The Higher Command and Staff Course is a staff course for senior military officers of the United Kingdom armed forces and allies. It is taught at the Defence Academy of the United Kingdom in Shrivenham, Oxfordshire, United Kingdom. The course lasts 3 months (14 weeks) and concentrates on joint operations. The Higher Command and Staff Course resembles the 1938 Higher Command Course, Aldershot, which was for lieutenant-colonels and above. The HCSC is intended: