The Army Preparation Course is a 12 week long course (17 weeks at Lackham College) aimed at potential recruits who are in the process of joining the Army. They are specifically designed to help improve the ability of the candidate, giving them a better chance of gaining a pass at the Army Development and Selection Centre (ADSC).

The courses are run by a mixture of College Staff and Regular Army soldiers providing a rounded and informative learning experience. The College staff provide the expertise in classroom based and outdoor education whilst the Army provide the subject matter experts who mentor the students through the course providing advice and instruction.

The courses include a mixture of classroom based activities, physical training, outdoor education (which could include expeditions, climbing, kayaking, team building tasks etc). The classroom based lesson include literacy and numeracy, which is important for soldiers and is required when it comes to promotion later on in their career as well as map reading theory and interview skills. The literacy and numeracy is aimed at level one except for Lackham College who offer a longer course aimed at level two.

The colleges involved in this scheme are:

Duchy College, Nr Callington, Cornwall (Residential)

Filton College, Bristol

Kingston Maurward, Nr Dorchester, Dorset

Lackham College, Nr Chippenham, Wiltshire (17 weeks)

Due to the location at Filton College some of the course content will be held at Lackham College near Chippenham.