Armed Forces: Training

Defence is transforming how it identifies, develops, manages, values and retains talent. At the heart of this is the Pan Defence Skills Framework (PDSF), a fundamental shift in how we understand our skills landscape, creating a standardised approach that helps identify pressures and gaps while providing our military and civilian personnel with clearer career pathways.

The Ministry of Defence has made strong progress in implementing the PDSF. Programme governance has been established and a delivery roadmap for skills authoring has been set, linked to skills areas. Around 700 core skills have already been authored and assured quad-service, and are being prepared for roll-out for onboarding. We are on track to identify and continue developing the remaining skills identified across Defence in the autumn.

Work continues to ensure that the PDSF reflects evolving concepts, ambitions and delivery activities and to put the enabling technology in place to allow Services to onboard from October 2025. This includes technical integration to support the application that will link skills data back into a Master Systems of Record, enabling future use in areas such as performance management and workforce planning.

PDSF has enabled a new Skills-Based supplement pay trial, for a cohort of Engineers who received payment in July 2025. The Skills Based Supplement trial will test and inform a new flexible and targeted approach to remuneration that aligns with Defence's transition to a skills-based organisation.

This trial provides 3,200 engineering service personnel with payments of up to £2,700, which will help Defence evaluate wider implementation of skills-based rewards to enhance retention in highly demanded skills across the Armed Forces.

Looking ahead, further phases will expand the framework to cover additional skills, onboarding of Arms-Length Bodies, and refine the underpinning technology. This will ensure Defence has the agility to align skills with future workforce demands evolving technology and the challenges of a rapidly changing security environment.

This is a skills-based Defence revolution that will tackle recruitment challenges and transform Defence to build a more agile fighting force aligned with the Strategic Defence Review.