A Complete Guide to AOSB Briefing: Tests, Exercises, and Interview Tips
This AOSB briefing guide includes practice tests, top tips and insider secrets for success. We’ll walk you through each part of the day and show you how to prepare. Let’s get started.
Table of Contents
1 Useful Starting-Point Resource
- Practice the AOSB briefing tests here.
Download our Ultimate Assessment Day & Interview Guide 2022 here. (It's packed with tips, tricks and insider-secrets to help you succeed.)
What is the AOSB Briefing?
If you want to join the British Army as an officer you will have to attend the AOSB briefing. It’s a 3-day assessment event that measures candidates intelligence and aptitude.
What happens at the AOSB briefing?
The AOSB briefing is much like any other assessment centre; your suitability for the role you have applied for will be carefully assessed through a range of assessment activities and exercises.
Watch the video below to get a feel for the AOSB briefing and to learn a few useful tips:
Now let’s get into the detail of the AOSB briefing and each activity.
An overview of the AOSB Briefing
Your AOSB briefing will begin with introductory presentations and then you will be required to take part in assessment activities:
- Introduction from an Army Colonel
- Introduction to the AOSB briefing. (Processes, procedures and structure of the AOSB briefing.)
- Group exercise
- Aptitude tests
- Numerical reasoning
- Verbal reasoning
- Abstract reasoning
- Planning exercise
- Teaching of practical techniques
- Fitness test
- Interview
Let’s go through each assessment exercise of the AOSB briefing in more detail.
AOSB Briefing – Group exercise
Most candidates dread group exercises, but they are a great way to get noticed and to demonstrate a multitude of skills in one assessment activity.
- This group exercise is usually presented as an ‘informal group discussion’, but make no mistake this is a critical part of the overall assessment.
- This group exercise is designed to examine how you communicate with others and how you work as a team.
Every element of your inter-personal skills are under scrutiny here, but primarily you are being assessed on your ability to communicate and influence others. Can you explain your opinion and persuade others of its merit?
Don’t be verbose. Don’t use lots of words to communicate a simple idea. Speak simply. Be clear.
Group exercises are a very delicate balancing act. You have to take part and be assertive, without over-stepping the line.
Action point: Read our popular group exercise guide to learn how to succeed in this exercise: How To Perform Superbly In A Group Exercise
Top tip: Make sure you are up-to-date on current affairs for this task. Read the news in the week prior to your AOSB briefing.
AOSB Briefing Aptitude test
The AOSB briefing aptitude test has 3 sections: Numerical reasoning, verbal reasoning and abstract reasoning.
You will sit the aptitude test on a computer and calculators are not allowed. You will be given a pen and paper to help with your calculations and to demonstrate your workings out.
All sections will be multiple choice but don’t let this fool you – there is a tight time frame and if you don’t work quickly you will easily run out of time.
AOSB Briefing numerical reasoning test
This is a maths test. You will be asked to answer 36 questions in 15 minutes. You will be presented with various types of numerical data and will need to analyse this data and choose the correct answers.
Action point: Practice the AOSB briefing numerical tests here.
Want some more help? No problem, we’ve got your covered…
We get more emails about numerical reasoning than anything else. (People really hate these tests!) Thankfully, we have lots of material that will help you.
Check out the video below to pick up some killer tips. Visit our Numerical Reasoning Hub to watch more videos and find lots of advice, and numerical hints and tips.
AOSB Briefing verbal reasoning test
This assessment measures your ability to understand and manipulate written text.
There are 40 questions in 15 minutes. You will need to read a paragraph and four sentences that relate to it. You will then need to decide if each statement is ‘true’, ‘false’ or ‘cannot be determined’.
You can read our verbal reasoning success guide to learn how to succeed in verbal reasoning tests.
Action point: Practice the AOSB briefing verbal reasoning test here.
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AOSB Briefing abstract reasoning test
Abstract reasoning is all about patterns. You will be shown two groups of shapes, A and B. You will then be presented with further shapes and you must decide which group they belong in.
You will have 12 minutes to complete 70 questions.
Abstract reasoning tests can be genuinely weird and disorienting for people who aren’t familiar with this form of assessment.
We strongly recommend you read our abstract reasoning guide to learn more about this type of test and pick up some top tips for how to succeed.
Action point: Practice the AOSB abstract reasoning test here.
AOSB Briefing – The interview
Interviews can be daunting but we have you covered:
- Be sure to check out our interview section for a lot of interview secrets and tips.
- You can also learn how to prepare for an interview here
- Learn how to behave during an interview here
The AOSB briefing interview is an opportunity for the assessors to learn who you are as a person. It’s important that you allow your personality to shine through, but in the right way. You want to project a clear image of your best professional self. This isn’t easy, but it can be learned.
Action point: Read the guides in our interview section for a crash course in elite interview performance.
AOSB fitness tests & planning exercise
The video below explains what you will face during your fitness test and the information for the planning exercise will be given to you beforehand.
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Sarah is an accomplished educator, researcher and author in the field of testing and assessment. She has worked with various educational institutions and organisations to develop innovative evaluation methods and enhance student learning. Sarah has published numerous articles and books on assessment and learning. Her passion for promoting equity and fairness in the education system fuels her commitment to sharing insights and best practices with educators and policymakers around the world.
