The Armed Forces Parliamentary Scheme has done outstanding work for over thirty years in better educating Members of the House of Commons, the House of Lords and others in military matters.

The aim of the Armed Forces Parliamentary Scheme is to give Members, the vast majority of whom have no experience of our Armed Forces, an insight into military life that would not otherwise be available to them. It is then hoped that they will be able to make a more informed and useful contribution to defence debates in their respective Houses.

Observers in Parliament, the Ministry of Defence and the Armed Forces agree that the Armed Forces Parliamentary Scheme has been an enormous success and that the level of understanding of the United Kingdom’s Armed Forces is significantly higher as a direct result of the Scheme.

Students on the Armed Forces Parliamentary Scheme are able to choose on which single Service course they wish to enrol – Royal Navy, Army or Royal Air Force; the minimum commitment being a total of 15 days over the 12-month duration of the course. Formal recognition of this commitment takes place in the form of a graduation dinner attended by senior military officers from all three services and defence ministers.

The Armed Forces Parliamentary Scheme is administered from within Parliament under the chairmanship of James Gray MP and one full-time employee. The Scheme is fully endorsed and resourced by the Ministry of Defence in the form of a staff officer from each of the three single Services. In addition, a Ministry of Defence 2-star officer provides military direction to the Scheme on an annual rotation across the three Services.

The Armed Forces Parliamentary Trust is the overarching body that provides governance in the form of a board of trustees and financial support is generously provided from industry.