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Royal Navy rating

Support the Royal Navy through a variety of roles on ships and submarines or in a shore base.

About skillsGetting in

About the job

Salary

Source: National Careers Service

Weekly

£365

Entry level

£692

Experienced

Monthly

£1,583

Entry level

£3,000

Experienced

Yearly

£19,000

Entry level

£36,000

Experienced

2,600

people are currently employed

Low growth

200 fewer jobs in 5 years

These figures refer to this job and similar ones with comparable skills and qualifications. They only apply to Scotland. Source: Oxford Economics

What it's like

You'd support the Royal Navy through a variety of roles on ships and submarines or in a shore base.

Your work would vary depending on which branch of the service you support and your specific trade.

You could work in:

  • warfare – you'd look after weapons, electronic systems and communications systems on a ship

  • submarine service – you'd look after weapons, electronic systems and communications systems on a submarine

  • engineering – you'd keep ships, submarines and aircraft running

  • logistics – you'd manage office, accounting, stores and catering systems

  • medical, including Queen Alexandra’s Royal Naval Nursing Service (QARNNS) – you would give healthcare to personnel and their families

  • naval air branch – you'd prepare aircraft for flight and help to navigate

Hours

You'd usually be on call 24 hours a day, generally working eight-hour shifts, which would include weekends and public holidays.

Environment

You'd live and work on board a ship or submarine for several months at a time. Living quarters are cramped. You may face a wide variety of conditions including extremes in weather, as well as mental, physical and emotional challenges.

Travel

You must be prepared to move within the UK and overseas. Whilst serving at sea, you'd be separated from your family for several months.

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    Top skills

    Skills are things you're good at. Whether you know what yours are or not, everyone has them!

    It's useful to learn which ones are important in a job so you know the areas you need to brush up on. It can also help you work out if you're suited to a career.

    Here are some of the skills you'll need to do this job:

    • problem solving
    • cooperating
    • verbal communication
    • working with technology
    • listening
    • reading
    • understanding
    • developing a plan
    • making decisions
    • resilience

    Your skills are important

    Our unique skillsets are what make us stand out from the crowd. Learn about each skill in depth and discover what employers look for in your applications and interviews.

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    Getting in

    Explore the sections shown for more information about getting into this career.

    You might have qualifications which are not shown here but will allow you access to a course. You can compare your qualifications by looking at their SCQF Level. For more information about this, check out the SCQF website.

    Always contact the college, university or training provider to check exactly what you'll need.

    Colleges and universities will list subjects you'll need for entry to a course. Some useful subjects include:

    • Practical Craft Skills

    • Skills for Work: Maritime Skills

    • Skills for Work: Uniformed and Emergency Services

    There are no minimum requirements for entering the Royal Navy as a rating. But to give yourself the widest range of opportunities it’s a good idea to have National 4/5 qualifications or equivalent.

    Qualifications and experience that demonstrate the Royal Navy's core values of commitment, courage, discipline, respect, integrity and loyalty, such as:

    • Skills for Work: Uniformed and Emergency Services

    • SQA Leadership Award

    • Cadet Organisation or other youth awards

    You need to be aged between 16 years and 39 years old to join. Certain roles may have different age ranges which you should check.

    You'll need to be a minimum height of 145cm. For aviators, this is 151.5cm and for submariners it's 157cm.

    You'll need to be a British, Irish or Commonwealth citizen or have dual nationality.

    You must also be within the healthy range for Body Mass Index (BMI).

    Some roles may require you to have normal colour vision.

    You'll need to complete a full security check.

    Any tattoos on your face, throat area or in front of your ears are not allowed. Tattoos which aren't on these areas but are considered offensive or obscene aren't allowed. There are also restrictions on body piercings.

    You will need to pass the Defence Aptitude Assessment (DAA). It's a series of tests, which evaluate your knowledge, understanding and performance in key areas vital to career success within the Royal Navy. There are six separate parts to this test which you will need to complete within a strict time limit. These measure:

    • verbal reasoning

    • numerical reasoning

    • work rate

    • spacial reasoning

    • electrical comprehension

    • mechanical comprehension

    You will also need to pass medical and eye tests and the Royal Navy Pre-Joining Fitness Test.

    Once you’ve passed all the tests, you must attend and pass the Candidate Preparation Course (CPC)before you can begin your basic training.

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