HOW TO PASS THE ARMY OFFICER SELECTION BOARD
Discover how you can pass the army officer selection board with our definitive and comprehensive guides.
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Learn how to pass the Army Officer AOSB with this comprehensive workbook that contains 8 planning exercises, tips and advice on how to successfully pass the Army Officer Selection Board and sample speed, distance and time tests.
How to pass the Army Officer AOSB selection board
In order to help you prepare for the AOSB main board we will provide you with a brief tutorial on how to answer speed, distance and time tests. An ability to answer these questions is crucial to your success during the Army Officer selection process.
Accuracy and agility in speed, distance, and time calculations will help you perform well, both in the aptitude and planning exercises. Below we have provided a tutorial on the best way to approach these questions.
Preparing for your Army Officer Selection Board
There are a number of different elements to the Army Officer Selection Board and below we have provided an overview of some of the more challenging elements.
ARMY OFFICER INTERVIEW
During the main board of AOSB, you will be required to sit an interview with senior officers. This is to assess your suitability and potential to become an officer in the British Army.
During this interview you will be asked about your motivations to join the army as an officer, and about what you have done to prepare yourself for life in the army as an officer. You will be assessed against the army values. You will also be asked about situations from your past where you have demonstrated certain leadership skills.
PASSING THE PLANNING EXERCISES
During the planning exercise you are given a written brief containing the details of a fictitious scenario, which you will be given 15 minutes to study. They will then introduce a problem into the scenario setting which you will need to solve. You have 15 minutes to discuss possible solutions with your group and reach an agreed plan. Once the time is up you will present your plan to the Board. The difficulty comes when each person in the group is questioned in turn to examine their grasp of the situation. It is essential that you are able to answer any questions that are thrown at you. We also recommend you become conversant in the use of Speed, Distance and Time calculations both in written format and also by solving them in your head without the aid of pen, paper or a calculator.
GROUP EXERCISES
The purpose of this assessment is to test your teamwork abilities. This exercise will also test your resilience and assess your strengths. The outdoors tasks itself will involve you taking part in group tasks which involves you moving from A to B using various objects to assist you. You would have had practice sessions for this during AOSB briefing.
FITNESS ASSESSMENTS
You will be required to undertake a number of physical assessments which include the following:
- A multi-stage fitness test, more commonly known as the bleep test. This is not a pass or fail test, but you need to put in maximum effort and your performance will be graded. We strongly advise that you are capable of reaching at least level 10 of the bleep test.
- An individual obstacle course. This will be similar to the obstacle course you would have undertaken during AOSB briefing, but further elements will be added.
- Sit-ups and press-ups in an endurance assessment.
- Opening and closing races. These are group physical exercises which assess your team working and leadership abilities against other groups in the AOSB.
Sample Army Officer Interview Questions
To help you get a better understanding of the Army Officer interviews, let’s take a quick look at a few sample questions.
FREE | 2 Questions
Army Officer Interview Sample Questions
What are you currently doing in order to prepare for officer training?
Whilst this question should be generally easy to answer, it does end up throwing many applicants. Most people who apply to join the Army will do little or no preparation for Officer Initial Training until they have received confirmation that they have passed the AOSB. However, if you can show the Army Careers Advisor that you are already preparing for training then this will impress them. Here is a sample response to assist you.
SAMPLE RESPONSE
‘Although I haven’t yet passed the AOSB I have been preparing thoroughly for my training. To begin with I have created a timetable of preparation which makes sure I work on my weak areas and my overall fitness. Every weekday I am up at 6am and I embark on a 4 mile run. This is so that I can get used to the early starts and so that I can improve my fitness levels. Half way round my run I always make sure I stop and carry out 50 press ups and 50 sit ups. When I get home from work I then sit down for an hour and work on my knowledge of the Army and the branch that I am applying for. Every other day I work on my aptitude test ability and I make sure I read a good quality newspaper so that I am up to date with Army operations and the more important current affairs issues. Finally, I have been working on my household skills such as ironing and cleaning.’
What are the values of the British Army?
Every soldier and officer is expected to abide by these important values and therefore it is not unreasonable for the Army to expect you to know them when you apply. You are likely to be asked a question that relates to the values during the ACA interview so make sure you know them and what each one of them means. Here is a sample response to this question.
SAMPLE RESPONSE
‘The values of the British Army are a selfless commitment, courage, discipline, integrity, loyalty and respect for others. It is important to be strong and aggressive in battle but to also behave properly and demonstrate self control at all times. Army soldiers and officers have to be aggressive and strong in battle, yet behave properly and show self-control all of the time. Being courageous means facing up to danger and doing what is right at all times. Discipline means having the ability to maintain constant high standards, so that others can rely on you. Integrity means earning the respect and trust of your work colleagues. Loyalty is being faithful to your work colleagues and to your duty and having respect for others mean treating everybody with respect and dignity at all times.’
Speed, Distance and Time Tutorial
When trying to solve these problems it is important to consider four variables: speed, distance, time and wind. Try not to get too worried as three of these variables will always be known. The easiest way to solve these equations is to use the following formulas:
The triangular diagram above helps you to remember the formula. If you place your thumb over the variable you are trying to discover, you will then see the equation required. For example if we wanted to obtain the time, placing your thumb on time would show that you would need to divide distance by speed.
SAMPLE SPEED, DISTANCE AND TIME QUESTIONS
SAMPLE ARMY OFFICER AOSB QUESTION 1
A plane travels 600 miles in 3 hours. What is the plane’s speed?
Formula: Speed = distance ÷ time
Speed = 600 ÷ 3 = 200 mph
SAMPLE ARMY OFFICER AOSB QUESTION 2
A plane is flying at 300 knots for 70 minutes. What is the distance?
With this problem it is important to remember to work in minutes. So, 300 knots = 5 miles per minute (300 ÷ 60).
70 (minutes) × 5 = 350 miles
You can use the formulae but you need to convert the minutes into hours and remember that 0.1 = 1/10 of 60 minutes:
Formula: Distance = speed × time
Distance = 300 × 1.1666r = 350
To assist your preparation we have compiled a fantastic AOSB resource that will help you prepare fully for your assessment at the Army Officer Selection Board, containing loads of sample test questions and explanations like the ones above.
In addition to speed, distance and time tests we will also provide you with 8 sample planning exercises for you to work through.
Army Officer Selection Board Workbook – Planning Exercises and Speed, Distance and Time Questions
- Contains 100s of sample speed, distance and time questions. It is imperative that you are competent in the use of SDT calculations when you attend the Army Officer Selection Board – they are an integral part of testing throughout the assessment. Providing you with a mass of sample questions including answers.
AOSB Workbook – 8 Planning Exercises
- The AOSB Workbook contains 8 sample individual/group planning exercises varying in degrees of complexity. These exercises are an excellent resource for allowing you to hone your skills prior to the AOSB assessment. Solutions to each exercise are provided.
PASS THE ARMY OFFICER INTERVIEWS
- Contains lots of of sample speed, distance and time questions to help you prepare for the Army Officer Selection Board (AOSB).
- Personal coaching and training by an Armed Forces recruitment expert.
- Sample responses and answers to assist you in your development.
- 8 planning exercises of varying difficulties.
Pass the Army Officer Interviews. First Time.
Crafted for everyone, no matter your skill level or background, these downloads were made to help you achieve one goal: Join the army as an officer.
Scoring Criteria
Essential information about how you will be assessed during each stage of the selection process.
UP-TO-DATE FOR 2025
All questions have been verified by our assessment panel experts for the 2025 interviews.
PLANNING EXERCISES INCLUDED
Plenty of practice planning exercises and suggested answers to help you prepare.
SAMPLE RESPONSES TO EACH INTERVIEW QUESTION
Sample answers to help you construct your own winning Army officer interview questions.
INSIDER SECRETS
Insider tips on how to answer the questions and a breakdown on how you will be scored.
SCORE-BOOSTING STRATEGIES
Get ahead of the competition with unique and proven strategies 16 years in the making.
Customer Success Stories
Having helped 1,000s of aspiring Army Officer applicants for over 16 years, it is no wonder our customers love us…
Recommend this book to any body considering joining the armed forces.
The book is full of all the information you will need. Very handy and worth the money!
Easy to follow and understand. Gives a very detailed plan on how to achieve the goal of becoming an Army Officer.
Feeling much more confident having been able to read exactly how candidates are assessed and adjust my preparation for the testing accordingly.
Makes one an officer!!!
WHAT’S INCLUDED IN YOUR DOWNLOAD?
Complete guidance to ensure you pass the Army Officer Selection Board.
Revealed – Tips to help you successfully pass the Army Officer interviews.
Sample questions and answers to help you prepare you for the planning exercises.
Sample answers to every interview question, so you can draft your own winning responses.
Time-saving strategies and score-boosting methods verified by our panel of Armed Forces recruitment experts
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As well as life-time access to the Army Officer Interview Questions and Answers download, this product also includes a 30-day free trial to Online Army Officer Testing Platform (usually £9.99 + vat per month).
- 100s of questions on each element of the test to help boost your scores!
- Practice all of thetest questions under timed conditions using our online testing suite.
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- Scores are tracked so you can focus on areas that need improvement.
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