As a guards,Are you allowed to be doing civilian courses on your free time and have holiday for exam sessions

Hi there,

Thanks for your question.

If you are studying part time and want to join the Regular Army it will depend on the hours you are committed to on your course. It is unlikely that you would be able to study whilst in training as the tempo of training is full on and you need to give it your full attention. Once you get to your Regiment or Corps you’d then need to discuss it with your chain of command. I was able to release a couple of my soldiers to study degrees, allowing them an afternoon a week to study, and releasing them from non-essential duties to allow them to attend night school twice a week. However, they understood that the needs of the service still came first and that I could not guarantee being able to release them from work. They explained this to their tutors who were very understanding.

The Army actively encourages all ranks to continue with their education and personal development so they will always try to support you and release you to study when able.

I hope this helps in answering your question but please come back to me if you want to know more.

Katie

Thanks for your question

I’m in the welsh guards and I have done quite a few civilian qualifications at distance learning and arranged tests or written exams on weekends or leave periods.

If there is scope in the programme, you could put a leave day in during the week to get the exam done.

J

Thanks so much Katie and James for the answers