What Actually Happens When You Leave the British Military
The resettlement briefings are optimistic. The Career Transition Partnership brochures are glossy. This is the honest account of what leaving the British Armed Forces actually looks like — pension realities, civilian salary gaps, and the psychological cliff that nobody in the chain of command warns you about.
The Pension Cliff
If you joined before 1 April 2015, you may be on AFPS 75 (pre-2005) or AFPS 05. Both of those legacy schemes accrued a pension benefit from day one of service. Leave at the qualifying point and you got something. AFPS 15, which covers most people who joined from 2015 onwards (and into which legacy members were transitioned in April 2022 for future service), works very differently.
Under AFPS 15 you must serve a minimum of two years to qualify for any benefit at all. Below that threshold, you receive only a refund of your contributions — not an index-linked pension, not an Early Departure Payment. Nothing else.
Civilian Salary Mapping by Trade
The honest answer is: it depends almost entirely on which cap badge you wore, and how honest you are with yourself about which civilian role you are actually qualified for — not which role you believe your service has prepared you for.
A Sergeant with 10 years' service will earn somewhere between £28,000 and £60,000 in their first civilian role. That is not a typo. The variance is that wide, and it tracks almost entirely with trade transferability. The CTP publishes salary survey data for those who use their resettlement services; the headline figures tend toward the optimistic end, because they reflect people who actively engaged with CTP rather than those who left without using it.
Aerospace, defence, and automotive sectors actively recruit. Level 3 or Level 4 qualifications transferable. First-year salaries of £35,000–£48,000 realistic in most markets.
Network engineering, cybersecurity, and telecoms. SC clearance is actively sought by defence contractors. £38,000–£55,000 in the South East common.
NHS, ambulance services, and private healthcare recognise Class 1 CMT qualification. Some retraining required for full clinical roles. Starting salaries vary by NHS band (typically Band 4–5).
Demand is strong but concentrated in GCHQ, NSC contractors, and a small number of financial crime roles. Relocating to London or Cheltenham likely required. SC/DV clearance is a genuine asset.
Supply chain, transport management, and warehousing roles available. Competition from non-military applicants is high. £28,000–£38,000 typically on entry. Driver qualifications (HGV) increase options.
Leadership transferability is real but civilian employers frequently fail to recognise it at entry level. Security, close protection, and defence contracting are common routes. Expect to be overqualified for the salary offered. First-year earnings of £25,000–£32,000 are common without specific retraining.
Salary figures are approximate and reflect 2024–2025 UK market conditions. The CTP Annual Report publishes updated resettlement outcome data for participating leavers. Your actual outcome will depend on geography, rank at departure, civilian qualifications obtained during service, and how well you translate military experience into language civilian hiring managers understand.
The Career Transition Partnership: What It Offers vs. What It Promises
The CTP is the MOD's contracted resettlement provider. It is not nothing — many people find the CV workshops, the job fairs, and the one-to-one resettlement adviser genuinely useful. What it is not is a guarantee of a good outcome, and the timeline for accessing it is something you need to know well in advance.
The IRTC allowance covers training costs for a civilian qualification — an HGV licence, a trade certificate, a first aid qualification. What people actually use it for ranges widely: professional driving licences and trade skills tend to produce the best return on investment. University access courses and low-vocational training courses less so, though individual results vary.
The CTP process begins up to two years before your discharge date. Most people start far too late — eighteen months out is already behind the curve for anyone in a technical trade who needs to obtain civilian accreditation for skills they already have. Resettlement leave (up to 35 days for those with sufficient service) should be used for actual retraining, not as holiday. This distinction is rarely made clearly in unit-level briefings.
What the CTP cannot doGive you a civilian qualification in a trade you don't have. Replace missing professional certifications. Compensate for leaving without a plan. Make up for starting the process six months before discharge.
The Gap Nobody Prepares You For
The logistics of leaving — pension forms, resettlement grant claims, medical discharge paperwork — get attention. The psychological dimension does not get nearly enough.
After ten or fifteen years, the military is not just your employer. It is your social network, your identity, your daily structure, your source of purpose. You do not lose a job when you leave. You lose a world. The civilian workplace — even a good one — does not come with a replacement for any of those things pre-installed.
Research consistently finds that the first 12–18 months post-discharge are the highest risk period for mental health deterioration, relationship breakdown, and financial difficulty in the UK veteran population. The Armed Forces Covenant and Op COURAGE provide support frameworks, but they require the individual to seek help. Many do not, because seeking help was not the culture they were trained in.
Voluntary discharge
You chose to leave. There is no decompression time built in. You hand in your kit, you drive away, and on Monday the structure is simply gone. Most people underestimate how long it takes to build a replacement sense of routine and belonging.
Medical discharge
The injury or illness that ends your service is also the thing that removed your sense of identity before you had time to prepare. The AFCS process (Section 05) is frequently adversarial. The financial uncertainty and appeal timelines compound psychological pressure significantly.
Op COURAGE — the NHS Veterans' Mental Health and Wellbeing Service. Referral via GP or self-referral. Covers PTSD, depression, substance misuse, and relationship support.
Veterans UK helpline — 0808 1914 218 (freephone). Welfare support and signposting.
Combat Stress — specialist treatment for veterans with PTSD and complex mental health conditions. combatsstress.org.uk / 0800 138 1619.
GIP and Ill-Health Discharge: The Reality
If you are discharged on medical grounds, you may be entitled to a Guaranteed Income Payment (GIP) under AFPS 15, or an ill-health pension under the legacy schemes. Separately, injuries and illnesses attributable to service may be compensated under the Armed Forces Compensation Scheme (AFCS).
These are two distinct systems. Many people believe AFCS replaces the need for the GIP or vice versa. They do not. The AFCS is a no-fault lump sum compensation scheme for injuries and illnesses caused or made worse by service. The GIP (or ill-health pension) relates to your ability to work. Both may apply. Both need to be claimed separately.
Paid as a percentage of your notional full career pension, based on degree of incapacity. Broadly: Tier 1 (lower) receives a smaller proportion; Tier 2 (substantial disablement) receives a higher proportion. Payable immediately on discharge if the qualifying threshold is met. Index-linked.
Lump sum payment for injury or illness caused or aggravated by service. Awards range from £1,236 (Table 11) to £650,000 (GIP Tariff 1 for most severe cases). Tariff-based: 14 levels. No-fault — you do not need to prove negligence. Time limit for claims: 7 years from the date of injury or the date you knew the condition was related to service (whichever is later). Veterans UK administer claims.
Initial AFCS awards are frequently disputed. First-tier appeals to the Veterans Tribunal are common and frequently succeed. The appeals process takes months to years. Legal representation (available via Royal British Legion and SSAFA for free) substantially improves outcomes at tribunal.
12 Things to Do Before Your Discharge Date
Most people leave at least three of these undone. The consequences of each only become apparent months after discharge, by which point fixing them is significantly harder.
Register with a civilian GP before discharge
NHS registration requires a proof of address. If you live in SFA or SSFA, arrange a civilian address (family, friend, or redirected mail service) before departure. Gaps in GP registration delay mental health referrals, prescription renewals, and Op COURAGE access.
Request your full medical records from Service
You are entitled to your Service medical records. Request them before discharge — retrieval afterwards is slower and less reliable. These are essential for any future AFCS claim and for continuity of NHS care, particularly for conditions diagnosed or managed in Service.
Obtain your P60 and P45 from your last pay period
You will need them for tax purposes and for confirming income to any civilian employer, lender, or housing application.
Build a credit history now — military tenancy does not
If you have lived in SFA for most of your service, you may have almost no credit history. Civilian landlords, mortgage lenders, and many employers will check it. Start building one: a credit card used and paid monthly, a phone contract in your own name, a broadband account. Begin at least 12 months before departure.
Get civilian certification for your military trade skills
Many military qualifications are not automatically recognised by civilian employers. IRTC funding can pay for accreditation — use it. Check the relevant civilian awarding body for your trade (e.g., City & Guilds, IMechE, NMC for medics, CISCO/CompTIA for signals).
Obtain your DBS certificate before discharge if eligible
Some military roles (medical, childcare, education support) generate eligibility for an Enhanced DBS. Arrange this before departure — it cannot be retrospectively obtained from the Service.
Check your pension forecast — in writing
Request a formal pension forecast from SPVA (Service Personnel and Veterans Agency) / Equiniti (the administrator for AFPS 15). Do not rely on verbal estimates from your pay staff. Errors in service length records are not uncommon and take time to rectify.
Apply for your Veterans ID card
The HM Armed Forces Veteran Card is free and provides official proof of veteran status. It is increasingly accepted as ID for veteran-specific employment schemes, housing priority, and NHS veteran services. Apply via gov.uk.
Sort your driving licence category
Military driving qualifications (especially HGV, PSV, specialised vehicle) may not automatically transfer. Check with DVLA what civilian licence categories your military training converts to and apply before discharge — costs may be claimable under IRTC.
Redirect your mail — then redirect it again
SFA/SSFA post forwarding is unreliable and has a limited duration. Important pension correspondence, HMRC notices, and AFCS paperwork regularly goes missing during the transition period. Establish a permanent address and ensure DVLA, HMRC, SPVA, and your bank all have it.
Tell the NHS Business Services Authority you are leaving
Prescription exemption certificates and other NHS benefits linked to Service status must be updated. Automatic cancellation does not always occur promptly and errors in your favour today become debt recovery letters later.
Have a plan for the first 30 days — specifically
Not a vague intention to get a job. A day-by-day plan for the first month. Without it, the absence of structure in the first weeks tends to compound. The first month after discharge is statistically the highest risk period. Most people do not plan it with the seriousness it deserves.