications into the UCAS calculator. Ill speak to AFCO about it but really i’m not too fussed as i plan to join as a rating anyway. Thanks for your help and advice

 

[soleil]

I entered my qualifications into the UCAS calculator. Ill speak to AFCO about it but really i’m not too fussed as i plan to join as a rating anyway. Thanks for your help and advice

You're welcome.

I'm assuming that this is the Rating role which interests you:

Warfare Specialist Intelligence | Royal Navy Jobs | Surface Fleet

Being in Intelligence means that you work with all disciplines within the Royal Navy and other services to deliver Intelligence to Commanders on operations. Your training will enable you to deliver fused Intelligence products and provide advice on...

www.royalnavy.mod.uk

When you speak to the CA at the AFCO, ask him/her to tell you about the Upper Yardman and Senior Upper Yardman schemes. They are designed to provide opportunities for the promotion of ratings on the Trained Strength to obtain commissioned rank (become an Officer).

Although you may not have the academics for Officer entry at the moment, this doesn't mean that the opportunity won't exist for you later via the UY/SUY schemes.

Something which is worth bearing in mind is that for the UY scheme, you would still need your 5 GCSE equivalents. Although there will be chances to pursue GCSEs while serving, if you have time on your side (and you may do, depending on the waiting time for entry), it's worth checking whether there is scope for obtaining your two missing N5s during your wait to join.