Accredited official statistics

Quarterly service personnel statistics 1 April 2021

Updated 9 December 2021

This publication provides information on the number of Military Personnel (defined as the strength), joining (intake) and leaving (outflow) the UK Armed Forces. Detail is provided for both the Full-time Armed Forces (AF) and Reserves. Further statistics can be found in the Excel tables.

The recent trends in Reserve personnel numbers in this report relate to the targets outlined in the Future Reserves 2020 (FR20) programme. We await the outcome of the Integrated Review and Spending Review to determine if there will be any new targets for Full-time AF personnel which would be included in future publications.

Some of the statistics previously published in the following publications can now be found in this release:

• Monthly Personnel Report
• Quarterly Personnel Report
• Annual Personnel Report
• UK Reserve Forces and Cadets
• Service Personnel Bulletin 2.01
• Service and Civilian Bulletin 2.03

Key Points and Trends

▲198,880	Strength of UK Forces Service Personnel at 1 April 2021 An increase of 4,900 (2.5 per cent) since 1 April 2020
▲136,600	Full-time Trained Strength (RN/RM & RAF) and Full-time Trade Trained Strength (Army) at 1 April 2021 An increase of 3,960 (3.0 per cent) since 1 April 2020
▼5.6%	Deficit against the planned number of personnel needed (Workforce Requirement) at 1 April 2021 A decrease in the deficit from 8.3 per cent as at 1 April 2020
▼16,250	People joined the UK Regular Armed Forces in the past 12 months (1 April 2020 – 31 March 2021) A decrease of 100 (0.6 per cent) compared with the previous 12 month period
▼12,300	People left the UK Regular Armed Forces in the past 12 months (1 April 2020 – 31 March 2021) A decrease of 3,160 (20.4 per cent) compared with the previous 12 month period
▼32,700	Strength of the Trained Future Reserves 2020 at 1 April 2021 A decrease of 220 (0.7 per cent) since 1 April 2021
▼4,950	People joined the Future Reserves 2020 in the past 12 months (1 April 2020 – 31 March 2021) A decrease of 1,140 (18.7 per cent) compared with the previous 12 month period
▼4,550	People left the Future Reserves 2020 in the past 12 months (1 April 2020 – 31 March 2021) A decrease of 940 (17.1 per cent) compared with the previous 12 month period

Responsible Statistician: Tri-Service Head of Branch

Telephone: 020 7807 8896

Email: [email protected]

Further information/mailing list: [email protected]

Background Quality Report: Background Quality Report

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Introduction

This publication contains information on the strength, intake, outflow and gains to trained strength 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 Army trained, disciplined manpower by changing the definition of Trained Strength to include those in the Army who have completed Phase 1 training. This affects some Tri-Service totals. This does not affect the Naval Service or the RAF in any way. 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 January 2017. 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, 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. Further historic statistics will be added in due course; in the meantime, historic statistics can be found in the following archived publications:

• Monthly Personnel Report
• Quarterly Personnel Report
• Annual Personnel Report
• UK Reserve Forces and Cadets
• Service Personnel Bulletin 2.01
• Service and Civilian Bulletin 2.03
• UK Armed Forces Maternity Report
• Diversity Dashboard
• Quarterly Location Statistics

The glossary contains definitions of terminology used in this publication.

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

A National Statistics publication

The United Kingdom Statistics Authority has designated these statistics as National Statistics, in accordance with the Statistics and Registration Service Act 2007 and signifying compliance with the Code of Practice for Official Statistics. Designation can be broadly interpreted to mean that the statistics:

• meet identified user needs
• are well explained and readily accessible
• are produced according to sound methods
• are managed impartially and objectively in the public interest

Once statistics have been designated as National Statistics it is a statutory requirement that the Code of Practice shall continue to be observed.

Policy Background

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, 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. The Integrated Review and Spending Review will determine if there will be any new targets for Full-time Armed Forces personnel. In addition, this will be reported in future publications.

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 (basic Service training) but not Phase 2 training (trade training), 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 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, and will continue to be counted against the workforce requirement.

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 manpower reduction targets set out in SDSR 2010, the Three Month Exercise (3ME) and Army 2020, a redundancy programme coupled with adjusted recruiting (intake) and contract extensions, were set. The redundancy programme is now complete.

On 23 November 2015, the MOD published SDSR 2015. SDSR 2015 outlines 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 Programme

The Future Reserves 2020 (FR20) programme aims 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 FR20 strength growth profiles on 8 November 2016. Reporting of the growth of the Reserves will be based on strength profiles only.

At the time of this statistical release, 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 and numbers continue to grow.

UK Service Personnel

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, Locally Engaged Personnel, and Non-Regular Permanent Service.

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 comprise the total strength of the military personnel employed by the Ministry of Defence (Excel tables , Table 1). The current strength of the UK Service Personnel is 198,880 which includes

• All UK Regular personnel and all Gurkha personnel (which combined at 1 April 2021 comprised 77.1 per cent of UK Service Personnel).
• Volunteer Reserve personnel (which at 1 April 2021 comprised 18.8 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) (which at 1 April 2021 comprised 4.1 per cent of UK Service Personnel).

The total strength of the UK Forces has increased between 1 April 2020 and 1 April 2021 by 2.5 per cent (4,900 personnel), as shown in Table 1. Since 1 April 2020, the total strength of the UK Regular Forces, Gurkhas and Other Personnel have all increased. The strength of the Volunteer Reserves has increased for all Services.

Table 1: Trends in UK Forces Strength¹

	01-Apr-18	01-Apr-19	01-Apr-20	01-Oct-20	01-Jan-21	01-Apr-21	% Change since 1 Apr 20
UK Forces Personnel	194,110	192,160	193,980	195,050	196,140	198,880	2.5%
UK Regular Forces	146,560	145,430	145,320	146,330	147,250	149,280	2.7%
Gurkhas	3,150	3,430	3,760	3,740	3,720	4,010	6.8%
Volunteer Reserve	36,450	36,500	37,060	37,040	37,100	37,420	1.0%
Other Personnel	7,960	7,800	7,840	7,940	8,060	8,170	4.1%
Royal Navy / Royal Marines	38,450	38,790	39,050	39,840	39,990	40,400	3.5%
UK Regular Forces	32,480	32,540	32,760	33,380	33,520	33,850	3.3%
Volunteer Reserve	3,600	3,850	3,870	4,000	4,020	4,080	5.2%
Other Personnel	2,370	2,400	2,420	2,450	2,450	2,480	2.4%
Army	118,580	116,230	117,560	117,810	118,640	120,660	2.6%
UK Regular Forces	81,120	79,030	79,620	80,040	80,810	82,230	3.3%
Gurkhas	3,150	3,430	3,760	3,740	3,720	4,010	6.8%
Volunteer Reserve	29,900	29,560	29,980	29,790	29,790	30,040	0.2%
Other Personnel	4,410	4,200	4,200	4,240	4,310	4,380	4.3%
Royal Air Force	37,080	37,150	37,370	37,400	37,510	37,810	1.2%
UK Regular Forces	32,960	32,860	32,940	32,910	32,920	33,200	0.8%
Volunteer Reserve	2,950	3,080	3,200	3,240	3,290	3,300	3.0%
Other Personnel	1,170	1,200	1,220	1,250	1,300	1,310	7.1%

1. UK Forces comprises all UK Regular, Gurkha, Volunteer Reserve and Other personnel. The constituents of “Other personnel” are reported towards the top of this page.

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

The Full-time Trained Strength (FTTS) Royal Navy/Royal Marines and Royal Air Force (RN/RM & RAF) and Full-time Trade Trained Strength (FTTTS) (Army) (which comprises military personnel who have completed both ‘Phase 1’ and ‘Phase 2’ training) is counted against the Workforce Requirement. The difference between the two is measured as either a surplus or deficit. This is one indicator of the Service’s ability to execute military tasks. Other indicators include the surplus / deficit within key trades or in specific Ranks. Following the IR publication these workforce requirements are no longer extant. The presentation of future AF strength statistics is under review to reflect the outcome of the IR.

The FTTS (RN/RM & RAF) and FTTTS (Army) comprises: 132,390 Regular personnel (96.9 per cent), 3,400 Gurkhas (2.5 per cent), and 810 Full-time Reserve Service personnel (0.6 per cent) who are filling Regular posts and count against the Workforce Requirement.

Table 2: FTTS (RN/RM & RAF) and FTTTS (Army) against Workforce Requirement

	01-Apr-18	01-Apr-19	01-Apr-20	01-Oct-20	01-Jan-21	01-Apr-21
FTTS (RN/RM & RAF) and FTTTS (Army)	136,770	134,300	132,630	134,200	135,440	136,600
Workforce Requirement	145,570	144,420	144,580	144,640	144,680	144,710
% Surplus/Deficit	-6.0%	-7.0%	-8.3%	-7.2%	-6.4%	-5.6%
RN/RM FTTS	29,300	29,220	29,040	29,030	29,140	29,460
Workforce Requirement	30,450	30,580	30,650	30,700	30,730	30,760
% Surplus/Deficit	-3.8%	-4.4%	-5.2%	-5.5%	-5.2%	-4.2%
Army FTTTS	77,120	75,070	73,900	75,310	76,350	77,200
Workforce Requirement	82,650	82,020	82,050	82,050	82,040	82,040
% Surplus/Deficit	-6.7%	-8.5%	-9.9%	-8.2%	-6.9%	-5.9%
RAF FTTS	30,350	30,010	29,690	29,850	29,960	29,940
Workforce Requirement	32,480	31,820	31,880	31,900	31,900	31,910
% Surplus/Deficit	-6.5%	-5.7%	-6.9%	-6.4%	-6.1%	-6.2%

The current deficit against the Workforce Requirement is 5.6 per cent for the UK Armed Forces. There is a deficit of 4.2 per cent, 5.9 per cent and 6.2 per cent in the (RN/RM), the Army and the (RAF) respectively, as can be seen in Table 2 above.

Full-time Trained Strength (RN/RM & RAF) and Full-time Trade Trained Strength (Army) includes all UK Regular personnel, Gurkhas and those elements of the Full-time Reserve Service (FTRS) who are counted against the workforce requirement (see glossary for more detail).

Workforce Requirement is the number of Service personnel needed, based on the Defence Planning Round, set for each of the three Services.

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

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

Table 3: Comparison of Full-Time Trained and Trade-Trained Strengths (Army)

	01-Apr-20	01-Jul-20	01-Oct-20	01-Jan-21	01-Apr-21
Full-Time Trained Strength	79,010	79,280	80,760	81,550	82,190
of which Trade Trained	73,900	73,780	75,310	76,350	77,200

Figure 2: FTTS & FTTTS in the Army since Trained Strength definition change (Oct 16)

As can be seen from Figure 2 above, Army trained strength (FTTS) and Army trade trained strength (FTTTS) has been increasing since April 2020. The trained and trade trained strength is higher than at 1 April 2020 by 4.0 per cent and 4.5 per cent respectively.

Table 4: Army Officers and Other Ranks by Training Status

	01-Apr-18	01-Apr-19	01-Apr-20	01-Oct-20	01-Jan-21	01-Apr-21
Trained Officers	12,400	12,490	12,520	12,860	12,950	12,770
Trade Trained Officers	12,110	12,130	12,260	12,490	12,550	12,490
Trained Other Ranks	68,750	65,850	66,490	67,900	68,600	69,420
Trade Trained Other Ranks	65,010	62,940	61,640	62,820	63,800	64,710

Since 1 April 2018, the strength of the trained and trade trained Officers has increased by 2.9 per cent and 3.1 per cent respectively. The strength of trained Other Ranks has increased by 1.0 per cent and the strength of trade trained Other Ranks has decreased by 0.5 per cent respectively, as can be inferred from Table 4 above.

UK Regular Personnel (excluding Gurkhas)

As at 1 April 2021, the Trained and Untrained Strength of the UK Regular Forces (which excludes Gurkhas) was 149,280. The Service split for this figure can be found in Table 5 below.

There are 12,170 untrained personnel in the UK Regular Forces (excluding Gurkhas), of which 4,770 are in the RN/RM, 4,070 in the Army and 3,330 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-Apr-20		01-Apr-21
RN/RM	32,760		33,850
of which Trained	28,720	87.7%	29,080	85.9%
Army	79,620		82,230
of which Trained	75,370	94.7%	78,160	95.1%
of which Trade Trained	70,440	88.5%	73,450	89.3%
RAF	32,940		33,200
of which Trained	29,640	90.0%	29,870	90.0%

Intake and Outflow

In the 12 months to 31 March 2021 there was a net intake of 3,960 personnel to the UK Regular Forces. This is higher than the net intake of 890 in the 12 months to 31 March 2020. This is mainly driven by a gradual decline in outflow which has decreased by 20.4 per cent since 31 March 2020.

Intake

• Intake into the trained and untrained UK Regular Forces was 16,240 in the 12 months to 31 March 2021. This has remained relatively stable with the intake of 16,340 in the 12 months to 31 March 2020.
• In the 12 months to 31 March 2021, intake to the RN/RM has increased by 11.6 percent, intake to the Army and RAF has decreased by 1.1 per cent and 15.4 per cent respectively, when compared with the 12 months to 31 March 2020.

Figure 3: Intake to and Outflow from the UK Regular Forces over rolling 12-month periods

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 12,300 in the 12 months to 31 March 2021; down from 15,460 in the 12 months to 31 March 2020.

• Across all Services, VO was the most common reason for outflow of Trained (RN/RM & RAF) and Trade-Trained (Army) personnel, accounting for 60.9 per cent of outflow in the 12 months to 31 March 2020 (See Figure 4).

• In the 12 months to 31 March 2021, 5,270 trained (RN/RM & RAF) and trade trained (Army) personnel left through VO; the VO rate was 4.0 per cent. The VO Rate for the RN/RM was 4.2 per cent, for the RAF it was 3.7 per cent and for the Army it was 4.1 per cent.

• In the 12 months to 31 March 2021, the VO rate amongst Other Ranks was 3.2 per cent, this is higher than the VO rate for Officers which was 4.4 per cent.

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 March 2021)

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 March 2021, there was a net gain of trained strength of 4,630 personnel to the UK Regular Forces. This is in contrast to a net loss of 1,500 for the 12 months to 31 March 2020.

• Trained and Trade trained direct entrants in the 12 months to 31 March 2021 was 850. This is an increase of 33.8 per cent from the 12 months to 31 March 2020.
• Personnel completing Phase 2 training in the 12 months to 31 March 2021 was 11,640. This has increased by 20.5 per cent when compared against this period’s equivalent a year ago (9,660).
• Compared to the 12 months to 31 March 2020, Gains to Trained Strength for the RN/RM increased by 2.9 per cent. Gains to Trained strength for the RAF increased by 0.5 per cent when compared against the same period. There has been a large increase in Gains to Trade Trained Strength for Army in comparison to the same time period last year, however some of this is as a result of a step change, in the quarter ending 30 September 2020, due to late reporting and administrative errors.
• In comparison to the 12 months ending 31 March 2020, Trained outflow from the RN/RM, Army and RAF has decreased by 18.7 per cent, 31.4 per cent and 20.1 per cent respectively in the 12 months ending 31 March 2021.

Figure 5: GTS and Outflow from the UK Trained Regular Forces 12 month ending across the Armed Forces

Future Reserves 2020 (FR20) Programme Monitoring

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 will be based on Trained Strength profiles only.

Future Reserves 2020 Strength

Following this, progress against FR20 population Trained Strength targets are reported in Table 6a of the Excel tables, . The total Trained and Untrained Strength of the Tri-Service Future Reserves 2020 at 1 April 2021 was 37,410, an increase of 400 personnel or 1.1 per cent since 1 April 2020.

Maritime Reserve

Figure 6 shows that the Maritime Reserve Trained Strength was 2,870 as at 1 April 2021. This has remained relatively stable since 1 April 2020.

The Maritime Reserve total strength as at 1 April 2021 was 4,080. This is an increase of 200 personnel (5.2 per cent) since 1 April 2020.

Figure 6: Maritime Reserve Trained Strength

Army Reserve

Figure 7 shows that the Army Reserve Trained Strength was 26,940 as at 1 April 2021. This is a decrease of 360 (1.3 per cent) since 1 April 2020.

The Army Reserve total strength as at 1 April 2021 was 30,030. This is an increase of 100 personnel (0.3 per cent) 1 April 2020.

Figure 7: Army Reserve Trained Strength

RAF Reserve

Figure 8 shows that as at 1 April 2021 the RAF Reserves Trained Strength was 2,890. This is an increase of 150 personnel (5.4 per cent) since 1 April 2020.

The RAF Reserves total strength as at 1 April 2021 was 3,300. This is an increase of 100 personnel (3.0 per cent) since 1 April 2020.

Figure 8: RAF Reserves 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 intake rates for each Service in the 12 months to 1 April 2021 are as follows:

• The Maritime Reserve total intake rate was 21.0 per cent; a decrease of 1.8 percentage points since the 12 months to 1 April 2020.
• The Army Reserve total intake rate was 12.2 per cent; a decrease of 3.1 percentage points since the 12 months to 1 April 2020.
• The RAF Reserves total intake rate was 14.9 per cent; a decrease of 6.1 percentage points since the 12 months to 1 April 2020.

Figure 9: Total intake rate by Service

The total outflow rates for each Service in the 12 months to 1 April 2021 are as follows:

• The Maritime Reserve total outflow rate was 15.9 per cent; a decrease of 6.4 percentage points since the 12 months to 1 April 2020.
• The Army Reserve total outflow rate was 11.8 per cent; a decrease of 1.9 percentage points since the 12 months to 1 April 2020.
• The RAF Reserves total outflow rate was 12.0 per cent; a decrease of 5.2 percentage points since the 12 months to 1 April 2020.

Figure 10: Total outflow rate by Service

Figure 11: Intake to and Outflow from the FR20 Reserves over rolling 12-month periods

Separated Service

Separated Service concerns personnel who are serving away from their usual place of duty or are unable to enjoy leisure at their 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 for the Army
• 468 days away for the RAF

Using 1 April 2020 as an example, the formula for the breach rate is as follows:

1. Count the number of Trained/Trade Trained UK Regular personnel breaching in the 36 months ending to 31 Mar 2020
2. Divide this by the Trained UK Regular strength as at 1 Apr 2020

There is a fall in the percentage breaching harmony this quarter for both Army and RAF. The percentage breaching harmony for RN/RM has increased slightly since the previous quarter.

Separated service data can be found in Table 10 of the accompanying, .

Figure 12: Percentage of UK Regular Forces breaching harmony (1 April 2014 - 31 December 2020)

Applications to the Armed Forces

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 Defence Recruitment System (DRS), 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 Dec 19 are not comparable with the number of applications received in Dec 19 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 1 October 2017 and 1 July 2018 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.

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 onwards define an application as an online application submitted by an individual and accepted by Defence Recruitment System (DRS). These figures are not comparable with the figures up until 12 months ending 30 September 2017, which define an application as a candidate who has submitted an AF Career Officer Form 4 and sat the Recruit Test, whether this was passed or failed. Applications to the RN/RM Regular Forces in the 12 months to 31 December 2020 were 33,058, an increase of 11.9% compared to the 12 months to 31 December 2019 (29,532). Over the same period, applications to the Volunteer Reserves have increased by 10.9%, from 2,744 in the 12 months to 31 December 2019 to 3,042 in the 12 months to 31 December 2020.

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). These figures are not comparable with the figures up until 12 months ending 30 September 2017, as the data is drawn from different databases and have differing definitions of an application. Figures for the period between the introduction of DRS in November 2017 and 30 June 2018 are not available as they are not of the required validity for publication. Applications to the British Army Regular Forces in the 12 months to 31 December 2020 were 105,019, an increase of 5.1% compared to the 12 months to 31 December 2019 (99,888). Over the same period, applications to the Volunteer Reserves have increased by 13.2%, from 28,471 in the 12 months to 31 December 2019 to 32,232 in the 12 months to 31 December 2020. 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.

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

The increase in RAF applications since the introduction of DRS 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. Therefore the figures presented here are not comparable with the figures up until 12 months ending 30 September 2017 presented in previous SPS publications. Applications to the RAF Regular Forces in the 12 months to 31 December 2020 were 39,353, an increase of 23.0% compared to the 12 months to 31 December 2019 (31,992). Over the same period, applications to the Volunteer Reserves have increased by 31.8%, from 3,785 in the 12 months to 31 December 2019 to 4,990 in the 12 months to 31 December 2020.

Further Information

Rounding

Apart from the Applications section, 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.

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

Corrections to the published statistics will be made if errors are found, or if figures change as a result of improvements to methodology or changes to definitions. When making corrections, we will follow the Ministry of Defence Statistics Revisions and Corrections Policy. All corrected figures will be identified by the symbol “r”, and an explanation will be given of the reason for and size of the revision. Corrections which would have a significant impact on the utility of the statistics will be corrected as soon as possible, by reissuing the publication. Minor errors will also be corrected, but for efficient use of resource these corrections may be timed to coincide with the next release of this quarterly publication.

In Tables 1, 2b and 8c there have been revisions to the number of Regular Reserves personnel due to a formula error in the Army Regular Reserves Officers as at 1 October 2017.

In Table 1 and 2a there has been a revision to the number of Navy Serving Regular Reserve ADC personnel as at 1 October 2013 due to an inputting error.

In Table 3b there have been revisions to the number of Army Officers and Other Ranks of which Full Time Reserve Service House Commitment as at 1 April 2019 and 1 October 2019 due to an inputting error.

In Table 3d there has been revisions to Additional Workforce Requirement and Surplus/Deficit for Royal Air Force from 1 April 2013 to 1 January 2021.

In Table 8c there has been a revision to the number of Army Regular Reserve Officers and Other Ranks of which Full Time Reserve Service from 1 April 2012 to 1 January 2013 due to an processing error.

In Table 11a, due to processing errors, a change of 1 has been made to the number of personnel at the OF-5 and OF-6 for the Royal Navy/Royal Marines and OR-7 and OR-9 rank in the Royal Air Force.

In Table 13, small revisions have also been made to April points in years 2012 and 2016-2020 of less than 5 to the amount of civilian personnel.

Symbols

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

Contact Us

Defence Statistics welcome feedback on our statistical products. If you have any comments or questions about this publication or about our statistics in general, you can contact us as follows:

Responsible statistician: Analysis Tri-Service
Email: [email protected]
Telephone: 020 7807 8896

If you require information which is not available within this or other available publications, you may wish to submit a Request for Information under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 to the Ministry of Defence. For more information, see: https://www.gov.uk/make-a-freedom-of-information-request/the-freedom-of-information-act

Other contact points within the Ministry of Defence for Statistics are listed below.

Defence Expenditure Analysis:

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Telephone: 030 6793 4531

Naval Service Workforce:

Email: [email protected]
Telephone: 023 9262 8738

Army Workforce:

Email: [email protected]
Telephone: 01264 886021

RAF Workforce:

Email: [email protected]
Telephone: 01494 496822

Tri-service Workforce:

Email: [email protected]
Telephone: 020 7807 8896

Civilian Workforce:

Email: [email protected]
Telephone: 030 6798 4423

Health Information: Email: [email protected]
Telephone: 030 6798 4423

Please note that these email addresses may change later in the year.

If you wish to correspond by mail, our postal address is:

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