Museums training programme
Supporting skills development within the sector
Our training offer
Working with a network of over 140 UK Regimental & Corps Museums and international partners, we deliver a free annual training programme that encourages skills development within the sector, and explores the benefits of networking and sharing expertise in working with Army collections.
While our training is free for those working or volunteering in Regimental & Corps Museums, our courses are currently charged at £50 for a half day, £100 for a full day, and £450 for our week-long Regimental Curators’ Course, for those wishing to attend from outside the sector.
Please note that all volunteer bookings need to come direct from your volunteer-supervisor.
If you have any enquiries regarding the training programme, please contact Julian Farrance (jfarrance@nam.ac.uk).
Bitesize: ACT (Action Counters Terrorism) Training
Date: Wednesday, 24 September 2025
Time: 10.30am – 12.00pm
Location: Online (Microsoft Teams)
This half-day training is provided online by a member of the Metropolitan Police’s counter-terrorism team. The course is primarily aimed at staff working within venues and public spaces and will cover different types of security threats, how to improve awareness and security, and what to do in the event of a threat or incident.
Army 101
Date: Monday, 6 October 2025
Time: 10.30am – 3.30pm
Location: National Army Museum, London
If you’re new into the world of military museums, if you’ve never known the difference between a regiment and a battalion, or why officers are promoted along one track and other ranks along another, then this is the course for you. We will examine the basics of Army structure, uniforms, weapons and medals, and try to break down the myriad of military mysteries during this full-day course.
Bitesize: ACT (Action Counters Terrorism) Training
Date: Wednesday, 8 October 2025
Time: 10.30am – 12.00pm
Location: Online (Microsoft Teams)
This half-day training is provided online by a member of the Metropolitan Police’s counter-terrorism team. The course is primarily aimed at staff working within venues and public spaces and will cover different types of security threats, how to improve awareness and security, and what to do in the event of a threat or incident.
Introduction to Museum Learning
Date: Monday, 20 October 2025
Time: 10.30am – 4.00pm
Location: National Army Museum, London
This full-day workshop is aimed at museum staff with a responsibility for running learning activities at their museum or site. We will look at why museums offer learning activities and the range of options that a museum may wish to consider such as school workshops, family learning activities, trails, handling objects and digital resources.
We will use examples from the National Army Museum’s learning offer and there will be opportunities to get hands-on with our handling collection and learning resources throughout the day.
Regimental Curators’ Course
Date: Tuesday, 21 October - Friday, 24 October 2025
Time: Various
Location: National Army Museum, London
This four-day training course covers various aspects of museum best practice and working with Army collections, and is open to staff, volunteers and trustees working in Regimental and Corps Museums.
Topics covered during the week include an introduction to preventative conservation, learning services, marketing for military museums, research and archives, photo identification, exhibitions, collections care and management, and much more.
Modes for Beginners
Date: Thursday, 30 October 2025
Time: 10.00am - 12.30pm
Location: Online (Zoom)
This workshop will introduce users to the basics of Modes and include techniques such as:
- Navigating Modes
- Finding records
- Viewing and sorting records
- Exporting records
- Editing records
- Creating records
No previous experience of Modes is necessary, but attendees must be confident in basic IT use and the use of Zoom.
Modes does not need to be installed on the device being using to join the session. It is recommended that attendees join on a device with a keyboard, camera and microphone to allow full interaction.
Advanced Modes
Date: Thursday, 6 November 2025
Time: 10.00am - 12.30pm
Location: Online (Zoom)
This course will expand on Modes for beginners and explore more advanced techniques such as:
- Using and manipulating subsets
- Creating and editing grids
- Validation and termlists
- Managing multimedia
- Global editing via the grid
- Importing data
Attendees should have completed the Modes for Beginners course or have equivalent experience of navigating, searching, editing and creating Modes records. Attendees must be confident in basic IT use and the use of Zoom.
Modes does not need to be installed on the device being using to join the session. It is recommended that attendees join on a device with a keyboard, camera and microphone to allow full interaction.
Firearms in Museums (Leeds)
Date: Tuesday, 2 December 2025
Time: 10.00am – 3.00pm
Location: Royal Armouries, Leeds
The Firearms in Museums course is delivered in partnership between the National Army Museum and the Royal Armouries. The course covers firearms legislation relevant to UK museums, provides a historical overview to firearms used by the British Army and also includes an introduction to firearms conservation.
This course will take place in person at the Royal Armouries in Leeds. (Limited to 10 attendees.)
Firearms in Museums (London)
Date: Thursday, 4 December 2025
Time: 10.30am – 3.30pm
Location: National Army Museum, London
The Firearms in Museums course is delivered in partnership between the National Army Museum and the Royal Armouries. The course covers firearms legislation relevant to UK museums, provides a historical overview to firearms used by the British Army and also includes an introduction to firearms conservation.
This course will take place in person at the National Army Museum in London.
Advanced Modes Plus
Date: Tuesday, 9 December 2025
Time: 10.00am - 12.30pm
Location: Online (Zoom)
This course will build even further on the techniques learnt in Modes for Beginners and Advanced Modes including:
- Designing templates
- Bulk location updates
- Procedure records
- Person records
Attendees should have completed the Modes for Beginners course and Advanced Modes, or have equivalent experience of navigating, searching, editing and creating Modes records. Attendees must be confident in basic IT use and use of Zoom.
Modes does not need to be installed on the device being using to join the session. It is recommended that attendees join on a device with a keyboard, camera and microphone to allow full interaction.
Modes Administration
Date: Thursday, 11 December 2025
Time: 10.00am - 12.30pm
Location: Online (Zoom)
This course will provide an introduction to Modes administration processes and include such techniques as:
- Managing users
- Managing files
- Managing multimedia
- Managing indexes
- Managing validation
Attendees should have completed the Modes for Beginners course and Advanced Modes, or have equivalent experience of navigating, searching, editing and creating Modes records. Attendees must be confident in basic IT use and the use of Zoom.
Modes does not need to be installed on the device being using to join the session. It is recommended that attendees join on a device with a keyboard, camera and microphone to allow full interaction.
