Quarterly service personnel statistics: 1 January 2025

Question 1

Key Points and Trends

Accepted Answer

▼180,780	Strength of UK Forces Service Personnel at 1 January 2025, a decrease of 2,350 (1 per cent) since 1 January 2024.
▼127,040	Full-Time Trained Strength (RN/RM & RAF) and Full-Time Trade Trained Strength (Army) at 1 January 2025, a decrease of 3,620 (3 per cent) since 1 January 2024.
▲12,850	People joined the UK Regular Armed Forces in the past 12 months (1 January 2024 - 31 December 2024), an increase of 2,170 (20 per cent) compared with the previous 12 month period.
▼14,830	People left the UK Regular Armed Forces a decrease of 1,310 (8 per cent) compared with the previous 12 month period.
▼29,260	Strength of the Trained Future Reserves 2020 at 1 January 2025, a decrease of 360 (1 per cent) since 1 January 2024.
▼3,680	People joined the Future Reserves 2020 a decrease of 210 (5 per cent) compared with the previous 12 month period.
▼4,280	People left the Future Reserves 2020 a decrease of 1,270 (23 per cent) compared with the previous 12 month period.

Responsible Statistician: Tri-Service Head of Branch

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Background Quality Report: Background Quality Report

Question 2

Introduction

Accepted Answer

This publication contains information on the Strength, Intake, Outflow and Gains to Trained Strength (GTS) for the UK Armed Forces overall and each of the Services; Royal Navy/Royal Marines (RN/RM), Army and Royal Air Force (RAF).

The Ministry of Defence (MOD) announced on 29 June 2016 that it was changing the definition of Trained Strength for Army to include Phase 1 trained personnel, which affected some Tri-Service totals (see Army Trained Strength in the Policy Background section for more detail). The MOD held a public consultation on SDSR Resilience: Trained Strength definition for the Army and resultant changes to Ministry of Defence Armed Forces personnel statistics, between 11 July and 21 August 2016. A consultation response was published on 7 November 2016. The changes outlined in the consultation and response have been incorporated into this publication from the 1 October 2016 edition onwards. This affects statistics in some of the accompanying Excel tables, specifically tables: 3a, 3e, 5a, 5b, 5c, 5d, 5e, 6a, 6b, 7a, 7b and 7c. Terminology has also been updated in Excel tables 3c and 4.

Detailed statistics, including unrounded figures, and historic time series can be found in the Excel tables. These include quarterly statistics on the number of Service and Civilian Personnel, Separated Service (the proportion of personnel breaching harmony guidelines), Applications to each of the Services and Military Salaries. Historic statistics can be found in the following archived publications:

The glossary contains definitions of terminology used in this publication.

A calendar of upcoming MOD statistical releases can be found on GOV.UK.

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meet identified user needs;
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Question 3

UK Service Personnel

Accepted Answer

Strength is the number of personnel.

UK Regulars are Full-Time Service personnel, including Nursing Services, excluding FTRS personnel, Gurkhas, mobilised Reservists, Military Provost Guarding Service (MPGS), Locally Engaged Personnel (LEP), and Non Regular Permanent Service (NRPS).

Volunteer Reserves voluntarily accept an annual training commitment and are liable to be mobilised to deploy on operations. They can be utilised on a part-time or Full-Time basis to provide support to the Regular Forces at home and overseas.

UK Service Personnel are the total Strength of the military personnel employed by the Ministry of Defence (Excel table, Table 1). The current Strength (as at 1 January 2025) of the UK Armed Forces is 180,780 which includes:

All UK Regular personnel and all Gurkha personnel (77.6 per cent of UK Service Personnel).
Volunteer Reserve personnel (17.7 per cent of UK Service Personnel).
Other Personnel including the Serving Regular Reserve, Sponsored Reserve, Military Provost Guard Service, Locally Engaged Personnel and elements of the Full-Time Reserve Service (FTRS) (4.7 per cent of UK Service Personnel).

The total Strength of the UK Forces has decreased between 1 January 2024 and 1 January 2025 by 1.3 per cent (2,350 personnel), as shown in Table 1. Compared to 1 January 2024, the Gurkhas and other Personnel has increased, however the UK Regular Forces and Volunteer Reserves has decreased.

Table 1: Trends in UK Forces Strength

	01-Jan-22	01-Jan-23	01-Jan-24	01-Jul-24	01-Oct-24	01-Jan-25	% Change since 1 Jan 24
UK Forces Personnel	197,137	190,167	183,132	181,318	181,547	180,779	-1.3%
UK Regular Forces	148,216	143,558	138,097	136,525	136,861	136,117	-1.4%
Gurkhas	3,949	4,061	4,062	4,244	4,185	4,127	1.6%
Volunteer Reserve	36,598	34,284	32,581	32,145	32,050	31,967	-1.9%
Other Personnel	8,374	8,264	8,392	8,404	8,451	8,568	2.1%
Royal Navy / Royal Marines	40,271	38,987	37,727	37,328	37,501	37,601	-0.3%
UK Regular Forces	33,915	33,009	31,906	31,672	31,812	31,906	0%
Volunteer Reserve	3,916	3,536	3,309	3,208	3,235	3,217	-2.8%
Other Personnel	2,440	2,442	2,512	2,448	2,454	2,478	-1.4%
Army	118,921	114,212	110,029	109,086	109,245	108,413	-1.5%
UK Regular Forces	80,976	78,059	75,166	74,296	74,612	73,847	-1.8%
Gurkhas	3,949	4,061	4,062	4,244	4,185	4,127	1.6%
Volunteer Reserve	29,401	27,570	26,244	25,934	25,814	25,742	-1.9%
Other Personnel	4,595	4,522	4,557	4,612	4,634	4,697	3.1%
RAF	37,945	36,968	35,376	34,904	34,801	34,765	-1.7%
UK Regular Forces	33,325	32,490	31,025	30,557	30,437	30,364	-2.1%
Volunteer Reserve	3,281	3,178	3,028	3,003	3,001	3,008	-0.7%
Other Personnel	1,339	1,300	1,323	1,344	1,363	1,393	5.3%

Question 4

Full-Time Trained Strength (RN/RM & RAF) and Full-Time Trade Trained Strength (Army)

Accepted Answer

The FTTS and FTTTS total has decreased between 1 January 2024 and 1 January 2025 by 2.8 per cent (3,620 personnel). The RN/RM, Army and RAF decreased by 2.9, 2.8, and 2.6 per cent respectively as shown in Table 2.

Table 2: FTTS and FTTTS

	01-Jan-22	01-Jan-23	01-Jan-24	01-Jul-24	01-Oct-24	01-Jan-25	% Change since 1 Jan 24
Total	137,069	134,530	130,658	128,371	127,442	127,036	-2.8%
RN/RM (FTTS)	29,715	29,410	28,923	28,415	28,125	28,085	-2.9%
Army (FTTTS)	77,380	75,710	73,189	71,825	71,347	71,151	-2.8%
RAF (FTTS)	29,974	29,410	28,546	28,131	27,970	27,800	-2.6%

FTTS and FTTTS includes all UK Regular personnel, Gurkhas and the relevant elements of the Full-Time Reserve Service (FTRS) (see glossary for more detail).

Figure 1: FTTS (RN/RM & RAF) and FTTTS (Army)

FTTS & FTTTS decreased until October 2019, then increased until July 2021, after which it has decreased.

Question 5

Full-Time Trained Strength (FTTS) and Full-Time Trade Trained Strength (FTTTS) - Army

Accepted Answer

Table 3: Comparison FTTS and FTTTS (Army)

	01-Jan-24	01-Apr-24	01-Jul-24	01-Oct-24	01-Jan-25
Full-Time Trained Strength	76,671	75,972	75,421	75,674	75,045
of which Trade Trained	73,189	72,506	71,825	71,347	71,151

Figure 2: FTTS & FTTTS in the Army since Trained Strength definition change in October 16

As can be seen from Figure 2 above, both Army FTTS and Army FTTTS saw an increase between 1 April 2019 and 1 October 2021, but both have gradually decreased since. The Army FTTS and Army FTTTS at 1 January 2025 are lower than at 1 January 2024 by 2.1 and 2.8 per cent respectively.

Table 4: Army Officers and Other Ranks by Training Status

	01-Jan-22	01-Jan-23	01-Jan-24	01-Jul-24	01-Oct-24	01-Jan-25
Trained Officers	13,017	12,835	12,494	12,331	12,304	12,249
Trade Trained Officers	12,594	12,446	12,204	12,112	12,000	11,941
Trained Other Ranks	69,565	67,156	64,177	63,090	63,370	62,796
Trade Trained Other Ranks	64,786	63,264	60,985	59,713	59,347	59,210

Since 1 January 2024, the FTTS and FTTTS Officers have decreased by 2.0 and 2.2 per cent respectively. The FTTS and FTTTS Other Ranks have decreased by 2.2 and 2.9 per cent respectively since 1 January 2024, as can be seen from Table 4 above.

Question 6

UK Regular Personnel

Accepted Answer

At 1 January 2025, the Trained and Untrained Strength of the UK Regular Forces was 136,120. The Service split for this figure can be found in Table 5 below.

There are 9,780 Untrained personnel in the UK Regular Forces, of which 4,070 are in the RN/RM, 3,100 in the Army and 2,620 are in the RAF. The Untrained Strength reflects the number of personnel who can potentially join the Trained Strength.

Table 5: UK Regular Forces by Service and Training Status

	01-Jan-24		01-Jan-25
RN/RM	31,906		31,906
of which Trained	28,565	89.5%	27,837	87.2%
Army	75,166		73,847
of which Trained	72,477	96.4%	70,752	95.8%
of which Trade Trained	69,188	92.0%	67,107	90.9%
RAF	31,025		30,364
of which Trained	28,487	91.8%	27,746	91.4%

Intake and Outflow

The UK Regular Strength has decreased as Intake was 1,980 lower than Outflow in the 12 months to 31 December 2024. This is 3,480 lower than in the 12 months to 31 December 2023 (5,460).

Intake

Untrained and direct Trained/Trade Trained Intake to the UK Regular Forces was 12,850 in the 12 months to 31 December 2024, compared to 10,680 to the 12 months to 31 December 2023.
This is an increase of 38.8, 16.2 and 10.8 per cent for RN/RM, Army and RAF, respectively, from the previous 12 months.

Figure 3: Intake to and Outflow from the UK Regular Forces over rolling 12-month periods from 1 January 2018 - 31 December 2024

Outflow

Voluntary Outflow (VO) encompasses all Trained (RN/RM & RAF) and Trade Trained (Army) personnel who voluntarily exit before the end of their agreed engagement or commission period.

Time Expiry is a term used to describe those in the Armed Services who reach the end of their engagement or commission and then leave.

Other includes Outflow from the Trained (RN/RM & RAF) and Trade Trained (Army) Strength due to, amongst others, medical reasons, misconduct, compassionate, dismissals and death.

VO Rate is the number of personnel voluntarily Outflowing as a proportion of the average Trained Strength for the Outflow period.

Outflow from the Trained and Untrained UK Regular Forces was 14,830 in the 12 months to 31 December 2024, down from 16,140 to the 12 months to 31 December 2023.
Across all Services, VO is the most common reason for Outflow from the Trained (RN/RM & RAF) and Trade Trained (Army) (See Figure 4).
In the 12 months to 31 December 2024 VO accounted for 61.7 per cent of Outflow. The VO rate was 6.0 per cent. In total 7,510 personnel left through VO.
The VO rate for the RN/RM, Army, and RAF was 5.7 per cent, 6.6 per cent, and 5.0 per cent, respectively. Amongst the Other Ranks the VO rate was 5.0 per cent and 6.3 per cent for Officers.

There is no single reason why personnel leave on Voluntary Outflow, but the personnel who completed the Armed Forces Continuous Attitude Survey indicated reasons for leaving the Armed Forces included the impact of Service life on family and personal life and opportunities outside the Armed Forces.

Figure 4: Outflow of Trained (RN/RM & RAF) and Trade Trained (Army) UK Regulars by exit reason (12 months to 31 December 2024)

Gains to Trained Strength (GTS) figures comprise all Regular personnel who complete Phase 2 Training and those that enter directly into the Phase 2 Trained Strength. It excludes those returning to the Phase 2 Trained Strength from Long Term Absence (LTA).

Trained Outflow figures show Phase 2 Trained Outflow from UK Regular Forces, including personnel leaving the Services, deaths and recalled reservists on release. They do not include promotion from Ranks to Officers or flows between Services.

Gains to Trained Strength and Trained Outflow

In the 12 months to 31 December 2024, the number of personnel joining the Trained (RN/RM & RAF) and Trade Trained Strength (Army) UK Regular Forces was 3,220 lower than the number leaving. This represents a net loss to the Phase 2 Trained population of the Armed Forces. The overall Full-Time Trained/Trade Trained Strength as at 1 January 2025 (after accounting for other flows such as promotion from Ranks to Officers or flows between Services) was 3,620 lower than as at 1 January 2024.

The number of Trained and Trade Trained direct entrants in the 12 months to 31 December 2024 was 570. This is an increase of 130 from the 12 months to 31 December 2023.
There were 8,370 personnel completing Phase 2 Training in the 12 months to 31 December 2024. This has decreased by 11.2 per cent when compared to the previous 12 month period (9,420).
The Gains to Trained Strength for the RN/RM, Army, and the RAF decreased by 12.4 per cent, 2.5 per cent, and 22.8 per cent respectively, compared to the previous 12 month period.
Trained Outflow from the RN/RM decreased by 4.6 per cent, Army Trade Trained Outflow decreased by 7.9 per cent and RAF Trained Outflow decreased by 21.0 per cent compared to the previous 12 months.
Overall, although increases to total Outflow has reduced, as there are fewer Gains to Trained Strength, the gap between Intake and Outflow remains.

Figure 5: GTS and Outflow from the UK Trained Regular Forces 12 month ending across the Armed Forces from 1 January 2018 - 31 December 2024

Question 7

Future Reserves 2020 (FR20) Programme Monitoring

Accepted Answer

Future Reserves 2020 includes Volunteer Reserves who are mobilised, High Readiness Reserves and those Volunteer Reserves serving on Full-time Reserve Service (FTRS) and Additional Duties Commitment (ADC). Sponsored Reserves who provide a more cost-effective solution than Volunteer Reserves are also included in the Army Reserve FR20.

Following consultation on changes to the Army Trained Strength definition and the removal of the FR20 Intake targets, the MOD released Future Reserves 2020 Trained Strength growth profiles in a Written Ministerial Statement on 8 November 2016. Reporting of the growth of the Reserves were based on Trained Strength profiles only.

Following initial plans to freeze FR20 data as at 1 April 2022, extensive consultation with internal stakeholders within MOD has identified an ongoing need to publish FR20 statistics. As a result, we will continue to publish tables on the FR20 population in Service Personnel Statistics until further notice.

Future Reserves 2020 Strength

Progress against FR20 population Trained Strength targets were reported in Table 6a of the Excel tables. The total Trained and Untrained Strength of the Tri-Service Future Reserves 2020 at 1 January 2025 was 32,040, a decrease of 610 personnel or 1.9 per cent since 1 January 2024.

Maritime Reserve

Figure 6 shows that the Maritime Reserve Trained Strength was 2,610 at 1 January 2025. This is a decrease of 70 personnel (2.7 per cent) since 1 January 2024.

The Maritime Reserve total Strength at 1 January 2025 was 3,220. This is a decrease of 90 personnel (2.8 per cent) since 1 January 2024.

Figure 6: Maritime Reserve Trained Strength

Army Reserve

Figure 7 shows that the Army Reserve Trained Strength was 23,900 at 1 January 2025. This is a decrease of 230 (1.0 per cent) since 1 January 2024.

The Army Reserve total Strength at 1 January 2025 was 25,820. This is a decrease of 490 (1.9 per cent) since 1 January 2024.

Figure 7: Army Reserve Trained Strength

RAF Reserve

Figure 8 shows that, at 1 January 2025, the RAF Reserve Trained Strength was 2,760. This is a decrease of 60 (2.0 per cent) since 1 January 2024.

The RAF Reserve total Strength at 1 January 2025 was 3,010. This is a decrease of 20 personnel (0.6 per cent) since 1 January 2024.

Figure 8: RAF Reserve Trained Strength

FR20 Intake and Outflow statistics

Intake and Outflow statistics report how many people have left or joined the Trained or Untrained Strengths. As well as leavers and new recruits, this can include personnel transferring to or from the Regular Forces, other Reserve populations, or Reserve re-joiners.

The total proportion of Intake against 12 month average Strength for each Service in the 12 months ending 31 December 2024 are as follows:

The Maritime Reserve total Intake was 16.0 per cent, an increase of 1.2 percentage points since the 12 months to 31 December 2023.
The Army Reserve total Intake was 10.3 per cent, a decrease of 0.3 percentage points since the 12 months to 31 December 2023.
The RAF Reserves total Intake was 15.7 per cent, a decrease of 1.6 percentage points since the 12 months to 31 December 2023.

Figure 9: Total Proportion of Intake to the FR20 Reserves over rolling 12-month periods ending from 1 October 2019 - 31 December 2024 by Service

The Intake proportions in the Maritime, Army, and RAF Reserves have decreased since last quarter.

The total proportion of Outflow against 12 month average Strength for each Service in the 12 months ending 31 December 2024 are as follows:

The Maritime Reserve total Outflow was 18.9 per cent, a decrease of 2.7 percentage points since the 12 months to 31 December 2023.
The Army Reserve total Outflow was 12.2 per cent, a decrease of 3.2 percentage points since the 12 months to 31 December 2023.
The RAF Reserves total Outflow was 16.3 per cent, a decrease of 5.8 percentage points since the 12 months to 31 December 2023.

Figure 10: Total Proportion of Outflow from the FR20 Reserves over rolling 12-month periods ending from 1 January 2020 - 31 December 2024 by Service

The Outflow proportions in the Maritime, Army, and RAF Reserves have decreased since last quarter.

Figure 11: Intake to and Outflow from the FR20 Reserves over rolling 12-month periods ending from 1 January 2020 - 31 December 2024

For all three Reserve Services, Outflow is currently higher than Intake for the latest 12-month period.

Question 8

Separated Service

Accepted Answer

Separated Service concerns personnel who are serving away from their usual place of duty or are unable to enjoy leisure at their normal place of duty or residence at place of duty.

Individual Harmony is the freedom to enjoy leisure at the normal place of duty or residence at place of duty; this includes leave and adventurous Training.

Separated Service measures absence from normal place of duty. The time an individual experiences separated Service is compared against each Service’s “Individual Harmony” guidelines to ensure a balance between duty and leisure for all Service personnel.

A breach of individual harmony guidelines occurs when Service personnel experience separated Service for longer than the period outlined in individual harmony guidelines, which are based on the structures and organisation of that Service. The guidelines are measured over a 36 month period and the limits are:

660 days away for the RN/RM
498 days away for the Army
498 days away for the RAF (was 468 days prior to 1 April 2021)

Using 1 January 2024 as an example, the formula for the breach rate is as follows:

Count the number of Trained/Trade Trained UK Regular personnel breaching in the 36 months ending to 31 December 2023
Divide this by the Trained UK Regular Strength as at 1 January 2024

The percentage breaching harmony has remained stable for the RN/RM (0.5% per cent) and the RAF (0.4% per cent), whilst increasing for the Army (2.0% per cent) at 1 October 2024 compared to the previous quarter.

Separated Service data can be found in Table 10 of the accompanying, Excel tables.

Figure 12: Percentage of UK Regular Forces breaching harmony (1 September 2014 - 30 September 2024)

Question 9

Applications to the Armed Forces

Accepted Answer

The figures in this publication include applications to the UK Regular and Volunteer Reserve Forces. They are broken down by Service, and by Officers and Other Ranks.

Whilst application counts for each Service are based on online applications submitted by an individual and accepted by the Service’s applications system, work is ongoing to verify that application processes and definitions are consistent and we would recommend that numbers should not be aggregated to show Armed Forces totals (hence separate tables and graphs are provided).

The number of applications received does not directly relate to Intake figures, since:

Figures relate to the number of applications received and not the number of applicants, as one applicant may submit several applications;
For successful applicants who accept an offer to join the Services, there is a substantial processing time between their application being received and the applicant joining the Services. Therefore, the Intake figures for June 24 are not comparable with the number of applications received in June 24 as the numbers apply to different cohorts of people;
Applications will not result in Intake if, for example, they are withdrawn by the applicant during the recruitment process, rejected by the Services, or if an offer to join the Services is declined by the applicant. See below for further information.

There is a break in the time series between 30 September 2017 and 30 June 2019 due to the change in recruiting systems from the Training Administration and Financial Management Information System (TAFMIS) to DRS and due to the need to ensure consistency of the start date for reintroduced data between the single Services.

For Royal Navy and RAF, DRS closed in December 2021, the change over to the new application system (RITS) resulted in a loss of the system for 10-12 weeks. For Navy, the change over to the new application system may have resulted in some applications being double counted. For RAF only the applications being taken forward were migrated to the new system, and therefore there is a break in the time series where data is unavailable. Army continue to use DRS, however experienced a temporary loss of the application system from mid-March 2022 to late May 2022, which resulted in 10 weeks of applications lost (Army estimates are between 10,000-15,000 applications) which, when set against the backdrop of the national economic picture and challenging recruiting market for the public-sector, has had a real impact upon the recruiting pipeline.

There is a reporting lag of one quarter for application data for this publication.

Applications that do not result in Intake

The main causes of applicant failure (i.e. no offer to join the Services given) include:

Failing security clearance;
Failing the medical scrutiny;
Not having the required residency;
Not achieving fitness entry standards;
Not achieving the required recruiting test score for the desired branch/Trade;
Applicants withdraw for their own reasons (e.g. change of mind) during the process

The main causes of application failure (i.e. the applicant declines an offer to join):

Applicants may have submitted other applications for employment (including multiple applications to join the Armed Forces) and accept another offer;
Applications may be submitted with no intention to join (e.g. to satisfy the requirements of job seeking).

NOTE: Application numbers cannot be added together across the Services to show total Armed Forces applications due to differences in definitions.

Figure 13: Applications to the RN/RM split by UK Regular Forces and Volunteer Reserves

Figures from 12 months ending 30 June 2019 to the 12 months ending 31 December 2021 define an application as an online application submitted by an individual and accepted by Defence Recruitment System (DRS). Figures from the 12 months ending 31 December 2021 onwards define an application as an online application submitted by an individual and accepted by Recruitment IT System (RITS). The number of applications to the RN/RM Regular Forces in the 12 months to 30 September 2024 was 28,680, a decrease of 1.0 per cent compared to the 12 months to 30 September 2023 (28,980). Over the same period, applications to the Volunteer Reserves have increased from 2,580 to 2,710 (5.0 per cent).

Figure 14: Applications to the Army split by UK Regular Forces and Volunteer Reserves

Figures from 12 months ending 30 June 2019 onwards define an application as an online application submitted by an individual and accepted by Defence Recruitment System (DRS).

From 1 April 2023 onwards, there has been an amendment in the criteria for extracting the Army applications data from the recruitment system. Therefore, the figures from 1 April 2023 differ in definition, to those captured prior to 1 April 2023. This amendment is primarily based on the population the candidate initially applied for and the population they are currently in within the pipeline.

The number of applications to the British Army Regular Forces in the 12 months to 30 September 2024 was 170,380, an increase of 94.0 per cent compared to the 12 months to 30 September 2023 (87,840). Over the same period, applications to the Volunteer Reserves have increased from 20,480 to 29,800 (45.5 per cent).

Commonwealth Applicants are included in the number of applications. The Commonwealth entry numbers are closely controlled. Applications may be refused if no Commonwealth headroom is available. These applicants will then be withdrawn from the pipeline, but the application number will still be counted in the overall volume of applications received.

The improvement in applications numbers is largely due to an increase of Commonwealth (CW) applications, whereby 56% of Army Regular Other Ranks Year to Date (YTD) applications are from CW nationalities. Due to limits on CW Intake, increases in these types of applications are unlikely to affect the overall Intake performance. Additionally, UK and Irish applications have increased by 37% when compared to the same period last year, 43,900 Year to Date (YTD) for FY 2024/25 compared to 32,050 at the same point in FY 2023/24.

Figure 15: Applications to the RAF split by UK Regular Forces and Volunteer Reserves

Figures from 12 months ending 30 June 2019 to the 12 months ending 31 December 2021 define an application as an online application submitted by an individual and accepted by Defence Recruitment System (DRS). DRS closed in December 2021. In transitioning to the RITS system the Royal Navy continued to receive applications whilst the RAF ceased activity until the new recruiting system was operational, hence the break in the series for RAF data. The RITS system was in use from March 2022 and so the first full 12 months of data available for RAF is the period ending March 2023. Therefore, figures from the 12 months ending 31 March 2023 onwards define an application as an online application submitted by an individual and accepted by Recruitment IT System (RITS).

Note that the RITS system was unavailable for online applications for the period 26 September to 4 October 2023, due to system updates. The increase in RAF applications since the introduction of DRS (12 months ending 30 June 2019), is due to the previous recruitment system having a separate frontend, this was used to assist the initial application processing team in filtering out RAF ineligible applications and non-productive enquiries prior to an official application being recorded.

The number of applications to the RAF Regular Forces in the 12 months to 30 September 2024 was 43,090, an increase of 29.3 per cent compared to the 12 months to 30 June 2023 (33,320). Over the same period, applications to the Volunteer Reserves have increased from 4,090 to 4,580 (11.9 per cent).

Question 10

Policy Background

Accepted Answer

The main factors affecting decisions about the size of the Armed Forces required by the MOD to achieve success in its military tasks include:

An assessment of current and future threats to UK national security;
The need for contingent / reactive capability – the requirement to be able to respond immediately to domestic or international crisis;
Current operational and international obligations (e.g. NATO, UN);
Changes in technology, the introduction of new equipment and restructuring that leads to equipment becoming obsolete or surplus to requirements;
The need to deliver against the military tasks as efficiently as possible, maintaining a balanced, affordable defence budget.

The Service Personnel Statistics in previous versions of this publication are reported against the 2015 Strategic Defence and Security Review (SDSR), released in November 2015. Prior to SDSR 2015, publications reported against the planned Future Force 2020, as set out in the SDSR 2010 which planned to reduce the size of the Armed Forces.

Army Trained Strength

On 29 June 2016, the MOD announced that the Army planned to use Regular and Reserve Phase 1 Trained personnel in response to crises within the UK. Following this, the term ‘Trained Strength’ would include all Army personnel Trained in the core function of their Service (i.e. those who have completed Phase 1 Training). The MOD has consulted on these changes and the resultant impact they will have on this publication and a consultation response was published on 7 October 2016.

From the 1 October 2016 edition onwards, Army personnel who have completed Phase 1 Training and above, are considered Trained personnel. This change enabled the Army to meet the SDSR 15 commitment to improve support to UK resilience. The Trained Strength definition for the Royal Navy, RAF, Maritime Reserve and RAF Reserves has not changed, reflecting the requirement for their personnel to complete Phase 2 Training to be able to fulfil the core function of their respective Services.

Army personnel who have completed both Phase 1 and Phase 2 Training are now called ‘Trade Trained’. This population aligns with the old definition of Trained personnel, therefore maintaining the continuity of the statistical time series.

The Army have undertaken a review of training requirements and Royal Engineers Other Ranks personnel joining from 1 July 2019 will become Trade Trained after Initial Trade Training (ITT) and will join the Full-time Trade Trained Strength (FTTTS), and therefore we may see a change in the trend.

Full-Time Armed Forces Personnel

In order to meet the personnel reduction targets set out in SDSR 2010, the Three Month Exercise (3ME) and Army 2020 (A2020), a redundancy programme coupled with adjusted recruiting (Intake) and contract extensions, were set. The aforementioned redundancy programme is now complete.

On 23 November 2015, MOD published the National Security Strategy and Strategic Defence and Security Review 2015. SDSR 2015 outlined plans to uplift the size of the Regular Armed Forces, setting targets for a Strength of 82,000 for the Army, and increasing the Royal Navy/Royal Marines and Royal Air Force by a total of 700 personnel. The SDSR 2015 Defence Key Facts booklet announced new targets for 2020 for each of the Services.

Future Reserves 2020 (FR20) Programme

The Future Reserves 2020 (FR20) programme aimed to increase the size of the Reserve Forces. Further information on the growth of the Reserves can be found in the Policy Background section of previous Monthly Service Personnel Statistics publications.

As a result of the changes to Army Trained Strength (referred to above) and their impact on the Army Reserve, the MOD released a Written Ministerial Statement containing revised Future Reserves 2020 (FR20) Strength growth profiles on 8 November 2016. Reporting of the growth of the Reserves will be based on Strength profiles only.

There has been no formal announcement of new targets beyond 31 March 2019. However, the Ministry of Defence’s recruitment campaign is a long-term programme.

Reserves Forces 2030 (RF30) Programme

The Reserve Forces 2030 (RF30) Review does not include a target for additional personnel numbers beyond those in the Future Reserves 2020 (FR20) programme.

RF30 builds on the work carried out by FR20; the RF30 Review offers 18 recommendations grouped into four key areas in which the Reserves will need to continue to adapt in order to develop their utility. These are: redefining the Reserves’ relationship with society; expanding the role of the Reserves; unlocking the potential of reservists; and transforming support to the Reserves.

The Ministry of Defence has established an implementation programme to consider the RF30 recommendations. A formal response, or responses, to the RF30 Review will follow the RF30 implementation programme’s detailed analysis of the recommendations.

Question 11

Further Information

Accepted Answer

Rounding

All figures in this publication have been rounded to the nearest 10, though numbers ending in a “5” have been rounded to the nearest multiple of 20 to prevent the systematic bias caused by always rounding numbers upwards. For example; a value of “25” would be rounded down to “20” and a value of “15” would be rounded up to “20”. Additionally, totals and sub-totals are rounded separately and so may not equal the sums of their rounded parts.

Percentages are calculated from unrounded data and presented to one decimal place.

Due to percentages being rounded to one decimal place, sub-totals don’t always add up to 100 per cent.

The MOD Disclosure Control and Rounding policy is published on GOV.UK and we have applied this policy to the statistics in the accompanying Excel tables. The policy is available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/defence-statistics-policies.

Revisions

There are no revisions in the 1 January 2025 edition of the SPS.

Symbols

Symbol	Description
\|\|	discontinuity in time series
*	not applicable
..	not available
-	zero
[c]	5 or fewer
p	Provisional
e	Estimate
r	Revised

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