Army Accreditation Offer
Throughout your Army career, the Army will pay for you to gain civilian qualifications as a result of Army training. From the Apprenticeship you may undertake as part of your initial training, help with your Literacy and Numeracy Skills if required, through to masters and PhDs, the Army will invest in you. These civilian qualifications will enhance your Army career and enable you to build a portfolio of civilian qualifications that are valued by civilian employers.
Regular Soldiers
During your career, you will undertake trade training for your job role. The Army has links with many civilian awarding organisations, who offer civilian qualifications for some of that training.
As you progress through the ranks, you’ll undertake the Army Leadership and Development Programme (ALDP). As well as enhancing your career, this ALDP results in civilian Qualifications which the Army will buy for you. These qualifications are listed in the Army Accreditation Offer PDF available for download below.
Many Senior Non-Commissioned Officers (Sergeants to Warrant Officers) take advantage of this opportunity, and use it as their entry onto degree courses. Some universities offer special conditions for Army personnel by taking into account the ALDP helping Army students to achieve their degrees in a shorter timeframe.
All of this helps you to enhance your Army career and prepare you for a new career outside the Armed Forces by enabling you to build a robust portfolio of civilian qualifications that are valued by civilian employers - whether you serve for 4 years or 22 years.
Reserve Soldiers
When you join the Reserves, you bring to the Army the experience you have gained in your civilian job – and the Army can give you experience and qualifications that will help you in your civilian job.
There are qualifications you can work towards during your initial training which show your employer the value you bring to your work through your army training.
As you progress through the ranks, you will undertake many of the same courses as Regular soldiers, and can gain the same civilian qualifications.
Officers
Following your training at the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst (RMAS), you are eligible for a Level 5 Award in Leadership and Management, which the Army will buy for you. If you wish to study for a degree, the RMAS CC currently attracts 120 CATS points from the Open University, which reduces the amount of modules you need to undertake to achieve a degree.
The training you take in the Army as you progress from Captain to a Major attracts further civilian qualifications in Leadership and Management. Many officers use this to help them achieve further academic qualifications.
There are further opportunities to undertake masters degrees and PhDs, which are fully funded by the Army.
Further Opportunities
In addition to your Army accreditation, you may choose to enhance your qualifications portfolio by undertaking higher education courses. There are many higher education organisations across the UK who will recognise Army service and accreditation. The Army has already established good relations with higher education organisations who have developed opportunities for Regular and Reserve personnel and created an Army specific webpage detailing their opportunities for Army personnel.
Educational organisations that have, or would like to, develop opportunities for Army personnel should e-mail: [email protected]. Army Personnel should contact their local Army Education Centre for funding and course advise before embarking on further education.
Accreditation
Accreditation means gaining a civilian qualification having completed a military training course. The civilian qualification will usually be expressed as a number of ‘credits’ at a particular ‘level’. To gain accreditation, the military training course is ‘mapped’ against the standards of the civilian qualification. This can result in gaining a whole or partial qualification for your military training.
Many Army training courses are now accredited by a number of providers which provide a range of civilian qualifications. Where there is more than one accreditation opportunity as a result of completing a course, the individual has the choice to take up any of the qualifications offered by providers.
The three main accreditation bodies (and links to the Armed Forces page of each) are:
The Institute of Leadership and Management (ILM)
The Chartered Management Institute (CMI)
City and Guilds (C&G)
