Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of taking steps to increase recognition and accreditation of relevant civilian courses to facilitate recruitment of university students into the Reserves.

In line with recommendations made by the Haythornthwaite Review and the Pan Defence Skills Framework, the Ministry of Defence (MOD) believes there is value in recognising and accrediting the learning, experience and qualifications achieved by individuals outside of Defence.

There are a number of targeted programmes allowing those in higher and further education to experience the Armed Forces and potential careers in the Regular or Reserve Forces, including University Royal Navy Units (URNU), University Officer Training Corps and University Air Squadron students. As an example, since 2015 the Royal Naval Reserve (RNR) has been running a condensed fast-track Phase 1 training programme in the summer months to deliberately align with longer student vacations. Since 2021 the programme has been extended to officer cadets of the URNU, with seamless transfer to the RNR as an option for successful trainees.

There are currently no specific funding options to incentivise higher or further education students to join the Maritime Reserves or Royal Air Force Reserves. Students wishing to join the Army Reserves as Officers can apply for a financial bounty for £1,200, paid in two stages, the first payment on enlistment and the second on completion of their training. The Army also has four support schemes available for students in sixth form and higher and further education, ranging from Army Scholarships worth £3,000 per candidate to a Defence STEM Undergraduate Sponsorship whereby Candidates have their tuition fees paid and receive £5,000 per annum for three university years.