The Army Officer Selection Board Guide: Sample Questions & Practice Tests [2025]

The AOSB selection process includes mental and physical assessments used to evaluate a variety of traits deemed necessary for officers.

These traits include your intelligence, fitness (stamina, agility, upper body strength, etc.), as well as your problem-solving, leadership, and teamwork skills. Here is a general breakdown of what you can expect during your time at Westbury:

The initial briefing lasts over 24 hours and includes the following:

• Welcome Address
• Introduction to AOSB – Here you will be split into teams and receive information about Briefing and Main Board.

Tip: Have an icebreaker at the ready – e.g. be prepared to talk about your hobbies, interests (outside of the military), family, etc.

• Group Exercise – You and your assigned group will discuss many current event topics chosen by the board. Be up to date in both UK and worldwide military affairs. Being aware of what’s going on in the world allows you to bring something of substance to the discussion during this exercise.

Tip: Keep up to date with current affairs using BBC news, newspaper websites, and magazines. For military affairs, use the UK Defence Journal.

• Psychometric Assessments – These tests give the selection board an idea of how you work out complex problems, analyze, and understand data – all of which are essential traits for most military roles. These tests include:

1. Numerical Reasoning
2. Verbal Reasoning
3. Abstract Reasoning

• Planning Exercise (AKA Planex) – You are given 15 minutes to read a scenario brief. From there, you are tasked with agreeing upon a solution with your group. The purpose of this task is to assess your communication, leadership, and teamwork abilities.
• Obstacle Course – The obstacle course is made up of many elements, including hurdles and a long jump. You must get through as many obstacles as you can within the time limit.
• Command/Leaderless Tasks – These tasks will be held outdoors and are used to assess your leadership and teamwork abilities. Each task will either have a clearly defined leader (command) or none at all (leaderless). The point of these tasks is to show initiative and help your fellow group mates reach a collective goal.
• Fitness Tests – The minimum requirements of the AOSB fitness tests are:
  • Reach 8.7 on a bleep test
  • Throw a 4kg medicine ball 3.1 metres from a seated position
  • Lift 76kg in a mid-thigh pull

• Interview with Team Leader – In your initial interview you are generally asked about your motivation for wanting to become an army officer, your understanding of what an officer does, and plans if you pass or fail.

Tip: Make sure the interviewer knows becoming an officer was your decision. If you say you were convinced to try by someone else, you may be disqualified.

Your AOSB Briefing result will be discussed during a brief final interview which will cover the strengths and weaknesses you exhibited. Once this interview is completed, you will find out which category you receive based on your performance.

AOSB Briefing Performance Categories:

If you have passed the initial briefing, you will receive an invitation to attend Main Board. Main Board lasts 3 ½ days and consists of many of the activities you participated in while on Brief, albeit, with a few exceptions:

• Personality Test: This assessment measures your interpersonal skills, i.e. how you interact with others.
• Essay: Your team leader will present your group with 5 or more topics to write about regarding current events or broader political, social, or economic questions. This part of the assessment centre tests your sentence structure, English level, spelling, neatness, etc. It also tests whether you can offer a set, clear and concise argument.
• Military Knowledge/Current Affairs Test: Brush up on your knowledge of military equipment, command hierarchy, etc. as well as current events within the UK and the rest of the world.
• Lecturette: You will prepare to give a 5-minute talk and take questions from the group.
• Additional Interviews
• Team Dinner

Remember: You get only two attempts to pass the Main Board and a minimum of 8 months must pass between these attempts. As such, preparing for each assessment gives you a better chance of passing the AOSB selection process and moving on to officer training at Sandhurst.

You will only have one chance to complete the AOSB Briefing and two chances to complete the AOSB Main Board. Depending on your AOSB Briefing performance category, you may be able to try again within a set period or appeal for a second chance, however.

Based on data from the Ministry of Defence, the average AOSB Briefing category 1 pass rate is 37%, and the AOSB Main Board average pass rate is 57%.

The data is based on recruitment years 2014-2018:

Digital watch with stopwatch function- incredibly useful for planning exercises (Planex) and command tasks.

Notepad and pen- For the same reasons and the watch, and to write whatever you might need to remember. Bring a spare pen!

Washing (and shaving) kit- note that men are expected to be cleanly shaven on both days.

Spare shirts- 2 additional plain white shirts will serve you as alternatives in case you start to sweat.

IDs- Bring your passport, and driver's license if you have one.

Bring both a plain civilian suit and tie and PT clothes including trainers so you can present yourself well and partake in the physical activities comfortably.

Enlistment to the British Army has been open to the Commonwealth since 2018. However, The British Army does not currently accept applications from the Commonwealth due to COVID-19.