Steve5125
Sorry mate but thats the deal with the ADC system. Unfortunately no matter what they tell you to the contrary, the ADC "IS" a promotion exam. If you want to gain any promotion you must pass the relevant ADC for the management level you are interested in. People are getting confused because they think the days of promotion exams ended with the demise of the LFfs and Subs exam. In effect all that has happened is that they have been replaced with one single test for both posts. The advantage for the employers being that they can give ops jobs to someone who applies from outside the service and has no understanding of the FRS, although it is sometimes being sold as something else(i.e. a test of "potential"). The answer to your question is unfortunately no, you will not get a substantive promotion unless you do the ADC.