When the Armed Forces Pension Scheme 2015 (AFPS 15) was introduced, it brought Regular and Reserve personnel into the same pension scheme for the first time. Rather than revisit the scheme’s wider benefits, this article looks at the pension issues that are unique to Reserve service and the topics most frequently raised with us by Reservists and those transitioning from the Regular Armed Forces.
This article covers how your pension builds up, when you can receive it, how returning to service may affect it, and the support available if you have to leave through ill health.
AFPS 15 is a salary-based pension scheme. Pension benefits build up at a rate of 1/47th of your pensionable earnings each year, including your annual core salary and, where applicable, pensionable elements such as trade supplement. For Part-Time Volunteer Reservists (PTVRs), the same build-up rate applies and is based on the number of Reserve Training Days worked each year.
For former Regular personnel, if you join the PTVR within five years of leaving Regular service, your AFPS 15 pension remains active. This means you can continue building pension benefits without having to requalify. If the break in service is more than five years, you will need to complete the two-year qualifying period before becoming entitled to pension benefits from your Reserve service.
If you remain in the PTVR until age 60, you can receive your AFPS 15 pension immediately on leaving. You must submit an AFPS Form 1 through JPA before you leave service to do this. If you previously served in the Regular Armed Forces and joined the PTVR within five years of leaving, your pension will include both the benefits earned during your Regular service and those earned as a Reservist.
Those who retire from the PTVR before age 60 will have their AFPS 15 pension paid at their State Pension Age (SPA). Deferred pensions, including those being brought into payment early, must be claimed by downloading and submitting an AFPS Form 8 ideally 3-6 months before the respective birthday, they are not paid automatically*. Deferred pensions can be claimed from age 55. However, if you take your pension early, it will be reduced because it will be paid for longer. Veterans UK can provide an estimate of the reduction that would apply.
Former Regular personnel who receive an immediate pension from AFPS 75 or AFPS 05 and then take up a Full Time Reserve Service (FTRS) role should be aware that their pension or Early Departure Payment (EDP) may be reduced through a process known as abatement*. This can happen if the combined value of their pension or EDP and their FTRS salary is higher than the salary they were earning when they left Regular service.
These abatement rules do not apply to AFPS 15 benefits. However, different rules apply depending on whether an individual leaves Regular service before or after age 60, as explained below.
Those who leave Regular service before age 60 will keep their full tax-free AFPS 15 EDP lump sum and will continue to receive their AFPS 15 EDP income while serving on FTRS. They will remain active members of AFPS 15 during their FTRS service and will continue building pension benefits in the scheme. However, Reserve service does not build up any additional EDP benefits.
If a service person leaves Regular service at age 60 or over and starts receiving an immediate AFPS 15 pension, they must have a break of more than 28 days before taking up an FTRS appointment if they wish to keep that pension in payment. If they return within 28 days, their AFPS 15 pension will stop and any pension payments or lump sums already received will have to be repaid. Their pension will then revert to a deferred pension and will become payable again at State Pension Age (SPA).
The final area to cover concerns ill-health benefits. For a Reservist who is medically discharged under AFPS 15 there are two tiers of ill-health award that can be made:
The first tier applies where an individual’s health has deteriorated to the point that their ability to undertake paid employment is significantly affected and is expected to remain so until age 60.
The second tier award is for the most serious health conditions. It may be granted where an individual has a permanent health condition that prevents them from undertaking any gainful full-time employment.
*Abatement in the Armed Forces Pension Scheme (AFPS) is the reduction or suspension of an active military pension if a person re-joins Regular or Reserve service (such as Full Time Reserve Service or FTRS) and their combined pension and new salary exceed their final salary from their original period of service
EGreen – republished Nov 2026
