OFFICER and AIRCREW 'CANDIDATES' PLEASE READ THIS THREAD FIRST!
Jo and all concerned,
I've recently successfully gone through the selection system for Pilot, so I'll try to answer a few of your Q's and others on this thread as best I can!
After a successful filter interview at your local AFCO, you'll go for an initial screening medical with Capita under the new medical assessment process, where you'll probably find out if your hand will be an issue. As downsizer says, you'll fill in a huge batch of MSLs in the run up to it all - the supplement about your hand will be sent for assessment by the medical board at Cranwell. You'll need to provide details of your GP on those forms and I think Cranwell will contact him/her if required. Whilst I don't think that the deformity will be an issue if you've got all the correct movements and can still fire a gun, I'm no medical professional. Ultimately it'll be the decision of the medical board and they can afford to be picky.
The pass mark for Pilot in the aptitude tests is still 112. They say that a 'competitive' score is 125+, however a mate of mine got in with a score of 117, but he would have scored well in all others areas at OASC to get through and he was very fit. Your aptitude is apparently supposed to increase by 10% each time you take the test (12 months apart) and plateau at about aged 23, but don't hold me to that.
You can't necessarily practice for the tests. The only things I found helpful were practising quick simple mental arithmetic maths and inputting numbers using the number pad on a keyboard with one hand without looking - both massive time savers when it comes to the maths elements of the tests (quite a large majority of them come to think of it).
As far as I'm aware, the maximum age for Pilot is 26 by the time you start your training (IOT), so you've got time to brush up on things. You'll need to know a lot about current affairs, military knowledge, IOT and the Pilot training route (all streams).
The aptitude tests are conducted on a separate occasion before OASC before hand. OASC is conducted over 2 days upon a pass of the ATs. On day 1 you will be put into syndicates of 4-7 people. You will do the group discussion, group planning exercise, leaderless hangar exercise, command hangar exercise and then the individual planning exercise. That night the boarding officers will discuss and make their decision on who to take through to the next day. First thing on day 2 you will be told if you've made it to the next phase or not. If you have, you will have your final medical (anthropometric measurements, full eye test, blood tests, ECG, spirometry and hearing test). interview and then final your fitness test in the gym. Time until finding out varies, but they aim to get back to you within 2-4 weeks.
The interview at OASC is more difficult than the filter one, but it can never hurt to be well prepared for both. They'll ask you to discuss some UK and global news stories that have caught your eye in the last 6 months, so go prepared with 5 of each. They don't all have to be of a military theme. In fact, for a boarding officer who's been conducting regular interviews every week with many candidates, they will probably find it quite refreshing to talk about something different for once. They'll pick one story from each, and discuss and challenge your view on it. Don't back down on your view and have some conviction about your points, but don't get argumentative - they're just seeing how you perform when challenged and under a bit of pressure. Don't try to bullsh*t a bullsh*tter either, they'll spot that and waffling a mile off.
They'll ask you to name some aircraft, their role, maybe which operations they've been involved with, which Sqn they belong to and where they're based.
You'll need to know IOT back to front and inside out, how many weeks it is, the names of the leadership assessment exercises, what happens week by week, where you'll be staying and how it's structured. They'll give you a booklet on IOT in your P2 presentation that has all of the information you'll need, the RAF website has got a stack of stuff on it as well.
They will probably ask you to go through the pilot training courses as well. How long each course is, how many hours of flying (actual and simulator) what you'll fly, how it's assessed, where the courses are held, which Sqn you'll be with and which operational conversion unit you'll eventually end up on. You'll need to know this for each stream, fast jet, rotary and multi-engine. Again, the RAF websites goes through it all in great detail.
Lastly there's the difficult questions that test your substantiation and motivation for joining the RAF. Questions such as 'Why do you want to join the RAF?', 'Why do you want to join as an commissioned Officer?', 'What qualities do you think an Officer in the RAF needs to have? What qualities will you be able to bring to the RAF?' and 'What are the benefits/challenges of service life?'. They will test your attitude towards warfare by posing a situation (you're a pilot that's just ejected and the enemy are coming for you and you've got a pistol, you may have to pull the trigger on someone/you're a pilot, you may have to drop a bomb on a target.) and asking how do you feel about that? The interview is very fast paced. You've got 45 minutes only, no more and no less, to get through everything. They have to fair to everyone on the time allowance. You'll often find them glancing up at the clock above you to make sure they're on time, it can be quite off-putting.
The fitness test pass mark (Green) is, as you say:
Bleep test: 9.10
PUs: 20
SIs: 35
DO NOT aim for just these pass standards. Pilot (as well as every role in the RAF these days) is a very competitive role and they'll be looking for you to attain higher than a green pass if you're going to be competitive. I'd aim for light blue or more if you can, which is:
Bleep test: 11.07
PUs: 40
SIs: 41
The 1.5 mile run is not done at OASC, only the bleep test. However if you are successful, the 1.5 mile is the fitness test they will use at your familiarisation visit 10 weeks before you start IOT and sometimes throughout IOT. It is done outside, not on a treadmill anymore.
Overall: be enthusiastic, a pleasure to talk to, motivated, keen, friendly, engaging, well prepared, physically fit, maintain eye contact and try not to fidget during the interview, and try to enjoy the experience at OASC and BE YOURSELF! Most people try and pretend to be someone they're not, get nervous about it all, end up flapping about it and actually come off worse than if they'd just relaxed, been themselves and enjoyed it. If you're the kind of person that the RAF want, they'll see it much more easily than if you're masking.
This was just my experience at OASC. Whilst the process follows a fairly structured and regimented order, OASC is an ever-changing process, so be prepared. Hopefully this has answered a few of your questions.
Happy to answer any more that people may have.
CM