Overview
- An initial cohort of about 150 participants will be recruited from early 2026 for a year of paid experience across the Army, Royal Navy and RAF.
- Participants will not deploy on active operations and there is no obligation to remain in service after the programme, which is billed as a route to transferable skills.
- Service plans differ: the Army includes 13 weeks of basic training within a two‑year placement, the Royal Navy is designing a roughly one‑year, profession‑agnostic path, and the RAF is still scoping its offer.
- Salary has not been confirmed by the government, though LBC has reported expectations of pay in line with basic recruit rates at around £26,000, with long‑term funding and evaluation criteria yet to be set.
- Ministers aim to scale the scheme to more than 1,000 places if demand and assessment support it, as critics question the impact of a 150‑place pilot despite Australian results showing over half later take permanent roles.