Officers and Aircrew Selection Centre

To join the RAF as Non-Commissioned Aircrew (NCA), you must first pass a series of selection tests. These will take place over three days at the Officers and Aircrew Selection Centre at the RAF College Cranwell in Lincolnshire.

Your time at OASC will help you decide whether an NCA career is right for you. It also gives us an opportunity to assess your aptitude, physical fitness and ability to succeed with further training.

Your assessment will be overseen by a selection board made up of two experienced RAF officers. The board president – a senior RAF officer – will have the final say on the grade you receive.

OASC at a glance

• An initial briefing will cover the tasks we’ll set for you and the standards we expect you to achieve.
• You’ll complete a series of aptitude tests on a PC.
• Once we have the results of your aptitude tests, we’ll review your performance, focusing on the skills that are most important for the career you have selected.
• For the exercise phase you’ll be grouped with three to five other candidates and complete five exercises that show your leadership potential and style in a variety of challenging environments.
• You’ll be interviewed. This will be an opportunity to tell us about your achievements so far – at school or in college – and why you want to join the RAF. You’ll also be able to ask any further questions you may have.
• An occupational health assessment will confirm that you are fit to carry out military service.

• You’ll also need to complete a multi-stage fitness test; this involves a series of shuttle runs followed by sit-ups and press-ups.

When you leave OASC, the officers who assessed you will discuss your performance with the board president. The president will award you a grade and you will be considered in competition with other candidates.

You’ll receive your results about three to four weeks later. If you’re successful at OASC, your next step will be RAF Halton in Buckinghamshire where you’ll undertake basic recruit training. This will be followed by 10 weeks of leadership training at the RAF College Cranwell in Lincolnshire. For more information see our page on NCA initial training.

For more information about OASC download the brochure or call 0845 605 5555.