How do you think you would get on being put through your paces by commandos from the Royal Marines?

That was the challenge Public Services students faced at SRC Bede Sixth Form as they embarked on an intensive session of real Marines’ training.



“There’s nothing that motivates the students more than getting first-hand experience,” said course leader, Garreth Evans.

While, he admits, it was a bit of a baptism of fire, a former soldier himself, Garreth said: “It is great for them to get an insight into what life is really like in the military.”

Testing students’ fitness levels to the max, Marine Aiden Redmile and Marine Oliver Wardman, set out a gruelling circuit of physical tasks using little to no equipment.

The idea was to show how easy it can be to keep yourself fit with minimal kit.

Moving round the circuit at short intervals, it wasn’t long before the students were red faced and sweating buckets.

Public Services student Jason Matthews, 18, of Billingham, said: “That was a fun experience, tiring to say the least, but that was to be expected.

Hoping to one day join the Royal Marines himself, he added: “It was great to get an insight of the real experience.”



Jordan West, 19, from Stockton, said: “I want to join the army and the Royal Marines is an option, every taster session we go through makes me more determined.”

Click here to find out more about the Public Services courses available at SRC Bede Sixth Form.