Servicemen and women may be able to go to college or university without paying tuition fees when they leave the army, navy or air force under a wide-ranging package of measures announced today.

Unveiling the proposals in the Commons the defence secretary, Des Browne, also confirmed that he would double the compensation paid to troops seriously injured in military operations.

"Our armed forces are truly inspiring - every day they risk their lives to keep us safe - and it is a fundamental duty of government to support them," he said.

The proposals, which were contained in a government command paper, would "make a real difference to the everyday lives of our forces and their families".

Under one plan, anyone who has spent six years in the services will have the chance to study for a first foundation or full degree without paying tuition fees when they leave the services. Alternatively, they will be able to study for an A-level equivalent qualification without being charged.

The most severely wounded soldiers will be eligible for compensation worth up to £570,000, up from the previous maximum of £285,000, as well as continuing to receive an annual income, as they do already.

Servicemen and women who suffer less serious injuries during conflicts will receive an increase of up to 80%.

Seriously injured personnel will also be prioritised in waiting lists for adapted housing and given Blue Badge parking concessions for life.

"None of this can make up for the injuries that some people will bear for the remainder of their lives," Browne told MPs.

"Nothing can do that," he said. "But we owe this immense debt, and while it can never sufficiently be repaid, we should - and will - do our utmost to acknowledge it."

Browne will also make it easier for service families to get access to school places and NHS doctors and dentists. Service families currently find themselves at a disadvantage because of the need for frequent moves as they transfer from posting to posting.

The Conservatives have also called for service families to receive better treatment, and some of the proposals in today's report are similar to policies put forward by a Tory policy commission last month.

Browne said that injured veterans would be offered free bus travel and that it will be made easier for armed forces personnel with frequent and short-notice postings to get their children into local schools.

Service leavers will also be helped on to the property ladder by having their key worker status extended by 12 months after they have left the armed forces.

The chief of the defence staff, Sir Jock Stirrup, welcomed the plans, saying they would "ensure that our armed forces and their dependents are not disadvantaged by their service life, and in some cases enjoy special treatment befitting of their daily sacrifice on behalf of us all".

Liam Fox, the Tory defence spokesman, said it may have taken the government a "long time" to come up with the package but if it was the beginning of a "genuinely constructive and bipartisan approach to the welfare of our armed forces, families and veterans - then it is something the whole country will welcome".

Military chiefs see the MoD welfare package as crucial to building up manning levels across the three services by improving retention rates.

The announcement followed an internal MoD survey that found that 47% of soldiers in the army, and almost as many personnel in the RAF, have regularly considered quitting.

Education minister Bill Rammell welcomed the fact that his department would be paying tuition fees for ex-service personnel.

"Equipping ex-servicemen and women with the skills required by today's employers is one of the best ways of ensuring their successful reintegration into civilian life following years of dedicated service to our country," he said.

Commenting on the package as a whole, the Liberal Democrat defence spokesman, Nick Harvey, said: "Under intense public, media and parliamentary pressure, the government has at last issued a handful of proposals to make life better for our service personnel.

"Gordon Brown is setting himself high standards with this paper but it remains to be seen whether he will deliver.

"Hopefully, these measures will improve the lot of forces personnel, but they cannot repair the damage already done by the long-term neglect of the welfare of servicemen and women.

"Neither will the changes make any significant difference to the intense pressures that forces families are put under by the critical overstretch of our armed forces."