Ascent Flight Training

We are proud to announce that Ascent is now officially one of the top employers of veterans in Great Britain! Ascent has been ranked 28th in the 50 GREAT British Employers of Veterans in GB in 2026 - a fantastic achievement and a strong reflection of our commitment to the Armed Forces community.

With more than 14,000 organisations signed to the Armed Forces Covenant, being recognised in the Top 50 employers is a significant accomplishment. Inclusion demands a genuine, measurable and enduring commitment to the Armed Forces community, embedded across recruitment, development, progression and retention strategies.

We have many veterans (from all three Services) within our 420 staff, carrying out roles ranging from pilots and instructors, to business managers and administrators. As an experienced and trusted provider of military training, we understand the particular difficulties facing those leaving the services and were proud to receive the Defence ERS Silver Award in 2022, demonstrating our unwavering commitment to providing meaningful and flexible opportunities in the workplace for those who have served our country.

We recognise the value and transferable skills that reservists, veterans, cadet force adult volunteers, customers, partners and wider military communities contribute to our business operations. We want to attract and work with innovative, adaptable and proactive people, and as a team with a mixture of commercial and military backgrounds, we feel we bring together the best of both worlds, to enhance our training solutions.

Ascent is proud to be recognised as a top employer of veterans. We are also a partner in Women in Defence, a signatory of the Women in Defence Charter and the Armed Forces Covenant and supporter of the Ex-Forces in Business Award, for which this year we have two finalists. We also enable members of the Armed Forces to apply for vacancies at our sites and Training Hub through the Managed Path Scheme.

They did it! Not only did the BEAR FORCE soapbox team make it to the finish line of the Red Bull Soapbox Race, they smashed their fundraising target of £10,000! 👏

Congratulations to Ascent's Ade Hill and Brian Kruchkow, alongside Chris Pawley and Luke Shaw from RAF Valley's 72 Squadron. The team dedicated their time to design, build, and prepare the Bear Force One soapbox to compete in the London race, raising vital funds in support of the outstanding work carried out by the Bear Force charity. Through their enthusiasm, commitment, and teamwork, they delivered exactly that, with the joint team raising £11,211 for the charity.

Ascent's Valley GM, Andy Cooper, said: "It is a privilege to work in an environment where collaboration, teamwork, and dedication extend well beyond our shared mission within UKMFTS. I am incredibly proud of the team and grateful to everyone who supported their efforts. Their commitment reflects the very best of our values, demonstrating how our people continue to make a positive impact both within and beyond the workplace."

Learn more about the important work of Bear Force, helping develop positive mental health and resilience in young children. https://learning.bearforce.org.uk/about/

Last September we welcomed our very first apprentice to Ascent - Aiden - who joined our busy IT team as a Cyber Security Apprentice. We are delighted to announce that two new apprenticeship positions have just been added to Ascent’s careers page.
📢 Project Management Apprenticeship (Level 4)
📢Commercial Assistant Apprentice (Level 4)
If you know of any young people who might be interested in doing something different after finishing school, why not consider an apprenticeship with Ascent! Please point them in the direction of our website to find out more: https://ascentflighttraining.com/careers/

We recently had a visit from Yr 8 students at Winterbourne Academy and were glad to hear that the students had as much fun as our staff did! Students were interested, had some amazing ideas and left visibly more confident than when they arrived. Superb ambassadors and a great opportunity for Ascent staff to engage with young people from our local community.

Some of our Year 8 girls recently enjoyed an amazing Employer Experience Day with ✈️ Their challenge was to decide which aircraft the company should purchase to add to its fleet 🚁 Working in teams, they everything from considered costs to reliability, and value for money to operational needs, all while gathering information from a range of industry professionals. At the end of the day, the girls presented their recommendations to the senior leadership team – a task they tackled with confidence, professionalism and incredible maturity 🫡

We are so proud of how everyone represented the school. The girls received fantastic feedback from Ascent staff, who praised their input, enthusiasm, teamwork and presentation skills throughout the day👏

A huge thank you to Ascent Flight Training for providing such an inspiring and memorable experience 🚀 We hope to be back next year for another exciting challenge!

Congratulations to Ascent's cycling stars, Reka and Sven, who successfully completed a combined 125 miles to raise money for the RAF Association. is taking place across the UK this summer and we are delighted to be a sponsor. Our cyclists send their thanks to the organisers for a fantastic ride from Kendrew Barracks - both agreed it was a great experience!

Congratulations to all recipients and a special mention of the UKMFTS Fast Jet Transformation Team at RAF Valley and Abbey Wood, for their team commendation from the Air & Space Commander.

Congratulations to all personnel associated with the Royal Air Force who have been recognised in the King’s Birthday Honours List this year.

For details of all RAF Whole Force recipients, visit: https://www.raf.mod.uk/news/articles/raf-kings-birthday-honours-2026/

If you haven't yet returned your data for the 2026 Women in Defence Charter , there's still time. Each submission helps build a clearer picture of representation across the defence enterprise.

It's not often that the team at Ascent are invited to a fancy book launch, so we were delighted to attend the release of Monarchy and Democracy: A History of Leadership, in the gardens of Westminster Abbey this week. And why were we there? Because Ascent features in Volume 1 of this mammoth 2 volume publication, in the section dedicated to education and training. A great testament to the work we do in close partnership with our UKMFTS colleagues. Our Deputy MD, Adam Clink, was on hand to collect the publication, and copies will be on display at our sites across the UK.

Our thanks to the amazing Watoto Children's Choir who recently paid a visit to Ascent at . Watoto is an East African organisation dedicated to caring for orphaned and vulnerable children, while also empowering women to rebuild their lives. Through the Choir, stories of transformation are shared globally, bringing hope, inspiring action, and helping raise a generation of future leaders.

Their performances and stories proved inspirational and during their visit we were delighted to provide the young people in the choir with an opportunity to experience life as a trainee pilot.

Sqn Ldr Kev Crawford, a Watoto ambassador, said: "I am truly grateful to the Ascent Flight Training team for supporting the Choir during this time. Enabling the Watoto children and adults to have the once in a lifetime experience of ‘flying’ the Prefect aircraft in the synthetic trainer was such a generous contribution and real highlight of their time at Cranwell – the joy on their faces when they took the controls of the Prefect was so heart warming. I would like to say a big ‘thank you’ to all the Ascent team at Cranwell."