Abstract: The Access to Higher Education Diploma (AHED) is a well-established course, delivered in the main locally through Further Education Institutions; it provides a non-traditional route into Higher Education (HE) for those aged 19 years and over who have few, if any, qualifications to gain entry to HE. Although transition is a smooth journey for many Service Leavers (SLs) and their families, there are a significant number who need support to improve their transition experience, to minimise the risk of unfulfilling careers within the civilian sector. Eligible SLs who have served for at least four years and those who are medically discharged can apply to undertake a free degree after leaving Service, through the Publicly-funded FE/HE Scheme. There appears to be a good opportunity for the AHED to widen the market for this free degree scheme to those SLs without A-levels. This tri-Service research project set out to understand the journey to and through the AHED for those adults with a current or past affiliation to one of the Services, either as Serving personnel, spouse or dependant adult child. Service spouses can also be vulnerable to finding themselves unemployed or under-employed when they transition back into the civilian sector, often due to their highly mobile Service lives and the problems that many face finding affordable, quality childcare; a necessity for many Service spouses who find themselves living for extended periods as lone parents when their Serving partners are away on military commitments. With evidence indicating that those SLs whose spouses are employed face better prospects for a successful transition than those whose spouses are unemployed, the case for supporting civilian careers for both SLs and their spouses is strong. The questions that this research set out to answer emerged from queries raised by the project’s partner Access Validating Agency, Ascentis, which serves a region containing 25% of Britain’s Armed Forces and faced persistent anecdotal evidence that their region was experiencing a decline in the number of AHED students with a Service background. This research aims to: provide a better level of understanding of the issues that adults with a Service background can face on their journey to and through an Access to Higher Education Diploma; show how these issues can manifest as barriers on these journeys; and develop recommendations that identify opportunities to address these barriers.