The Ministry of Defence has said it is working to streamline Armed Forces recruitment by modernising entry processes, scrapping outdated medical policies, and rolling out a unified tri-service recruiting system intended to make joining the military faster and more accessible.
The update was provided in response to a written parliamentary question from Liberal Democrat MP Cameron Thomas, who asked what steps the government is taking to streamline recruitment for the Armed Forces.
Replying on behalf of the Ministry of Defence, Parliamentary Under-Secretary Louise Sandher-Jones said: “The Government is focused upon improving Armed Forces recruitment, modernising and refining our policies and processes to attract the best possible talent.”
The minister highlighted several measures already introduced, including improved pay for new entrants, changes to medical standards, and new pathways designed to bring in specialist skills and widen the pool of applicants.
Sandher-Jones said this includes: “a 35% pay increase for new recruits; one of the largest pay increases in the last 20 years for existing personnel; scrapping over 100 outdated medical policies; the creation of novel entry pathways such as the military Direct-Entry Cyber and ZigZag Careers pathways as well as the recently announced Armed Forces Foundation Scheme (‘Gap Year’).”
The minister also set out recruitment speed targets which appear intended to address long-standing criticism that applicants often face months of delays between initial contact and receiving a decision.
She said the government is working towards: “delivering the ambition to make a conditional offer of employment to candidates within 10 days, and a provisional training start date within 30 days.”
According to the response, these measures will help inform the ongoing development of the Armed Forces Recruiting Service (AFRS), a major reform programme aimed at consolidating recruitment across all three services.
Sandher-Jones explained: “These activities and their impacts will inform the development of the Armed Forces Recruiting Service (AFRS) which is being implemented to further improve the speed with which highly motivated and capable people can join our Armed Forces.”
The AFRS programme is being delivered under a contract with Serco, which began last year. She confirmed: “The AFRS contract with Serco commenced on 1 April 2025 and will fully unify recruitment by October 2027, replacing the separate schemes that are currently run by the Royal Navy, British Army and Royal Airforce.”
The government says the goal is to create a single-entry point for all applicants, supported by a unified digital platform and combined military and civilian support teams.
The minister added: “AFRS will create a streamlined, single-entry point to attract diverse talent and modernise recruitment – making it faster, simpler, and more accessible. It will deliver a single digital system to support candidates and recruiters. It will utilise military personnel and civilian staff to support candidates through the recruitment process.”
She described the programme as central to future force development, stating: “This contract is vital for building a capable, motivated future force ready to meet evolving global challenges.”
More words than a Magenta sermon. 😁
‘working towards delivering the ambition to make a conditional offer of employment’
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MOD itself has imposed a recruitment freeze that’s making it almost impossible to recruit civilians with key skills, e.g. cyber security specialists, that can’t credibly be provided by internal upskilling. A transition to war fighting readiness requires more funding, not continuing to rob Peter to pay Paul.
What was the reason given for outsourcing recruitmentment for the Navy and the RAF when the idea had failed so badly for the Army? Higher initial pay and faster job offers are warmly to be welcomed, of course. However the mealy-mouthed “working towards” with no dates attached are the kind of red flag we’ve become accustomed to. To be fair those words are George’s. MOD and Luke Pollard claim it as an “ambition”, which might even be worse.