Teenagers to be offered military ‘gap years’ in a bid to boost numbers

Young people could be recruited into the Armed Forces to do paid gap years under new plans.

It comes after the Chief of the Defence Staff, Air Chief Marshal Sir Rich Knighton, said Britain’s ‘sons and daughters’ should be ‘ready to fight’.

From March next year, around 150 under-25s will be given military placements of up to two years, according to the i paper.

The scheme, which is intended to introduce more people to military life, or provide transferable skills if they decide not to enlist afterwards, will then expand to more than 1,000 gap year placements per year.

It would be available to under-25s and recruits would not be deployed on active operations.

However, it is not yet clear how much they will be paid.

Defence secretary John Healey told the i paper the scheme would ‘give Britain’s young people a taste of the incredible skills and training on offer across the Army, Royal Navy and RAF’.

He added: ‘As families come together at this time of year, and young people think about their futures, I want the outstanding opportunities on offer in our Armed Forces to be part of that conversation in homes across the UK.’

It comes after Air Chief Marshal Sir Knighton called for a ‘whole of society’ effort to defend the country in the face of Russian aggression.

The Army scheme would see recruits receive 13 weeks of basic training as part of a two-year placement, while the Navy scheme would last one year and provide ‘profession agnostic’ training for sailors, according to reports.

The RAF scheme is less developed, with the branch said to be ‘scoping’ options.

The Army currently offers gap year placements for young people before, during or immediately after university, which last one year.

Around 30 places are available on the Army internship scheme, formerly known as gap year commissions – but fewer than 10 people were enrolled in 2024/25.

The internship is also only available for those considering officer training, while the new gap year scheme is expected to be open more widely.

Australia already offers a gap year scheme for its military for those aged between 17 and 24.

In 2023, 664 people enlisted in the Australian scheme, with a little more than half going on to a permanent role in the country’s military.

Other European countries have looked to national service in response to the threat from Russia, with France, Germany and Belgium introducing schemes this year.

Last month France announced it will introduce a voluntary military service of 10 months beginning next summer.

President Emmanuel Macron said the expansion of the French military will focus on volunteers mostly aged 18 to 19.

He stressed that volunteers would be deployed ‘only on national soil’ and not to the frontline in Ukraine.

Volunteers would see ‘serious’ combat training to ‘reaffirm the importance of preparing the nation and its morale to face growing threats’, the Élysée Palace said.

The hopes are that 3,000 people will join in the first year.

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