UK govt planning to introduce military gap years for school-leavers

London – The British government is planning to introduce military gap years for school and college leavers before the next general election, reports said.

ITV News quoted Defence Secretary John Healey  as saying that he's accepted the recommendation and wants the scheme introduced before the next general election, which is expected by 2029.

The aim of the policy is to get young people interested in a future military career, while also giving them life skills and military training, officials said.

"What we've got to do is close the gap between those who volunteer to keep us safe and the rest of society," he said.

"And I want to see a gap year scheme brought in so that those who choose, after leaving school or leaving college, can spend a year in the military, get some great skills and experience.

"And potentially other countries do that. We can do that here as well."

The UK has been investing heavily in defence since Russia invaded Ukraine.

The Strategic Defence Review (SDR), commissioned by Prime Minister Keir Starmer upon taking office, recommended several policies aimed at making the UK "warfighting ready" because the "threat we now face is more serious and less predictable than at any time since the Cold War".

Part of that plan is to "end the hollowing out of the UK’s Armed Forces" by hitting staffing targets, which would involve hiring at least 8,590 personnel.

The SDR said Ministry of Defence (MoD) officials should look at the voluntary military gap year model used in Australia, when considering how to find more recruits.

It's not clear exactly how the scheme would work, but the Australian model the MoD has been recommended to follow would be expensive to emulate, ITV News reported.

In Australia, school and college leavers are paid around the equivalent of £38,000 a year to train with the army, navy or air force, but fully-trained new soldiers in the UK get just £23,500.

Earlier this year, Starmer committed to spend 2.5% of gross domestic product (GDP) on defence from April 2027, with a goal of increasing that to 3% over the next parliament, the news report said.