| Unit Name: | Educational & Training Services |
| Dates: | 1845 as the Corps of Army Schoolmasters |
| Country: | Great Britain |
| Branch: | British Army |
| Type: | Combat Service Support |
| Role: | Education and Training |
| Size: | c.300 Regular Officersc.200 Reservist Officers |
| Garrison: | Education Branch, Army HQ, Andover, Hampshire |
| Garrison Label: | HQ |
| Motto: | 'Animo Et Fide' Courage and Faith |
| Colors: | Oxford & Minerva Blue |
| March: | Quick March: Gaudeamus Igitur ("Let us rejoice")Slow March: Greensleeves |
| Mascot: | Minerva |
| Anniversaries: | Education Sunday, the First Sunday in June. |
| Identification Symbol Label: | Tactical Recognition Flash |
The Educational and Training Services form part of the Adjutant General's Corps and have done since 1992 when this Corps of the British Army was formed. Their remit is to continue the general education of soldiers and officers alike, as well as the military training of the soldiers of the Army.
The Educational and Training Services Branch can trace its history back to 1762 when the First Regiment of Guards (Grenadiers) based at the Tower of London established a Unit School.[1] In 1797 the Royal Artillery opened a Regimental School at Woolwich Station, and in 1812 the British Parliament first provided funding for Army schools. This was the first widespread, state funded education system in the United Kingdom.[2] Following the establishment of the Regimental School System, all Army Sergeant Schoolmasters were formally trained in The Monitorial System this being the most modern form of instruction at the time.[3] Thus, the Corps of Army Schoolmasters was established in 1845[4] to provide Education for Soldiers and their families. References exist to Army Schools, now Army Education Centres, being in operation continually since 1898.[5]
In 1992 the Royal Army Educational Corps was disbanded and its Officers transferred into the newly formed Educational and Training Services Branch of the Adjutant General's Corps.[6]
Members of the ETS Branch are entitled to wear blue socks with their Number 2 Service Dress (British Army) uniforms; this is a unique part of their uniform, as a variation of socks is not seen in other units which wear infantry pattern service dress.[7] This stems from a Royal Warrant of 1854 which instructed Army Schoolmasters to wear: "a blue frock-coat, heavily braided in black, and worn with gold shoulder-knots, a sword and a crimson silk sash, and a cap with scarlet band, bearing a crown in gold thread".[8]
ETS is an all officer, all graduate, branch. It provides education to Regular and Reserve Army personnel, helping them to meet the challenges of the 21st century by training for certainty and educating for uncertainty. Officers are primarily employed as follows:[9]
The original authority for the establishment of Army Education Centres was granted in 1947 for "up to eighty education centres, wherever a concentration of 1500 men or more had displayed a need". Currently, the below are in operation:
| Location | Current AEC Number (2021) [17] | ||
| 2 AEC | York | 3 AEC Gp | |
| 3 AEC | Catterick | 3 AEC Gp | |
| 6 AEC | Warminster | 12 AEC Gp | |
| 7 AEC | Chepstow | 20 AEC Gp | |
| 10 AEC | Tidworth | 10 AEC Gp | |
| 12 AEC | Larkhill | 12 AEC Gp | |
| 15 AEC | Bicester | 77 AEC Gp | |
| 18 AEC | Colchester | 18 AEC Gp | |
| 22 AEC | Chatham | 30 AEC Gp | |
| 24 AEC | Windsor | 30 AEC Gp | |
| 27 AEC | Edinburgh | 27 AEC Gp | |
| 31 AEC | Woolwich | 30 AEC Gp | |
| 32 AEC | Lisburn | 32 AEC Gp | |
| 55 AEC | Dhekalia | 55 AEC Gp | |
| 77 AEC | Aldershot | 77 AEC Gp | |
| 78 AEC | Tidworth | 10 AEC Gp |
An ETS Officer would usually start their career in one of two roles: Learning Development Officer (LDO) in an Army Education Centre, or an instructor at the Army Foundation College Harrogate (AFC(H)). Later roles include: Army Training Regiment (ATR) LDOs or Platoon Commanders, Army School of Education (ASE) Instructor, or assignments in the wider Army.[18]
The Educational and Training Services Branch is a member of the International Association for Military Pedagogy (IAMP).
I was in just before the end of the Japanese war. The war in Germany was over, clearly why I went to Germany at that time...to teach soldiers, most of whom had missed schooling during the war, to read and write. It was weird really. I was immediately made a sergeant. Well you had to have some sort of rank because as a private in the classroom, teaching old soldiers their A, B, C, you'd soon have been given the brush off. I spent most of the time writing their letters home, you know 'Dear Mum...'