Start with the government's free preparation before paying
The British Army officer assessment guidance covers Briefing and Main Board, including practical assessment descriptions. The Royal Navy/Royal Marines fitness preparation service provides official free plans. The RAF DAA familiarisation material explains the actual assessment's six public ability areas.
These official resources should be your baseline. A paid course must demonstrate distinct added value—additional original practice, individual feedback, structured preparation, support or accountability—rather than repackaging the public material you can already obtain free.
Six questions to ask a military preparation provider
1. Check the exact stage, not just the word military
Ask whether the product covers your actual Army AOSB Briefing, Main Board, Royal Marines PJFA/CPC, RAF DAA, officer CBAT or another named assessment. Formats and official instructions differ. A generic aptitude pack is not necessarily an AOSB or RAF CBAT simulator.
2. Ask who teaches or writes the material
Look for a real named provider, demonstrable teaching credentials, relevant experience and responsible editorial updates. Military service alone does not demonstrate professional coaching, injury management or safeguarding competence.
3. Verify current official requirements independently
A good independent course identifies the recruiting-service source, date and applicable role or assessment stage. Avoid packs promising fixed pass marks for all roles, classified questions, insider access or guaranteed success.
4. Compare the full cost and what is actually delivered
A one-off question pack, recurring digital subscription and coached programme are fundamentally different. Obtain written prices, renewal timing, refund/cancellation rules, contact support and exactly how feedback is provided.
5. Check safety, insurance and age suitability
Fitness coaching should use qualified professionals, appropriate health boundaries, clear insurance and safeguarding processes where relevant. Do not buy an extreme training plan merely because it advertises an elite unit.
6. Protect your information
Do not share medical records, sensitive application IDs or security-vetting information with third-party coaching or referral services. Ask how minimal enquiry data is stored, used and deleted, and whether referral commissions are disclosed.
Digital aptitude practice, live interview coaching and fitness training aren't substitutes
Digital question banks can help you rehearse original verbal, numerical, spatial and other reasoning skills. They do not replicate confidential selection questions or guarantee assessment scores. Live interview or group planning support may help some candidates with independent feedback; it should never be represented as official access to an assessment board. Fitness support has different insurance and professional qualification requirements from a browser-based maths exercise.
CBAT-style officer aptitude and Defence Aptitude Assessment (DAA) are not universally interchangeable. Neither is Army ACT practice a substitute for Army officer selection tasks. When a commercial website lists broad military terms, ask exactly which assessment is covered and whether that claim comes from up-to-date official recruitment descriptions.
How to compare paid offers fairly
Get three comparable written offers only when you know the same service is being offered. Record the total cost for the expected preparation window, the number of lessons/questions or coached sessions, refund and cancellation rules, feedback quality, expertise evidence, and the date the provider last reviewed current recruitment requirements. An advertised lowest price can be a poor comparator against a comprehensive offering.
Be wary of provider performance statistics without cohort definitions, independently verifiable evidence or counterfactuals. A self-selected testimonial cannot establish a general selection success rate. Project Selection will not publish an “approved provider” badge until actual due diligence, consent and commercial-disclosure checks have been completed.
What should you do if your assessment is soon?
Confirm your invitation and joining instructions with the recruiting service directly. Begin with the independent pathway finder and free practice tools. If you are seeking help, specify the named assessment and how many weeks remain; avoid sharing application IDs or sensitive health records.
Is Project Selection selling private coaching?
Not at present. We are evaluating the possibility of independent specialist support. We do not claim that a coach is available to book, that partners have been vetted, or that a paid programme is ready for purchase. You can create an editable email enquiry for manual consideration. Nothing is sent until you press Send in your own email app.
Project Selection is an independent educational platform and not affiliated with the Ministry of Defence or the Armed Forces. The official service controls standards and selection decisions.