United Kingdom

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Previous reports: 2023/24




Conscription currently imposed? No

Conscription imposed 1916-1919 and again from 1939. Abolished 1960.

Last conscripts demobilised 1963.
Conscientious objection first recognised 1916 Military Service Act, 27th January.
CO release of professional soldiers Yes

Regulations within each of the service branches cover the handling of applications for release.

An "independent" Advisory Committee on Conscientious Objection is the ultimate appeal tribunal, but has met only once this century and upheld the military decision.
Minimum recruitment age 16 For voluntary service
Population 1
Total % males 15-19 Thus approx. annual cohort reaching 18
68,459,055 3.0% 410,754
Armed forces
Total strength Of which conscripts Compared to annual cohort above
141,100 – Total strength is 34.4% of cohort
Military expenditure
$ (% change from 2023) Per capita % of GDP
81,763m (+2.8%) $1,186 2.3%

Principal EBCO concerns

EBCO's principal concern regarding the United Kingdom is the continuing reliance on recruitment, particularly in the army, from the age of sixteen.

Although the proportion, particularly of the youngest recruits, has diminished over the years, as the following tables show, there are still no imminent plans to raise recruitment ages, despite a continuing campaign on the issue, highlighting in particular the adverse psychological effects of exposure at a young age to armed conflict and persistent allegations of harassment and abuse of juveniles in the course of training.

The following are Ministry of Defence figures supplied to the Child Rights International Network, UK

Intake of sixteen-year-olds, by year

Financial Year Army % Royal Navy % Royal Air Force % Total %
1999/2000 3377 20.5% 602 12.2% 158 3.9% 4137 (16.2%)
2000/1 3248 22.1% 481 10.4% 199 5.5% 3928 (17.1%)
2001/2 3400 23.0% 580 11.6% 230 6.1% 4210 (17.9%)
2002/3 3600 21.8% 585 11.2% 245 5.5% 4430 (16.9%)
2003/4 3225 21.2% 405 9.8% 265 6.4% 3895 (16.6%)
2004/5 2470 21.1% 330 8.9% 85 3.9% 2885 (16.4%)
2005/6 2445 19.3% 305 7.8% 10 0.7% 2760 (15.3%)
2006/7 2005 14.5% 250 6.7% 20 1.1% 2275 (11.8%)
2007/8 2200 15.1% 280 7.2% 95 3.3% 2575 (12.1%)
2008/9 1980 13.7% 315 7.9% 200 4.7% 2495 (11.0%)
2009/10 1795 12.7% 155 3.7% 60 1.7% 2010 (9.2%)
2010/1 1400 17.4% 60 2.7% 10 0.9% 1470 (12.9%)
2011/2 1470 14.1% 10 0.4% 10 0.8% 1490 (10.4%)
2012/3 970 10.0% 20 0.8% 10 0.9% 1000 (7.5%)
2013/4 810 12.6% 50 1.7% 10 0.7% 870 (8.0%)
2014/5 810 10.6% 30 1.2% 10 0.6% 850 (7.2%)
2015/6 920 11.5% 70 2.7% 30 1.6% 1020 (8.1%)
2016/7 980 12.9% 120 4.5% 60 3.6% 1160 (9.7%)
2017/8 920 14.1% 100 3.8% 70 4.1% 1090 (10.0%)
2018/9 1000 15.8% 140 5.0% 80 4.1% 1210 (10.9%)
2019/20 1350 14.2% 150 4.7% 100 4.4% 1600 (10.7%)
2020/1 1160 12.4% 180 5.0% 50 2.7% 1390 (9.4%)
2021/2 1040 15.3% 150 4.6% 70 3.0% 1260 (10.4%)
2022/3 890 14.0% 100 3.6% 40 2.1% 1030 (9.3%)
2023/4 1010 14.0% 130 5.2% 60 3.8% 1210 (10.7%)
TOTAL 44475 16.5% 5598 6.5% 2177 3.6% 50010 (12.7%)

Intake of seventeen-year-olds, by year

Financial Year Army % Royal Navy % Royal Air Force % Total %
1999/2000 3641 22.1% 972 19.6% 556 13.6% 5169 (20.2%)
2000/1 3136 21.3% 924 20.0% 585 16.1% 4645 (20.2%)
2001/2 3065 20.7% 970 19.4% 625 16.5% 4660 (19.8%)
2002/3 3300 20.1% 970 18.6% 735 16.5% 5035 (19.2%)
2003/4 2985 19.7% 670 16.3% 665 16.0% 4320 (18.4%)
2004/5 2385 20.4% 585 15.8% 310 14.3% 3280 (18.7%)
2005/6 2685 21.2% 600 15.3% 130 9.1% 3415 (18.9%)
2006/7 2865 20.8% 535 14.3% 135 7.4% 3535 (18.3%)
2007/8 2550 17.5% 550 14.2% 305 10.4% 3405 (16.0%)
2008/9 2155 14.9% 550 13.7% 580 13.6% 3285 (14.4%)
2009/10 1835 12.9% 435 10.5% 395 11.4% 2665 (12.2%)
2010/1 1000 12.4% 220 9.8% 80 7.0% 1300 (11.4%)
2011/2 1460 13.9% 80 3.2% 100 7.6% 1640 (11.5%)
2012/3 1330 13.8% 110 4.4% 70 6.0% 1510 (11.3%)
2013/4 960 14.9% 200 6.9% 90 6.0% 1250 (11.6%)
2014/5 1010 13.2% 210 8.2% 100 6,1% 1320 (11.1%)
2015/6 870 10.9% 230 8.8% 130 6.7% 1230 (9.8%)
2016/7 820 10.8% 270 10.0% 160 9.5% 1250 (10.4%)
2017/8 770 11.8% 260 9.7% 180 10.5% 1210 (11.1%)
2018/9 820 13.2% 290 10.4% 190 9.7% 1290 (11.7%)
2019/20 1070 11.3% 330 10.4% 260 11.5% 1660 (11.1%)
2020/1 1250 13.4% 440 12.1% 190 10.2% 1890 (12.7%)
2021/2 990 14.6% 340 10.4% 210 9.1% 1540 (12.8%)
2022/3 800 12.6% 240 8.6% 180 9.3% 1210 (10.9%)
2023/4 750 10.4% 230 9.3% 170 10.6% 1150 (10.2%)
TOTAL 44532 16.6% 11211 13.0% 7131 11.8% 60504 (15.4%)

All recruits aged under 18, by year

Financial Year Army % Royal Navy / Marines % Royal Air Force % Total %
1999/2000 7018 (42.6%) 1574 (31.8%) 714 (17.4%) 9306 (36.4%)
2000/1 6384 (43.4%) 1.405 (30.4%) 784 (21.6%) 8573 (37.3%)
2001/2 6465 (43.7%) 1550 (30.9%) 855 (22.6%) 8870 (37.6%)
2002/3 6930 (41.9%) 1555 (29.8%) 980 (22.1%) 9465 (36.1%)
2003/4 6210 (40.9%) 1075 (26.1%) 930 (22.4%) 8215 (35.0%)
2004/5 4855 (41.5%) 915 (24.8%) 395 (18.2%) 6165 (35.1%)
2005/6 5130 (40.4%) 905 (23.0%) 140 (9.8%) 6175 (34.2%)
2006/7 4870 (35.3%) 785 (20.9%) 155 (8.5%) 5810 (30.0%)
2007/8 4750 (32.7%) 830 (21.5%) 400 (13.7%) 5980 (28.0%)
2008/9 4135 (28.5%) 865 (21.6%) 780 (18.3%) 5780 (25.4%)
2009/10 3630 (25.6%) 590 (14.2%) 455 (13.1%) 4675 (21.4%)
2010/1 2400 (29.9%) 280 (12.4%) 90 (7.8%) 2770 (24.2%)
2011/2 2930 (28.0%) 90 (3.6%) 110 (8.3%) 3130 (31.9%)
2012/3 2300 (23.8%) 130 (5.2%) 80 (6.8%) 2510 (18.8%)
2013/4 1770 (27.5%) 250 (8.7%) 100 (6.7%) 2120 (19.6%)
2014/5 1820 (23.8%) 240 (9.3%) 110 (6.8%) 2170 (18.3%)
2015/6 1790 (22.3%) 300 (11.4%) 160 (8.3%) 2250 (17.9%)
2016/7 1800 (23.7%) 390 (14.5%) 220 (13.0%) 2410 (20,1%)
2017/8 1690 (25.8%) 360 (13.5%) 250 (14.5%) 2300 (21.0%)
2018/9 1820 (28.8%) 430 (15.4%) 270 (13.8%) 2500 (22.6%)
2019/20 2420 (25.5%) 480 (15.1%) 360 (15.9%) 3260 (21.8%)
2020/1 2410 (25.8%) 620 (17.1%) 240 (12.9%) 3280 (22.1%)
2021/2 2030 (29.9%) 490 (15.0%) 280 (12.1%) 2800 (23.2%)
2022/3 1690 (26.6%) 340 (12.1%) 220 (11.4%) 2240 (20.2%)
2023/4 1760 (24.4%) 360 (14.5%) 230 (14.4%) 2360 (20.9%)
TOTAL 89007 (33.1%) 6809 (19.5%) 9308 (15.5%) 110514 (28.1%)

For a very brief period, 2006/7 to 2010/11, figures for drop-out before completing training are also given. For those aged under 18, the proportion declined over the period from 43.7% to 26.9%, but reached a peak of no less than 49.5% in 2007/8. For those aged 18 or 19, they fell from 42.8% to 23.1%. For the 20-24 age group, from 26.3% to 15.3%, for those aged 25-29,from 21.1% to 13.2%for those aged 30-34, from 14.3% to 13.9%, for those aged over 35, from 19.6% to 8.1%. Over all years , there is a consistent decline in the drop-out rate with age, with only a slight variation in the figures for the over-30's, who must represent a very small proportion of the total.

  1. Population and armed forces figures are derived from The Military Balance 2025, published by the international Institute for Strategic Studies; military expenditure figures are estimates published by SIPRI (The Stockholm International Peace Research Institute) in April 2025. ⤴