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in service degrees

booboo

Old Salt
A mate of mine is a Lt in RLC (ok he's not a mate, he's my brother-you can't choose your family!) & he's got no real qualifications but this Sept he's due to go to uni to study... wait for it... logistics. I reckon this is just a way of getting rid of the useless fat fecker for 3yrs, how will this improve/impact on his prospects in the long term?
Ta
Boob
 
I did an in-service degree as a Lt in the RLC, although admittedly it was not in Logistics. It has done me no harm at all. Although he will lose 3 years that could be spent learning his trade and commanding soldiers, given that most people that are commissioned these days are graduates, he will be no different to them in terms of time spent in the Field Army as a subaltern.

One thing I will say though, whilst there he should make the most of the opportunity to be a civvie and not be too military. There will be plenty of time for that later.

Bottom line: it won't hurt; he can act like a student and know that he has a job when he leaves; oh, and he is getting paid for it!
 
I am doing one now. The process starts with you expressing an interest up the CoC. You then have to complete your UCAS form like all applicants, and a Corps-specific application up through MCM Div. Your Corps will choose the ones they want to fill their quotas and forward on to an Army Board that confirms the applicants, subject to your offers through UCAS. Process starts each year around Aug/Sept and final confirmation comes around Feb the following year, for a Sept intake if you get in.

Last time I checked those eligible were RE, R SIGNALS, RA and REME, with each having a share of about 12 places each year at one of the 5 universities open for ISD courses.

If anyone needs any more info happy to help.

Edited for my appalling typing - uni has changed nothing there!
 
Do you know whether, if on completion of an in service degree, there will be a positive impact on the officers pay. I am hoping to go to RMAS in January and belive that throughout training and after passing out I will be opperating on a lower rate of pay as I don't have a degree. Does getting an ISD even things out? Do you know if its possible to do an Open University degree in you own time so as not to miss out on field time and promotions.

J
 
Well, if you complete an in-service degree you will have three years on a salary of around £26K pa (unlike the graduate entrant); all your accommodation, tuition and living costs will be paid (unlike the graduate entrant); and you will be 3 years further up the pay scale (like the graduate entrant). I'd say that more than evens thing out.

You can complete an OU degree while serving, but don't underestimate the amount of work it takes - it's not an easy option, and becomes even more difficult if you go on ops in the meantime, not least because you'll miss out on the OU gatherings that take place in UK.

Bottom line: if the system thinks you are good enough to sponsor through a degree, and you're happy to accept the time bar that follows, then jump at the chance.

Best wishes

Don
 
booboo said:
OK, what happens if you fail your ISD?? How would that affect your career??

I know of at least one Commanding Officer who did not complete his in service degree; it does not appear to have done his long term prospects any harm!

Going back to an earlier post, when I did my in service degree we had an Infantry offier on my course and I can remember at least one other Infantry officer a year or two below, plu a handful of Gunners. That was however about twenty years ago and at RMCS Shrivenham, when they still did first degrees; things may have changed under the new system.
 
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