Museums training programme

The National Army Museum provides training opportunities in best practice for museums throughout the UK and internationally.

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.

Introduction to Museum Learning

Wednesday, 13 September 2023
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.

Radiation Safety in Museums

Tuesday, 19 September 2023
London

This course is delivered by Defence Science Technology Laboratory (DSTL) and is a full day of training on radiation safety for museums. The course will provide an introduction to what radiation is, help raise awareness and provide you with resources for safety measures for museum staff and visitors, as well as to protect collections. Please note that this course is only available to those working in regimental museums.

Regimental Curators’ Course

Monday, 2 October – Thursday, 5 October 2023
National Army Museum, London

This four-day training course covers various aspects of museum best practice and working with Army collections. It is open to staff, volunteers and trustees working in Regimental & 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.

Medals Training Day

Monday, 9 October 2023
National Army Museum, London

This full-day workshop in partnership with the Money & Medals Network will be wide ranging. Providing a range of talks including a brief introduction to military medals as well as a masterclass on the Victoria Cross by Michael Naxton. There will also be advice from an auction specialist on valuing medals and the medals market. It will be helpful for anyone with responsibility for military medals within museum collections or with an interest in collecting military medals.

Modes for Beginners [FULLY BOOKED]

Tuesday, 10 October 2023
10.00am - 12.30pm
Zoom

This session will introduce the Modes software. Attendees will learn the basics of navigating Modes, including:

• finding records
• viewing and sorting records
• exporting records
• editing records
• creating records

No previous experience of Modes is necessary. 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.

Modes for Advanced Users [FULLY BOOKED]

Wednesday, 11 October 2023
10.00am - 12.30pm
Zoom

Attendees will be introduced to more advanced techniques for:

• using and manipulating subsets
• creating and editing grids
• validation and term lists
• managing multimedia
• global editing via the grid
• importing data

Attendees should have completed a 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 use of Zoom. Modes does not need to be installed on the device being using to join the session.

Introduction to Museum Conservation

Thursday, 23 November 2023
Stevenage

This workshop is aimed at those caring for the storage and documentation of military collections. In the workshop, we will tour the National Army Museum’s storage facility and learn about how we care for the collection. The session will include hands-on guidance in the storage of uniforms, equipment and rations, and working to Spectrum standards in documentation of the collection.