Ben Fogle: Replace school at 17 with 'conscription-type' work

Young people should undertake a "conscription-type" year instead of staying on at school until they are 18, Ben Fogle has said. 

Speaking to lifestyle magazine Calibre, the adventurer and TV presenter said that he would allow children to spend a year either in the military or doing other voluntary service.

He said: "If I went into politics - which I wouldn't, because it's a thankless task, but I've dabbled with the thought of it - I would scrap the education system's insistence that everyone must do something up to age 18, turn it to 17, and that one year would become a voluntary service year.

"It would be a conscription-type year. You could spend a year either working in the NHS, or travelling with a purpose, doing some kind of aid work.

"You could work for a charity, work in an overseas hospital, or work with the army, the navy or the air force. I firmly believe at least six months of being out of your comfort zone, and involving travel of some kind, would benefit most people immeasurably."

Dr Dan Wheatley, a senior lecturer in business and labour economics at the University of Birmingham, said that such a scheme could help young people learn soft skills as well as improving their appreciation for public services. 

"The benefits would be felt by the organisation as well as the volunteers themselves, who would learn leadership skills, and how to work with people.

"There would have to be some careful thought about what actually they would be doing - they couldn't be administering medicine, for example. 

"It would give young people a feel for those aspects of our society that are undervalued in areas such as pay - these are services that keep people alive and it would help young people appreciate their importance."

In England, children who leave school at 16 must either go to college until they are 18, undertake an apprenticeship, or spend more than 20 hours a week working or volunteering while undertaking part-time education or training. 

School leaving age was increased from 16 to 18 in 2015.  

Conscription into the army existed in the UK between 1916 and 1920, and again between 1939 to 1960.

In 2015 Prince Harry suggested that it should be re-introduced, and research published by YouGov last year found that 47 per cent of British people would support the re-introduction of military service. 

However, army figures have said the scheme would not work because it would cost too much to turn volunteers into useful soldiers.

Earlier this year voluntary organisations said they were struggling to recruit volunteers because young adults could no longer afford to give up their time. 

The waiting list for Scout groups has grown to 51,000 children, the largest in its history, and 17,000 new volunteers are required to enable them to join.

But a spokesman for the Scouts warned that volunteers needed to be "willing" in order to be useful. 

"We believe that volunteering should be voluntary - people shouldn't be forced.

"One willing volunteer is worth 1,000 people who are pushed," he said.

However, figures show that teenagers have increased interest in volunteering in an effort to improve their university and job prospects. 

ONS figures show that the time given by those aged 16 to 24 had increased dramatically from nine minutes a day to 17 on average. 

In 2010 the Government established the National Citizen Service, which allows children aged between 15 and 17 to spend a month taking part in social projects and learn leadership skills. 

Around 100,000 children are expected to take part this year. 

Michael Lynas, CEO of National Citizen Service, said: “Ben Fogle is right that preparing our young people for life and work in the twenty first century needs to go beyond the four walls of a classroom. 

"Today's teenagers are now volunteering more than any other age group, and I’d encourage young people to take advantage of every opportunity available to them to develop new skills, build confidence and learn what a positive impact they can have on their local community through volunteering."