Getting ready to be a Royal Marines Commando

The joining process for Royal Marines Commandos is necessarily rigorous. Like any physical and mental test, being prepared will give you the best chance of success. This section gives you more details about the Defence Aptitude Assessment, the Pre-Joining Fitness Test Plus, and the Royal Marine Candidate Preparation Course.

NAVAL SERVICE RECRUITING TEST

The Naval Service Recruiting Test (NSRT) enables us to test your general intellectual ability, regardless of your existing academic qualifications. This gives us more information, and is a fair way of assessing all candidates on a level playing field.

The test has four different sections, which you’ll need to complete within a strict time limit. They measure your:

  • General reasoning- testing your mental agility with logic based questions
  • Verbal ability - assessing your understanding of language and ability to communicate
  • Numeracy - testing your numerical reasoning and basic mathematical ability
  • Mechanical comprehension - Assessing your understanding of basic mechanical principles

If you don’t pass the NSRT first time around, don’t worry – you can take it again. Your Careers Adviser will tell you what the timescales are likely to be.

To help you prepare, you can work through the practice tests.

Practice the Recruiting Test

Pre-Joining Fitness Test Plus

For the Royal Marines Pre-Joining Fitness Test Plus (PJFT+), a step up from the regular Service fitness test, you’ll need to be in excellent shape. A circuit assessment, which you'll only have three chances to pass, the PJFT+ demands completion of: 20 burpees, 30 sit ups, 20 press ups and a one minute plank. Each circuit needs to be completed three times and, after a two minute recovery period, you're required to perform one set of five pull ups.

If you’re going to excel at the PJFT+ (and in your Initial Training), it’s critical that you get into the best physical condition. We’ve put together a training programme to get your fitness levels to what they should be.

Ideally, you should follow the programme in its entirety so you can get the most out of it – and increase your chances of success, not only at the PJFT+, but also the Royal Marine Candidate Preparation Course.

Get Marines fit

Royal Marine Candidate Preparation Course

The Royal Marine Candidate Preparation Course (CPC) is a three-day course which gives you an introduction to life in the Royal Marines.

This physically and mentally demanding course will push you to the limit. It’s your chance to show that you have all the attributes, as well as the unique state of mind, required to be a Royal Marines Commando. 

Royal Marines taking part in a training exercise.