Careful study of the new beta website for the Service
https://raf-beta-public.org
both at senior commander level and at station commander level makes one point crystal clear.
To be promoted to any rank above Wing Commander a good university degree and preferably a masters degree is required.
There are currently only two 4 star appointments the current CDS and the current CAS. I suspect that when the CDS retires, there will be only one ACM.
The RAF Board comprises the CAS, three 3 star and three 2 star officers and two civilians.
Station Commanders with good academic qualifications appear to have been fast tracked to the rank of Group Captain. One such example being the O.C. Valley, whom after University took a short service commission, which was converted to a permanent commission in 2002 in the rank of FLT Lt and eleven years later was promoted to Group Captain, gathering a DSO along the way.
https://raf-beta-public.org/our-orga...ns/raf-valley/