It is (gulp!) 19 years since I had my last one at Biggin Hill, I had 3, all the same, at 16 for ATC Flying Scholarship, 17 for Pilot and 18 for NCO Aircrew. I was successful on the first and last attempts!

It is very thorough, obviously, the eye test is in 2 parts, vision capability and the actual health of your eyes, there is also a difficult hearing check (what?) and an ECG. It takes about 8 hours to get through it, but most of that is either waiting or moving between the test areas, and yes you do get a (cough!) hernia check.

A couple of things: be careful of the length of your lib from bum to knee in sitting position, I had to encourage the nurse to make sure I was sat correctly as I was on (over) the limit for the bang seat.
Another thing to watch for is admitting to Hay Fever, if you get it, then it may impair your flying (Ears full), and it is a chargeable offence to self-medicate…..

If you want to get some practice, then go for a Regular Commissions Board with the army first, it is much, much harder and the RAF entry seems much easier afterwards 😎

If the selection process is the same as in my day, the aptitude tests are mind-blowing, eg you do one test to remember sequences of up to 14 numbers, then you do another test to keep a spot in some cross-hairs, then next you do the first test with your left hand, whilst doing the other test with your right hand…… 😮

Finally the Interview, whatevre your views you want to fly fast jet, they recruit for that and stream downwards, I made the mistake of admitting to want to fly Hercs (doing a real job, humanitarian effort in Ethiopa at the time, etc).

Saying all that it has probably changed a lot since I did it, and it is really easy…… 😀