For any Christians (aged 18 plus) who love God, want to run forward with Him and who long to demonstrate God’s love to those in their sphere of influence.

The course will run over a period of nine months from November 2022 to June 2023. We start on Thursday the 24th November 7:30 - 9pm. The ongoing sessions will be on Thursday evenings, 7-10pm during term time throughout the year. There are 6 additional Saturdays, 10am-5pm to attend across the academic year.

AST is a GodFirst Church Course and is held at our building, The Runway, 15 Airfield Road, Christchurch, BH23 3TG. There is parking onsite with a number of disabled bays available.

When you are offered a place on the course, there is an immediate payment of £50 deposit to pay to secure your place. The full amount (minus your deposit) is to be paid by 13th December 2024. However, we are happy to accept monthly instalments up to that time from the date of your acceptance of a place on the course. If you find yourself in a position where it is difficult to pay the full amount by 13th December, we will be happy to discuss this with you.

We would encourage you to attend each session as they will be very different from each other and you will learn week by week. However, we do understand that illness or unexpected issues may arise and we therefore allow for up to 3 absences during the year.

Yes! So we would advise you to get your applications in as soon as you are able to!

Yes, once we receive your application form, one of the team will contact you to arrange a chat about the year ahead. This is a great opportunity for us to connect with you and get to know you, it's also a great way for you to ask questions. We normally do this by way of a phone call.

The Academy year is very much a discipleship journey. Being alongside other christians of different ages and stages provides a rich experience for students while being equipped and empowered to be all God has called them to be and to do the stuff that Jesus did. We have a super team who are excellent at getting alongside students throughout the year. However this is not on a 1:1 basis. Each student is asked to find a mentor for the year, preferably from their home church.

Yes, we love having visitors! You can visit up to 4 times over the academic year, we ask that you contribute £10 per visit. Visiting will give you a unique opportunity to see how we are journeying together and give you an opportunity to meet the team and ask some questions. We are open for visitors from February 2025 To register your visit please use this link to fill out the form on our visitors page.