10 Ways Distance Learning Fits Your Armed Forces Career

A career in the British Armed Forces is dynamic and fulfilling. However, the demands of military life can make earning an academic qualification with an action-packed career feel like mission impossible.

But thanks to tech advances, online study is a superb ship-shape solution – to find out more, read 10 ways distance learning can fit your armed forces career.

As a member of the Armed Forces you will be operating on a global scale – for instance, current Army deployments include territories stretching from Canada to Brunei.

So when you can’t commit to attending a physical campus, distance learning overcomes this obstacle by harnessing tech to allow you to study from anywhere with a decent internet connection.

You’ll appreciate that an Armed Forces Career is more than just a job. Your duties are demanding and you need to be diligent and disciplined.

From looking at an example of a day in the life of a Royal Navy Weapons Engineer Officer ARU Distance Learning understands the challenges you may have. It might involve a daily briefing, completing a set of explosive rounds in magazines, checking weapons systems and representing the captain as officer of the day.

But the beauty of ARU distance learning is that it allows you to make the most of your downtime by flexing study around your duties.

Career pathways in different services are distinct, but an institution like ARU Distance Learning has designed a suite of Armed Forces courses that are tailor made for your career progression – whether that’s in the Army, Royal Navy, Air Force or Royal Marines.

So whether you want to pursue healthcare management in the RAF, are a Royal Engineer seeking a customised MBA or are focused on becoming a Navy health and social care leader, you’ll find a course that fulfils your career aspirations.

Throughout your Armed Forces career, you’ll have absorbed valuable transferable technical and people skills – these can cover anything from maintaining complex machinery to motivating colleagues in challenging circumstances and environments.

So as well as arming you with entirely new knowledge, a distance learning course can teach you how to apply your hard-won expertise to any sector once you choose to transition to civvy street.

Reputable and responsible distance learning course providers work closely with the Armed Forces when designing and delivering qualifications, to ensure that they enhance rather than disrupt your daily duties and integrate smoothly with the rigours of military operations.

This means that there’s no need to arrange extra time off – in-built flexibility means you can continue with business as usual while gaining academic recognition for formal training and quickstepping towards career advancement.

The academic level academic level of course that best suits your needs can depend on different criteria like your rank, prior academic experience, career stage, available time commitment and vocational goal.

And luckily, many distance learning courses are available at foundation, undergraduate and postgraduate academic levels – so you’ll easily find the level that suits your current stage and propels you towards your next career destination.

The MOD’s ELCAS (Enhanced Learning Credits Administration Service) can provide you with financial support for many distance learning courses, which means that you don’t need to worry about finding all of the necessary funds for fees. .

Provided you meet eligibility requirements, you could receive a single up-front payment in each of a maximum of three separate financial years – creating the peace of mind needed to balance study with Armed Forces and family commitments.

Your Armed Forces career can take you to a range of exotic locations on land, sea and air and instils the confidence that comes from working closely with colleagues from a range of diverse backgrounds.

And distance learning extends your global network even further by allowing you to forge new relationships with comrades who could be based anywhere but share your military mindset and values.

If you’re a military spouse, you’ll appreciate that supporting your partner in their career involves sacrifices like being prepared to change plans suddenly or moving your family to foreign locations with varying cultural norms – all of which present challenges to spouses with academic and career ambitions.

But thanks to the convenience of distance learning, you no longer have to put your aspirations on the backburner – supportive virtual learning environments mean that earning a career-focused qualification is perfectly viable.

The two main principles of the Armed Forces Covenant are that no Armed Forces community member should face disadvantage in the provision of public and commercial services when compared to any other citizen and that in some circumstances (for instance, injury or bereavement) special treatment is appropriate.

As signatories to this pledge, course providers like ARU Distance Learning has a specialist Degrees At Work Team which partners with each arm of the services to ensure that courses are not only specifically designed with the demands of military life in mind, but that appropriate specialised support is available for forces students wherever and whenever it’s necessary.

These 10 reasons that distance learning fits your Armed Forces career prove that this study mode pays particular attention to meeting the unique demands of military life – and should put you at ease when choosing a career-enhancing course.

Want to find out more about distance learning? Take a look at the following articles:

• How Does Distance Learning Work?
• Are Distance Learning Courses Recognised?
• What Support Will I Get On A Distance Learning Course?