The Education Promotion Certificate was established in 1971 by the Royal Army Educational Corps

Royal Army Educational Corps

The Royal Army Educational Corps was a corps of the British Army tasked with educating and instructing personnel in a diverse range of skills...

. This occurred in response to a drastic re-organisation of the RAEC to meet the generally poorly qualified level of new recruits entering the British Army

British Army

The British Army is the land warfare branch of Her Majesty's Armed Forces in the United Kingdom. It came into being with the unification of the Kingdom of England and Scotland into the Kingdom of Great Britain in 1707. The new British Army incorporated Regiments that had already existed in England...

. Whilst basic soldiering skills were quickly taken to by these recruits, it was found that this poor level of education meant that the additional responsibility and skill of the NCO

Non-commissioned officer

A non-commissioned officer , called a sub-officer in some countries, is a military officer who has not been given a commission...

's was harder to attain. The EPC therefore was specifically designed to meet the training needs of Sergeants and Warrant Officer

Warrant Officer

A warrant officer is an officer in a military organization who is designated an officer by a warrant, as distinguished from a commissioned officer who is designated an officer by a commission, or from non-commissioned officer who is designated an officer by virtue of seniority.The rank was first...

s.