Recent newspaper reports on the National Service seem to indicate policy changes affecting the way the National Service will be conducted in the future. Under the National Service Act, national service can be imposed on any group of people in the country who are between 16 and 35 years old. Originally, students who completed SPM were targeted. It would now seen that students who intend to continue their education beyond SPM will be automatically exempted from NS.

Another change is in the duration of the training period. From January 2016, the training period will shortened from 12 weeks to 8 weeks according a New Straits Times report (10 October 2015). The report states that the duration is shortened to reduce the cost of training. For the 12 weeks training, the cost per student was RM8000, whereas, for the 5 weeks training, the cost will be reduced to RM5000.

Cost factors suspended the NS for the year 2015. This brought about a saving of RM400 Million according to the Prime Minister.

The same report also alludes to a change in the nature of the programme. The intention now is to introduce vocational and technical training to NS candidates and courses to improve English language.