Outline the actions you will take to prepare for applying to your chosen public service.

I took part in the British Army Recruit Battery test (BARB), which allows my recruiting officer to see which part of the Army suits me best and according to the score achieved, which job I will be entitled to apply for. This took place at my local Army Careers Office and there were three components to the test: numeracy, literacy general reasoning and problem solving and I achieved a score high enough to allow me entry into any job within the Army.

After the test I was asked which branch of the Army I preferred to join and after stating my preferred choices: the Royal Engineers and the Infantry; we discussed the various roles of the Royal Engineers and the different Regiments of the infantry.

The next decision I was faced with was whether or not to continue with my officer application or to join as a regular soldier. I was informed that the Army had a proposal in place to reduce the age limit for potential officers from twenty-nine to twenty-six and, being twenty-five at the time I had to achieve a minimum of one-hundred-and-eighty UCAS points before the following intake in autumn 2011.

I have always been resolute in my ambition to hold the Queen’s Commission and proceeded to find an alternative qualification that I would complete in time to acquire the relevant entry requirements. I found such a course in the way of a Btec level 3 Extended Diploma in Uniformed Public Services at St Helens College.