The Ministry of Defence is reviewing medical entry standards for the British Army as part of broader efforts to address what ministers have described as a recruitment crisis inherited from the previous government.
Responding to a written parliamentary question from Labour MP Simon Opher, Defence Minister Luke Pollard said the government is committed to rebuilding the Army’s recruitment pipeline, citing changes already made to pay and entry requirements.
“This Government inherited a recruitment crisis, with targets being missed every year for the past 14 years, and is taking decisive action to get recruitment back on track,” Pollard said. “This has included the largest pay rise to personnel in decades and scrapping 100 outdated policies that slow recruitment down.”
Medical standards for entry are governed by Joint Service Publication (JSP) 950 Leaflet 6-7-7, which was updated in August 2024. According to Pollard, the revisions followed an intensive review led by clinical experts, Defence personnel staff and recruiting agencies.
The updated guidance includes revised criteria for conditions such as asthma and eczema, and introduces new flexibility for candidates with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), who may now be considered eligible provided they meet certain thresholds.
“Defence is committed to a diverse workforce and is seeking to ‘select in’ rather than ‘select out,’” Pollard added. “Recent updates to policy include new regulations for a range of conditions including asthma and eczema, and candidates with Autism Spectrum Disorder may now be able to join the Armed Forces providing they meet certain criteria.”
The review of medical entry rules is part of a broader strategy to modernise the Armed Forces and remove barriers to service. The Ministry has also committed to further reforms through its Defence People Strategy, which will feed into the ongoing Defence Investment Plan.
ASD in British Schools is rampant. To be fair it is not really so much a medical condition as the way the brain functions.
Many potential kids may well benefit and thrive in the military whilst others may struggle.
In the years gone by a large number of people will have gone through the military with what is now recognised as ASD.
Personally I think the structure and discipline may well help.
I also bet there are many more conditions which are managed well with medications that mean that they should no longer be excluded.
Trouble with medications people forget to take them and they run out! Not many pharmacies in the middle of nowhere.
True but the military are quite happy to provide anti-malarial meds etc as needed and in reality only a small proportion of troops spend a small proportion of their time in the middle of nowhere where admittedly it might become an issue.
Yep but with the meds you mention everyone in the unit takes them so are ordered in bulk for the duration of the exercise etc!
Once you start Spr Jones needs this medication and Smith needs this one then the complications start! You can guarantee there wi ll be a cock up somewhere along the line!👍😉
I agree, some one like Montgomery who was clearly on the spectrum would probably not make it past the first interview today. Most of these medical conditions are nonsense and do nothing but hold up recruitment. Better to give them a shot and if they wash out in basic then that’s fine.
Probably also worth considering that most people in the army are not light infantry, most people are driving vehicles and sitting at desks like the rest of us. Minor complaints like Asthma and exzema should not be a factor. They can have different medical criteria for Elite units where people are probably prepared to wait longer and vetting has to be harder.
Yet more complete bollox. Montomery was the best general we had in WW2. How dare you insult his memory with your endless, stupid comments.
It is quite clear to me that Montgomery was indeed on the spectrum, as understood today. and he did not half make a hash of Arnhem!
Bill Slim would like a word. But stating that Monty had Autism Spectrum Disorder is hardly an insult to him, unless you think less of people with Autism, in which case that’s a you problem. Plus it’s not terribly controversial to state that Monty might have had ASD, and the suspicion that he did is often used to explain some of the difficulty he had in interpersonal relations with other allied commanders.
Jim, most career streams in the Army require people to be able to go to the front at some point in their career. An RLC driver might be expected to resupply FOB’s that are in enemy territory, and provide force protection to their convoy. For the vast majority of jobs you can’t just assume they’ll never be in contact.
A blanket no to ASD always seemed silly to me. Turns out after I left I got diagnosed with it, I thrived under the rules based order, and it was only physical sporting injuries that finished me.
I bet there’s loads of technical and engineering types who are on the wrong end of the spectrum that would actually fit in quite well.
Interestingly many are coming the opinion that those with ASD need rules and they need them to be enforced.
Many people get diagnosed and then people start going ‘oh poor so and so he/she has ASD – we will let them off this that and the next thing’. People with ASD then become excellent at playing the game and conseqently never achieve their potential.
Yes many of the techie types are, to some extent i suspect, ASD. The military needs those type of people.
Plenty of soldiers function with ASD (me for starters), simply because they didn’t get the opportunity to get it diagnosed. Definitely one of the outdated rules that needs to be adjusted, especially as it’s (like the name suggest) a spectrum that ranges from “Barely noticeable and had been adapted to by the individual” to “Struggles to function at all as an adult.”
Very true.