In the UK you don't need a degree to become an officer (although 90 something percent of officers have them), just A-levels. The majority of officers go in (with or without a degree) and do 1 years complete training in order to earn their commision. A few do undergo "University Cadetships" which is where they effectively get paid to go to University for three years where they are a member of the OTC, URNU, or UAS (depending on the branch) for that time and they get their degree at the end of it and go off and then do the same 1 year course as the rest of them (at Sandhurst, Cramwell, or Dartmouth). At the end of this you would become a commisioned officer, although you would still have to undergo your "to arms training", so for example if you were an infantry officer you would be sent on the Platoon Commanders Battle Course, or as a Warfare officer in the Navy you would be sent off to get your Navigational Watch Certificate and Bridge Warfare Qualification, and if you wanted to serve on submarines you would have to go and do the 5 month "Dolphins" course, so the length of time you actually spend training can be a lot longer depending on your specialisation. But they don't count having a good time drinking at University as a part of the training program, so hence only one year.