British military set to introduce gender and age neutral fitness tests

The British Army will introduce gender and age-neutral fitness tests for soldiers, the Ministry of Defence has announced.

The new tests, which will come in next year, will replace assessments based on sex and age to ensure recruits are physically able to serve.

Field Army Sergeant Major Gavin Paton said: “I don’t care if you are a man or a woman, I don’t care what you do, and the enemy doesn’t either.”

Currently, physical assessment tests include push-ups and sit-ups, but the new tests aim to mimic “real life” situations and will see soldiers carry heavy weights over different distances.

LGBT+ people were banned from serving in the British Army until 2000 (Getty Images)

Recruits will also have to complete a “fire and move” exercise in less than five minutes, according to ITV News.

Speaking at the Army base in Aldershot, Lance Corporal Nicola Cotton of the Scots Guards said: “People underestimate females in the British Army.

“I think it is about time we upped the ante and make it equal and not make allowances for gender or age.”

Earlier this year, British Army released an ad campaign which lauds different sexualities, ethnicities and faiths after being criticised for being too “politically correct”.

The £1.6 million “This is Belonging” campaign answered whether hopeful troops can be “gay”, “emotional” and “practice their faith” in the army.

General Nick Carter, Chief of General Staff, defended the series of adverts because he insisted that the army needed to appeal to people other than young, white men.

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