The Student Room Group

RCB Sandhurst

Hi

I am taking my pre RCB in just over 1 month. I have few aptitude test books to help me get used to the style of testing and generally increase my confidence.

I would say my numerical ability at the moment is pretty poor and I was wondering if anyone could give me any useful information or tips on a) how I can improve this aspect in relation to what I will be tested on and b) any other useful literature, sites, suggestions about the RCB test and what I can expect?

The planning bit worries me the most, are there any other sites such as that speeddistancetime site? - which is very good by the way!

Thanks a lot in advance for any responses.
Reply 1
hope that this is you le mange??
Reply 2
It is mate, knew it was you with a name like MOOOOOOOOLE.

No replies yet, holding tight!
Reply 3
Hello AHP, I was looking for a similar site. Somone posted this site for me to practice Sp,Ti,Di......

http://www.speeddistancetime.info/index.php

I don't have much knowledge of what they test on at the RCB, but if the planning tasks are similar to the OASC tasks, this is what I would recommend......

For S/T/D write out a list and learn like the following.....

20mph - 1/3 mileperminute - 1mile every 3mins

40mph - 2/3 mileperminute - 1 mile every 90secs

60mph - 1m/p/m - 1mile every 60secs

90mph - 1.5 milesperminute - 1 mile every 40secs

120mph - 2milesperminute - 1 mile every 30secs

Add more as you feel appropriate. I would personally go upto about 240mph, as they are unlikely to ask you about a supersonic aircraft travelling at x miles per hour!

Know your times tables well, and know how to multiply and divide well, so that you could do them in your sleep!!

Also memorising numbers is important. Look through a telephone book, look at a number for a 4/5seconds and see how accurately you can write it down. Then move onto two phone numbers etc etc...

These are based on attending OASC last year, so it could well be quite different, but I am guessing that the aptitude tests will incorporate similar testings!?

James
Reply 4
Yep pretty much the same... try searching the forum for OASC prep/RCB prep... only thing I know about RCB is that there are certain elements on the assault course (this is according to an article I red which I think was posted on here :confused: ) that are pass or fail and basically designed to assess your courage. Your planning ex is ALOT longer than hours (you get like an hour to prep or something!) and you can expect to be grilled heavily about your plan/suggestions/solutions...

Maths *ahem* not exactly being my strong point either, I would definately recommend knowing your times tables as it just makes life easier!

Stavix may be able to provide more info on RCB...?
Reply 6
Guys

Thanks for all yoursuggestions, all very helpful and I'm sure the Sp, Di, Ti equations will be engrained in my brain within in a months time so cheers for that b16a2.

Any further thought welcome.

Thanks again.
Reply 7
AHP
Hi

I am taking my pre RCB in just over 1 month. I have few aptitude test books to help me get used to the style of testing and generally increase my confidence.

I would say my numerical ability at the moment is pretty poor and I was wondering if anyone could give me any useful information or tips on a) how I can improve this aspect in relation to what I will be tested on and b) any other useful literature, sites, suggestions about the RCB test and what I can expect?

The planning bit worries me the most, are there any other sites such as that speeddistancetime site? - which is very good by the way!

Thanks a lot in advance for any responses.


Don't know about the books but the RCB briefing aptitude tests aren't amazingly tricky - certainly nowhere near as taxing as OASC.

As I remember the numerical reasoning tests require a lot of taking information from tables and graphs. So make sure you're familiar with tables, percentages, bar charts and pie charts. You get a piece of paper and pencil to work them out on, which again is nicer than at OASC. The verbal reasoning parts are like in the book where you're given a passage to read through and they ask you questions on it that are true, false or can't tell. The spatial awareness one is the trickiest since some of the patterns can be pretty obscure. They'll give you a practice before you start to make sure you're comfortable with what it is you are trying to do. If you've met the minimum entry requirements you should have some grey matter between your ears, so passing the tests really shouldn't be a problem. If you fail them you get a Cat 4 since you're deemed to be dumber than the people you're meant to be leading, so providing you're slightly brighter than the average squaddie there should be no worries. I don't think it's like the RAF where getting poor aptitude scores precludes you from branch choices - I think it's just pass or fail (althouh you may get a smiley face in your report for scoring highy).

As was mentioned earlier, make sure you're fairly comfortable with speed/distance/time calcs. Work everything out in minutes per mile and go from there. They have a nasty habit of randomly throwing them at you in interviews to put you under pressure. Most things in the army happen at landrover or walking pace, so make sure you're very comfortable at 3,4,20,30 and 60 mph, but be sure to be able to calculate any others they throw at you (chances are you won't need to go as far as decimals but don't quote me on that).

The briefing is primarily intended to show you what you're letting yourself in for at RCB, not really to select you so don't get too worked up about it. Hit 10.2 on the bleep test, follow their instructions, contribute usefully in everything (don't be a 'grey' man), and don't get flustered. They'll be looking to pressure you - don't flap, take a breath, compose yourself and then answer. Most of the people I was there with either got Cat 1 or Cat 2.6 to work on their fitness. You'll probably spot the people who won't get through as soon as you sit down with them, and unfortunately if you're one of those people you probably should reconsider your career choice anyway - no amount maths revision will help you.
Reply 8
Wayne

Very much appreciated, your words of wisdom will come in handy I'm sure. I assure you the grey matter between my ears will be out to good use. I'm assuming yuo have already taken and passed your RCB.

Have you done Sandhurst yet or are you waiting to go in?

Cheers
Reply 9
AHP
Wayne

Very much appreciated, your words of wisdom will come in handy I'm sure. I assure you the grey matter between my ears will be out to good use. I'm assuming yuo have already taken and passed your RCB.

Have you done Sandhurst yet or are you waiting to go in?

Cheers


I did the briefing in May. I was apparently well on for a Cat 1 but messed up on the obstacle course and so got a 2.6. I did OASC a month or so ago and have been offered a commission in the RAF (IOT 6 if anyone's interested) and decided to take that. Have you been on any fam visits yet? If not I'd recommend having a word with your careers liaison officer and get some organised. They're good fun and give you a good insight into what you'll be up to post Sandhurst. Corp sponsorship is also good as they'll have a dedicated team willing to bend over backwards to help you out wherever they can.
Reply 10
HI

New to the site, but wondering if anyone could give me some info on the assault course? How long you have to do it in and what sort of obstacles there are. Have heard about the wall (not sure how high though), the 'window', and climbing up a rope. If anyone can help it would be really appreciated!
Reply 11
Nordern
New to the site, but wondering if anyone could give me some info on the assault course? How long you have to do it in and what sort of obstacles there are. Have heard about the wall (not sure how high though), the 'window', and climbing up a rope. If anyone can help it would be really appreciated!


Have you been on your briefing yet? If so most of the above should have been explained to you. I think the assault course is a best effort so don't worry about the time, hit it as hard as you can, don't walk between obstacles and if you can't go over something try to go through it! I'm probably not best placed to give advice on assault courses though - I'm pants at them myself :redface:
It depends on whether your doing the breifing or the main board. I did my Briefing in August and being a girl the obstacle course was alot easier for us compared to the guys. It started off with a 2 hurdles, then Long jump, them assending bars, then..... Climbing a wall (it was quite high for the guys) then i think the last thing was jumping on to a platform then swinging from a rope on to another platform. One tip is to remember to let go as i didnt and kept swinging, lol.
Best of luck if your going for the briefing - its not bad atall!.
Nordern
HI

New to the site, but wondering if anyone could give me some info on the assault course? How long you have to do it in and what sort of obstacles there are. Have heard about the wall (not sure how high though), the 'window', and climbing up a rope. If anyone can help it would be really appreciated!