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Ideas on the agenda include a single establishment for all officer cadets to do away with the current system of separate academies at Dartmouth, Sandhurst and Cranwell. Joint training for basic
non-commissioned recruits into the Royal Navy, Army and RAF will also be considered.

The future of Sandhurst and the two other colleges is believed to be safe, however, as senior officers still believe the separate values of the three Services need to be taught to all new arrivals. The systems at the three officer academies are likely to be reformed to adopt new technology and the latest educational techniques.

All aspects of the Ministry of Defence's £4 billion annual expenditure on training will be considered by the review team, which must report its findings within one year.

Their work will affect the training of all 360,000 civlian and military employees of the MoD to ensure that the best results are achieved and to ensure that a military career can compete with the civilian sector.

Language skills are likely to become more important and may be taught as a basic skill.