Hello.

The policing apprenticeship is completed by anyone joining the Royal Military Police (RMP) as a soldier. Realistically, you can apply to join the RMP at any age but you can not start training until you are 17 years and 6 months. Ideally, she should really apply at the age of 17 if she wanted to start training at the 17 years and 6 months point.

From a personal perspective, I sometimes think that joining at an early age can be quite difficult. We ask a lot of our RMP soldiers and they can often be placed into difficult situations where they have to make instant decisions. This can sometimes be hard for our younger soldiers. That being said, I have also worked with some very worldly wise soldiers who have probably dealt with more by the age of 18 than most people do in their lifetime.

If you want to speak to someone in more depth, I would recommend calling or visiting your local Armed Forces Careers Office or Army Careers Centre and speak with one of our recruiters. They can even put you in contact with a member of the RMP to talk face to face.

Of course, if there is any way that I can be of any more help, please let me know.

Greg

24 September, 2019 13:39

Hi Greg, thank you very much for your swift reply, it’s very much appreciated. So from what you are saying, she would need to join the standard army from a minimum age of 16+ and once she reaches 17 she could apply to the RMP ?
She is also looking at joining our local police force, but this can’t be done until she reaches 18, so she’s looking at something else to do in a similar field !!
I think we need to get her sat in front of someone at our local recruitment office and go from there
Once again, many thanks

24 September, 2019 13:57

If she joins at 16 she will not be able to join directly into the RMP. Although later in her career she can apply to transfer into the RMP, it is not the easiest thing to do as we are not a cap badge that struggles with recruitment. Much like our civilian counterparts, we are oversubscribed and not everyone can get a place.

In my opinion, the best thing for her to do (and the civilian police will often be heard to say a similar thing) is get some life experience away from the army. I joined at 21 and personally feel it was the best decision I made. I worked in a couple of different jobs before joining and I think I am more open minded when it comes to dealing with our "customers". I think you sometimes run the risk of being blinkered when you start in an organisation like the army at a young age. If she was to join as a junior soldier and later transfer she will already have been made to form some preconceptions. I'm not saying she should wait long, but if she wants to join the RMP, she would be better placed to do so at 17 years 6 months.

I am currently assigned to the British Army Recruiting Group and based in the South of England. There are members of the RMP throughout Recruiting Group, so if she wants to speak to someone it can easily be arranged.

Greg

24 September, 2019 14:08

Thank you so much Greg for your advice, I will make sure she reads it tonight In order to help aid her decision

24 September, 2019 14:21