recruitment age

Children have no place in the British army

Britain is the only country in Europe to recruit 16-year-olds into its armed forces. The cynical targeting of underprivileged youngsters must end

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Army urged to stop using armed teenagers to guard barracks

ForcesWatch report calls on UK military to stop recruiting minors altogether, as armed forces bill due for third reading

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New report shows that important duty of care recommendations have not been implemented by the armed forces

Ahead of the House of Commons debate on the Armed Forces Bill on Wednesday 16 December, ForcesWatch has published a new report calling for a change in the law ending military recruitment under 18 years of age.

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London’s first ‘Military Preparation College’ opens

London's first Military Preparation College - the UK's 18th - has been set up. ForcesWatch have a few concerns.

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Army failing to attract young recruits

The Army has failed to attract enough young recruits in 9 of the last 10 years, and is looking to change this by emphasising the Army's non-combat work. ForcesWatch are concerned this could lead to the further overlooking of the fact that combat is the raison d'être of the armed forces.

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UK Army Recruiting Group – Eligibility quick reference guide

This recruiting guide, obtained via a Freedom of Information request, indicates among other things that, recruits aged between 16 and 16½ must be given jobs in combat roles (or join as drivers in the logistics corps) which carry the highest levels of risk. (p.8)

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Government Cadet Programme Cynically Targeting the Poor

"The Tory Government are preying on school children in some of our most deprived areas by setting up more and more military cadet units as a step to recruiting them into the armed forces."

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Update on Army attempt to obtain sensitive student data for recruitment purposes

Following our recent piece on the news story that the Ministry of Defence requested access (which the Department for Education rejected) to the database of sensitive data of school students in England, to help the Army better target its recruitment practice, it has emerged that the Army - in collaboration with Royal Holloway College and the mobile phone app specialists DotNet - was specifically seeking to match individuals’ data with specific Army jobs, with a mobile phone app an apparent intended output. This and other revelations undermine the claims by the MoD quoted in the original news coverage of the story that they aren’t targeting individuals for recruitment, and that the request was an error that had been “halted”.

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The British Armed Forces need to stop targeting and recruiting children

The freelance journalist Lee Williams gives an overview of the UK military's youth engagement, and presents a strong ethical case for why the armed forces should stop recruiting children.

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Armed forces not required to offer soldiers aged 16-17 the same standard of education that is required in civilian life

Compulsory education for 16-17s: research reveals that the armed forces are not required to give child soldiers the same minimum standard as civilian institutions. The minimum attainment requirement of the Army (which has the vast majority of children in the armed forces) is shown to be very low.

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