Official Statistics

Tri-service reserves continuous attitude survey 2024: main report

Published 18 July 2024

This survey of Volunteer Reserves covers satisfaction with various aspects of being a Reservist. These statistics are used to inform the development of policy and measure the impact of decisions affecting Reservists, such as those relating to the development of a modernised employment offer for the Armed Forces.

Key Points and Trends

Reserves continue to have high levels of satisfaction with Service life but overall satisfaction is at its lowest point since ResCAS began.

Seven in ten Volunteer Reserves are satisfied with Service life in general (70%), which is lower than satisfaction levels in every year since this question was first asked in 2015. This is a decrease of 5 percentage points since last year, and has largely been driven by satisfaction amongst Army Reserves. Whilst satisfaction in the RAF Reserves has remained stable since 2022 at 71%, there has been an increase in satisfaction with Service life compared to last year for Maritime Reserves (up to 75% from 64%).

Figure 1: Satisfied: Satisfaction with life in the [Service] Reserve in general by Service

Figure 1 shows satisfaction with life in general in the Reserves by Service. All three Services have similar levels of satisfaction with Service life in general.

Satisfaction with Reserve Pay continues to sit at its lowest level since 2015 and down 14 percentage points since 2021.

Despite remaining stable since last year, satisfaction with Reserve pay sits at 43%, its lowest level since ResCAS began in 2015. This is down 14 percentage points since 2021 (57%).

Figure 2: Satisfied: Satisfaction with Reserve Service pay each year since 2015

Figure 2 shows a line chart showing satisfaction in Reserves service pay each year since 2015. Satisfaction peaked at 57% in 2021 after a period of stability, and his since decreased to 43% in 2024.

Reserves are responding more positively to many areas of Reserve Service compared to 2015 baseline.

Since the 2015 baseline survey, the top three areas of increase across all three Services are civilian employers valuing the Reserve Service, the use of the skills gained through military experience in civilian employment and feeling that being a Reservist is good for civlian careers.

Figure 3: Agree: My main civilian employer values my Reserve Service, I use skills gained through my military experience in my civilian employment and Being a Reservist is good for my civilian career against the baseline year

Figure 3 shows the increase in those reporting these measures compared to the baseline year of 2015. Main civilian employers valuing the Reserve Service saw the biggest increase since the base year, increasing fom 50% in 2015 to 59% in 2024.

Responsible Statistician: Surveys Head of Branch

Email: [email protected]

Background Quality Report: ResCAS webpage

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Introduction

The Reserves Continuous Attitude Survey (ResCAS) is a Tri-Service annual survey of volunteer reservists and is one of the main ways that the department gathers information on the attitudes and experiences of volunteer reservists. The data is used to inform and shape decisions and policy development in a range of areas including remuneration, training, equipment, support, and Conditions of Service (COS). The survey was distributed between January and April 2024 (online and paper for Army, online only for RAF and Maritime Reserves).

Tri-Service questions were first asked in 2014. However, due to substantial changes in 2015 to the ResCAS Army survey methodology and to the Army and RAF target populations, 2014 results are not comparable and no comparisons to the 2014 results have been made in this publication. UK trained Regular personnel results are presented in some places for contextual information, sourced from the Armed Forces Continuous Attitude Survey 2024 (*AFCAS 2024). No statistical significance testing has been completed between AFCAS and ResCAS data.

In 2024, there were no new Tri Service questions asked in the ResCAS. Section 15 from ResCAS 2023 (SERVE Awareness) has not been included in ResCAS 2024, as the relevant question was not asked of all three Services this year.

Response Rates:

4,656 responses were received this year, representing an overall response rate of 23%, up from 19% last year. There has been a decrease of ten percentage points in the response rate since 2020, when the response rate was 33%.

Figure 4: ResCAS 2024 Response Rates

Figure 4 shows the breakdown of response rate by Service for ResCAS 2024. Maritime Reserves had a 20% response rate, Army Reserves had a 24% response rate and RAF Reserves had a 17% response rate.

The response rate for the Royal Marine Reserves (who, along with the Royal Navy Reserves, make up the Maritime Reserves) experienced a fall from 17% in 2023, down to 8% in 2024. This is likely to be due, at least in part, to the Officer responsible for survey distribution and marketing leaving his post one week into the ResCAS in-field window. This post was filled after the ResCAS in-field period had ended.

Reference tables and a list of the Tri-Service ResCAS 2024 questions are published as separate documents and can be found on the *ResCAS webpage.

Please see the Background Quality Report for full details of survey methodology, analysis, and data quality considerations.

Only differences that are statistically significant are commented on in this report; statistical tests were carried out at the 99% confidence level. This is at a fairly stringent level and means that there should be less than a 1% (1 in 100) chance that differences observed in ResCAS results are not representative of the Volunteer Reserves as a whole. This reduces the likelihood of wrongly concluding that there has been an actual change based on the survey results, which only cover a sample of the Volunteer Reserves.

Summary of attitudinal questions (highest to lowest positive scoring)

Figure 5: Summary of Attitudinal Questions (Part 1 of 2)

Figure 5 shows a stacked bar chart showing part one of the highest positive scoring attitudinal questions in descending order. Proud to be in the Reserves is the highest scoring question with 89% agreeing. Family support (86%) and would recommend joining (79%) follow.

Figure 6: Summary of Attitudinal Questions (Part 2 of 2)

Figure 6 shows a stacked bar chart showing part two of the highest positive scoring attitudinal questions in descending order. Feeling valued by Regulars is lowest scoring, with only 34% agreeing.

Summary of changes compared to baseline (attitudinal questions only: % Positive responses)

Figure 7 through to Figure 9, below, show the statistically significant increases and decreases in percent of positive responses compared to the 2015 baseline (in no particular order). Tri-Service changes are largely driven by the Army Reserve, as the Army Reserve is a large constituent of the total Volunteer Reserves population.

Figure 7: Summary of changes against the baseline (Part 1 of 3)

Figure 8: Summary of changes against the baseline (Part 2 of 3)

Figure 9: Summary of changes against the baseline (Part 3 of 3)

Summary of Service differences (attitudinal questions only: % Positive responses)

Figure 10, below, is a bar chart showing the results to attitudinal questions where one Reserve Service has scored significantly higher or lower than both the other two Reserve Services. Bars in green represent a significantly higher percentage of positive responses compared to the other two services, whilst bars in orange represent a significantly lower percentage of positive responses when compared to the other two services.

The Army Reserves do not score higher than both the Maritime Reserves or RAF Reserves for any question, and score lower than both six times. The RAF Reserves do not score lower than both the other two Services for any question.

Figure 10: Summary of Service differences

Summary of Officer and Other Rank differences (attitudinal questions only: % Positive responses)

Figure 11, below, is a bar chart showing the difference in attitudes between Officers and Other Ranks. There are many aspects of being in the Volunteer Reserves where Officers respond statistically significantly more positively than Other Ranks. These aspects include the amount of leadership training they have received, satisfaction with pay, using civilian skills in the military, feeling valued by Regulars and being able to transfer skills between their military and civilian employment. When compared to Officers, Other Ranks are more likely to feel motivated to help achieve the Reserves Defence objectives, feel that the Reserves inspires them to do the best in their job and feel that life is better in the [Service] Reserve, compared to when they first joined.

Figure 11: Summary of Officer and Other Rank differences

Overall satisfaction and commitment

Volunteer Reserves have high levels of satisfaction with life in their Service in general (70%), are proud to be part of their Reserve Service (89%), and would recommend joining the [Service] Reserves to others (79%).

However, all three attitudinal measures have decreased since last year (down from 75%, 92% and 83% in 2023 respectively).

Figure 12 below shows these three measures against 2015 baseline levels. All three measures are now lower than they were in 2015.

Figure 12: Satisfied: Satisfaction with life in the [Service] Reserve in general & Agree: Proud to be in the [Service] Reserve and recommend joining the [Service] Reserve against baseline year

Army Reserve levels for satisfaction with Service life fell from 77% in 2023 to 70% in 2024, driving the overall Tri Service decrease in satisfaction with Service life in general. The Army Reserve also contributed to the Tri Service decrease since last year in pride and likelihood of recommending joining the service (93% to 89% and 84% to 79% respectively, for the Army Reserve).

Maritime Reserves have seen an increase in satisfaction in Service life to 75%, up from 64% in 2023. The Maritime Reserve’s pride in being part of their service, and their likelihood to recommend joining the service to others, have remained stable since last year.

This increase in satisfaction of Service life compared to previous years for the Maritime Reserve may be due to an effective ‘suspension’ of the Maritime Reserve three years ago. Satisfaction levels are now back in line with where they were up until 2021.

RAF Reserve levels of satisfaction with life in the Service has remained stable this year, but is still down since 2021 (79% in 2021, 71% in 2024). Their likelihood to recommend joining the Service has remained stable since last year (82% in 2024).

Figure 13 shows the changes in general satisfaction with Service life for each Service since last year. Maritime Reserves satisfaction has increased, Army Reserves have decreased and RAF Reserves have remained stable.

Figure 13: Satisfied: Satisfaction with life in the [Service] Reserve in general by Service against last year

A majority of Volunteer Reserves agree that they have a strong personal attachment to the Service (69%), feel that their Service inspires them to do the best in their job (62%), and feel that their Service motivates them to help it achieve its objectives (56%).

However, those agreeing that their Service inspires them to do the best in their job, and feeling that their Service motivates them to help it achieve it’s objectives, have declined since last year (67% and 62% in 2023 respectively).

These decreases since last year have been been mainly driven by the Army Reserve, who reported drops from 68% to 61% and 62% to 55% respectively for these measures.

Army Reserve levels of personal attachment and motivation to achieve Service goals have remained stable compared to baseline 2018 levels, with inspiration to do the best in their role decreasing. The Maritime Reserves have experienced a drop in all three of these measures since 2018 baseline levels, whilst the RAF Reserves inspiration to do the best in their role and motivation have decreased over the same period.

Figure 14: Agree: The [Service] Reserve inspires me to do the best in my role, motivates me to help it acheve it’s objectives and I feel a strong personal attachment to the [Service] Reserves by Service

Figure 14 shows the levels of agreement that the [Service] Reserve inspires personnel to do the best in their role, motivates them to help it acheve it’s objectives and feeling a strong personal attachment to the [Service] Reserves broken down by Service. Army Reserves have the lowest personal attachment to the Reserves. Motivation to help the Reserves meet its objectives is consistent across the three Services.

Feeling valued in the Reserves

Over three in ten (34%) Volunteer Reserves feel valued by Regulars, whilst three in ten (31%) disagree, up from 28% last year. A third of Reservists (34%) neither agree nor disagree that they feel valued by Regulars which may, at least in part, reflect a lack of contact between Reservists and Regulars (AFCAS 2024 results show that 47% of Regulars have had working contact with Reserves in the last 2 years).

Army Reserves feel the least valued by Regulars (33% in 2024) compared to the other Services, and this has decreased since 2022 (37%). Although, there has been an increase of Army Reserves feeling valued by Regulars since baseline (29% in 2015).

Figure 15 shows how valued by Regulars the Reserves feel, split by Service and compared to the baseline year. The Army Reserves are the only Service to feel more valued now than in 2015.

Figure 15: Agree: I feel valued by Regulars broken down by Service against baseline year

The proportion of Officers feeling valued by Regulars is at the same level as in 2015 (baseline) at 43% in 2024. This has remained stable since last year. Other Ranks agreeing they feel valued by Regulars is also at the same level as the 2015 baseline (31% in 2024) and has also remained stable since last year. This can be seen in Figure 16 below.

Officers (43%) are more likely to feel valued by Regulars compared to Other Ranks (31%).

Figure 16: Agree: I feel valued by Regulars broken down by Rank against baseline year

Four in ten Volunteer Reservists (40%) feel valued by society. This is lower than 2015 baseline levels (50%) and is down from last year (48% in 2023).

Figure 17: Agree: I feel valued by society by Service against baseline year

Figure 17 shows how valued by society the Reserves feel by Service against the baseline year of 2015. All Services feel less valued now than in 2015, with RAF Reserves having the largest percentage point decrease from 51% to 36%.

Fairness in the Reserves

The majority of Volunteer Reserves agree that they are treated fairly (76%), however this has decreased since last year (82% in 2023). The Volunteer Reserves also show good levels of feeling that Service discipline is fair (72%), but this has also decreased since last year (78% in 2023). Both of these measures are at the lowest reported level since the questions were first asked in 2019.

Over one in eight (13%) Volunteer Reserves reported that they have been subject to at least one of bullying, discrimination, or harassment in a Service environment in the last 12 months. This has remained stable at a Tri Service level since last year (and has done for each individual Reserve Service) but is higher than when the question was introduced in 2019 (9%). Although direct comparisons have not been made, figures from AFCAS 2024 have been provided in Figure 18 below for contextual information, where Reserves reports of bullying, harassment and discrimination can be seen alongside regulars.

Figure 18 shows that 12% of Regulars have reported experiencing at least one of the three acts compared to 13% of Reserves.

Figure 18: Yes: Believe you have been subject to bullying, discrimination, harassment or any of the above in a Service environment in the last 12 months broken down by Reserves and Regulars

There were no differences for the Non White Group, when compared to the White Group, in feeling that they are treated fairly or feeling that they had experienced bullying, harassment or discrimination in the last 12 months. Figure 19, below, shows this parity between both the White Group and the Non White Group for feeling that they are treated fairly and feeling that they had experienced at least one of bullying, discrimination or harassment.

Figure 19: Agree: Treated fairly in the [Service] Reserve & Yes: Believe you have been subject to bullying, discrimination, harassment or any of the above in a Service environment in the last 12 months broken down by ethnicity

There was no difference between female and male Reservists in feeling that they are treated fairly in the Reserves. However, females (18%) are more likely to report being subject to bullying, discrimination or harassment in a Service environment in the last 12 months than males (12%). This can be seen in Figure 20.

Figure 20: Agree: Treated fairly in the [Service] Reserve & Yes: Believe you have been subject to bullying, discrimination, harassment or any of the above in a Service environment in the last 12 months broken down by gender

Of those Reservists who believe they have been subject to bullying, discrimination or harassment in a Service environment in the last 12 months (13%), over one in ten have made a formal written complaint (13%).

Of those Reservists that had made a formal written complaint about a perceived incidence of bullying, discrimination, or harassment, 11% were satisfied with the outcome of the complaint, while 51% were dissatisfied. Although direct comparisons have not been made, figures from AFCAS 2024 have been provided in Figure 21 below for contextual information.

13% of Regulars who reported experiencing bullying, harassment or discrimination made a formal complaint, the same level as reserves. However, 16% of Regulars were satisifed with the outcome, compared to 11% of Reserves. This can be seen in Figure 21 below.

Figure 21: Yes: Made a formal complaint within the last 12 months about this bullying, discrimination and/or harassment & Satisfied: Satisfaction with the outcome broken down by Reserves against Regulars

15% of Reservists have heard of the Service Complaints Ombudsman (SCO) and know a lot about it, 48% have heard of SCO and know a little about it and 22% have heard of the SCO and know nothing about it. 15% have never heard of the SCO. Over four in ten (43%) of Officers know a lot about the Service Complaints process, compared to only 21% of Other Ranks. Also, similarly with the Ombudsman, Officers are more aware (Officers 27% to Other Ranks 11%) of the Service Complaints process.

Civilian employment

Since 2015 baseline levels, there has been an increase in the proportion of Volunteer Reserves who report that their civilian employer supports and values their Reserve service, and who report that being a Reservist is good for their civilian career.

Of the three aforementioned measures, civilian employers valuing Reserve service has had the largest percentage point increase, from 50% in 2015 to 59% in 2024. The changes in these measures since the baseline year can be seen in Figure 22 below.

Figure 22: Agree: My main civilian employer supports my Reserve Service, values my Reserve service and being a reservist is good for my civilian career against the baseline year

A greater proportion of Reservists believe that they have been advantaged in a civilian job as a result of their Reserve Service in the last 12 months (22%) compared to the number of reservists that feel that they have been disadvantaged in a civilian job as a result of their Reserve Service (9%).

There has been a decrease in the proportion of Reservists who feel that they have been unreasonably disadvantaged in a civilian job as a result of their Reserve Service over the last 12 months compared to the 2015 baseline (9% in 2024 down from 11% in 2015). The proportion of Reservists who feel that they have been advantaged in a civilian job as a result of their Reserve Service over the last 12 months has increased compared to the 2015 baseline (up from 14% in 2015 to 22% in 2024). These changes can be seen in Figure 23 below.

Figure 23: Yes: Do you believe that you have been unreasonably disadvantaged or advantaged in a civilian job as a result of your Reserve Service in the last 12 months against the baseline year

Compared to Other Ranks, Officers are more likely to use skills gained through their military experience in their civilian employment (81% of Officers and 70% for Other Ranks) and to use their civilian skills in their Reserve Service (81% of Officers and 67% for Other Ranks). This is shown in Figure 24 below.

Figure 24: Agree: I use skills gained through my military experience in my civilian employment and civilian skills in the [Service] Reserve broken down by Rank

Pay, allowances and admin support

There has been a decrease in satisfaction in Pay and Allowances within the Volunteer Reserves since 2021.

In 2015, 54% of Volunteer Reserves were satisfied with their Service Pay which has decreased to 43% in 2024, its joint lowest level recorded in the Survey so far (on par with last year). Satisfaction with the Annual bounty has decreased from 72% in 2015 to 63% in 2024. There has also been a decrease in satisfaction in Service expense allowances (for travels etc) from 45% in 2015 to 39% in 2024.

However, satisfaction with admin support within the unit is at the same level in 2024 to what it was in 2015.

These changes since the baseline year can be seen in Figure 25 below.

Figure 25: Satisfied: Satisfaction with Reserve Service pay, Annual Bounty, Reserves Service expense allowances and the admin support within your unit against the baseline year

Just over half (57%) of Officers are satisfied with their Reserve Service pay compared to 38% of Other Ranks. Satisfaction with pay is down over the last 2 years for Officers (62% in 2022 to 57% in 2024) and Other Ranks (47% in 2022 to 38% in 2024).

There is no difference between Officers and Other Ranks being satisfied with the Reserve Service expense allowances (both 39%). A total of 37% of Officers are dissatisfied with the Reserve Service expense allowances compared to 32% of Other Ranks.

Figure 26 below shows the parity between Officers and Other Ranks in satisfaction with expense allowances, and also shows the large disparity in pay satisfaction (57% for Officers and 38% for Other Ranks).

Figure 26: Satisfied: Satisfaction with your Reserve Service pay and expense allowances broken down by Rank

Officers are more satisfied with their Reserve Pay compared to Other Ranks for all of the Reserve Services. This is shown in Figure 27 below. This chart shows satisfaction with Reserve pay by Service and Rank. Maritime Ranks have the lowest satisfaction, with 35% being satisfied, 20 percentage points less than Maritime Officers.

Figure 27: Satisfied: Satisfaction with Reserve Service pay by Service and Rank

Personal equipment/kit

Satisfaction with the availability of personal equipment/kit at a Tri Service level is at a similar level in 2024 (52%) as it was in 2015, the baseline year (50%). However, there has been a decrease since 2021 where satisfaction was at 57%.

Satisfaction with the standard of personal equipment/kit has decreased at a Tri Service level with satisfaction at 59% in 2015 and 55% in 2024. There has also been a decrease from 2021 where satisfaction was at 59%.

Figure 28 shows these changes in satisfaction of the availability and standard of personal equipment/kit since the 2015 baseline.

Figure 28: Satisfied: Satisfaction with the availability and standard of personal equipment to do your role compared against the baseline year

A slightly larger proportion of Officers are satisfied with the availability of the personal equipment (58%) compared to Other Ranks (50%). This is an increase for Officers over the last 12 months (51% in 2023) but satisfaction for Ranks has remained stable over the same period.

A larger proportion of the Officers are happy with the standard of the personal equipment/kit (61%) compared to Other Ranks (53%). There has been a decrease from the 2015 baseline for Officers (70% in 2015) but Other Ranks remain at a similar level.

These differences in satisfaction between Officers and Ranks in 2024 can be seen in Figure 29.

Figure 29: Satisfied: Satisfaction with the availability and standard of personal equipment to do your role by Rank

RAF Reserves are more satisfied with the availability of the personal equipment/kit (62%) compared to Maritime Reserves (54%) and Army Reserves (51%).

Army Reserves are less satisfied with the standard of their equipment/kit (52%) compared to Maritime Reserves (61%) and RAF Reserves (67%).

Army Reserves are less satisfied with the standard of equipment (52%) compared to 2015 baseline (58%).

Figure 30: Satisfied: Satisfaction with the availability and standard of personal equipment to do your role by Service

Figure 30 shows the satisfaction with the availability and standard of personal kit and equipment by Reserve Service.

Career progression

Around half (46%) of Volunteer Reserves are satisfied with their career management within their unit, but around a quarter (26%) are dissatisfied.

The proportion of Volunteer Reserves that are satisfied with their career management in their unit in 2024 is at the same level it was in 2015. Each of the three Services also have similar levels of satisfaction with their career management within their unit compared to the baseline year.

Figure 31: Satisfied: Satisfaction with career management within your unit and opportunities for promotion compared against the baseline year

Figure 31 shows satisfaction with career management and opportunities for promotion against 2015 levels. Satisfaction with both career management and promotion opportunities have remained stable since 2015 baseline levels.

However, satisfaction with opportunities for promotion has decreased since last year (40% down to 37%).

RAF Reserve Officers are less satisfied with their opportunities for promotion compared to the Maritime and Army Reserve Officers. Whereas, for the Other Ranks, Army Reserves are less satisfied with their opportunities for promotion compared to the Maritime and RAF Reserve Other Ranks.

Overall, the Maritime Reserves are more satisfied with opportunities for promotion than the Army and RAF Reserves.

Figure 32 shows this information on satisfaction with opportunities for promotion, broken down by Service and Rank.

Figure 32: Satisfied: Satisfaction with opportunities for promotion by Service against the baseline year

Half of Volunteer Reserves (50%) are satisfied with their opportunities for personal development, which is at a similar level as baseline 2015 levels (47%). However, there has been a decrease in satisfaction for the Volunteer Reserves since last year (55% in 2023 to 50% in 2024).

Opportunities for personal development is one of the most popular reasons given by respondents for joining the Volunteer Reserve and for remaining — see Reasons for joining and staying in the Reserves section.

Figure 33: Satisfied: Satisfaction with opportunities for personal development by Service against the baseline year

Figure 33 shows satisfaction with opportunities for personal development by Service against baseline levels. Army is the only Service where satisfaction has increased (45% in 2015 to 49% in 2024).

Training and development

The majority of Volunteer Reserves are satisfied with the amount (58%) of training and quality (64%) of training they have received for their current role. Satisfaction with the amount of training is the lowest it has been since ResCAS began and has decreased since last year (64% in 2023). Satisfaction with the quality of training has decreased since last year (68% in 2023) but is at a similiar level to the 2015 baseline.

Army Reserves have lower levels of satisfaction with the amount (56%) and quality (62%) of training compared to both Maritime Reserves and RAF Reserves. Army Reserves satisfaction with the amount and quality of training has fallen since 2023, which has been the main driver behind the Tri Service decreases in these measures since last year.

Figure 34, below, shows satisfaction with the amount and quality of training received for current role against the 2015 baseline year. Satisfaction with the amount of training has decreased from 62% to 58%, but satisfaction with the quality of training is at a similar level to the baseline year.

Figure 34: Satisfied: Satisfaction with the amount and quality of training received for current role against the baseline year

Figure 35, below, shows satisfaction with the amount of leadership training and opportunities for taking part in Adventurous Training against baseline levels. 46% were happy with the amount of leadership training in 2015, this had risen to 50% in 2024. 57% were satisfied with the opportunities to take part in adventurous training in 2015, this has decreased to 49% in 2024.

Figure 35: Satisfied: Satisfaction with the amount of leadership training received and opportunities to take part in Adventurous Training against the baseline year

The Maritime Reserve (67%) has the highest level of satisfaction with the amount of leadership training they have received compared to the Army Reserve (48%) and the RAF Reserve (51%).

At a Tri-Service level, more Officers (66%) are satisfied with the amount of leadership training they have received compared to Other Ranks (46%).

There has been an increase in Maritime Officer’s and Army Officer’s satisfaction with the amount of leadership training they have received compared to the 2015 baseline (63% to 72% and 54% to 66% respectively).

Figure 36: Satisfied: Satisfaction with amount of leadership training received broken down by Service and Rank

Figure 36 shows satisfaction with the amount of leadership training by Service and Rank. Ranks are less satisfied with amount of leadership training in the Army Reserves. Maritime Reserve Ranks (64%) are more satisfied with the amount of leadership training than the Army Reserves (43%) and RAF Reserves (50%).

Family Support

Nearly nine in ten (86%) of Volunteer Reserves feel that their family supports their Reserve Service, which is the same as 2015 baseline levels and 2023 levels. Furthermore, over three quarters (77%) of Volunteer Reserves feel that their family values their Reserve service, also similar to 2015 baseline levels and 2023 levels.

Figure 37: Agree: My family supports and values my Reserve Service against the baseline year

Figure 37 shows levels of agreement that families support and value Reserve Service against the baseline year. These measures have both remained stable since baseline levels.

Mobilisation

Overall, the number of Volunteer Reservists mobilised has increased from 26% in 2020, to 35% in 2024. However, this is still significantly lower than baseline 2015 levels (40%), but is up from last year (32% in 2023).

The percentage of Army Reserves being mobilised is lower than the 2015 baseline (39% in 2015 down to 32% in 2024), which has contributed largely to the Tri Service decrease. There are more Officers at a Tri Service level (41%) that have been mobilised compared to Other Ranks (33%).

The proportion of Reservists responding yes to being mobilised in the last three years remained stable between 2018 (when the question was first asked) and 2020. From 2020 (6%), there was an increase to 17% in 2021 and this remains stable at 17% in 2024. The largest percentage point increase is in the Maritime Reserve Other Ranks, where mobilisations in the last three years rose from 7% in 2020 to 30% in 2024.

Although the reasons for such an increase are not immediately apparent, it may have been due in part, at least at first, to more Reservists being called up to assist with Covid-19 testing and vaccinations.

Figure 38: Yes: Been mobilised as a Reservist compared against the baseline year

Figure 38 shows the percentage of Reserves who have been mobilised compared with the baseline year. This has fallen from 40% to 35% over this period.

Of those Volunteer Reserves that have been mobilised (35%), around two-thirds (63%) are satisfied with the support they received from the Service when they were last mobilised.

Around two thirds (70%) of the RAF Reserve and 64% of the Army Reserve are satisfied with the support they received from the Service when they were last mobilised, while 53% of Maritime Reserves are satisfied.

Under half (45%) of Volunteer Reserves are satisfied with the support their family received from the Service when they were last mobilised, which has remained stable since last year and against the baseline year of 2015.

Figure 39: Satisfied: Satisfaction with support you received from the [Service] when last mobilised and with support your family received from the [Service] when you were last mobilised broken down by Service

Figure 39 shows satisfaction with support received from the Service directly and for family when last mobilised. Satisfaction with the support their family received was 50% for the Maritime Reserve, 42% for the Army Reserve and 50% for the RAF Reserve.

Reasons for joining and staying in the Reserves

The top 5 reasons for joining the Volunteer Reserve and the top 5 reasons for staying in the Volunteer Reserve feature three of the same reasons; to serve my country, for the challenge, and personal development.

The top 5 reasons for joining the Reserves are: to serve my country (64%), for the challenge (59%), personal development (58%), to make a difference/do something worthwhile (53%) and for the excitement and adventure (51%).

The top 5 reasons for staying in the Reserves are: to serve my country (57%), the people, friends and camaraderie (52%), personal development (49%), reserve pay or bounty (47%) and for the challenge (45%).

Taking a closer look at the reasons for joining, the data suggests that the reasons can be clustered in the following ways, where reasons within a cluster have a stronger association with each other than with reasons that appear in a different cluster:

1. To serve my country, and to make a difference/do something worthwhile.

2. For the challenge, personal development, and to do something different.

3. For the excitement and adventure, to travel and experience new places, and to go on exercise or be deployed.

4. For fitness and to do something active, and the courses/skills training on offer.

5. To meet like minded people and make new friends, and the experience of Service life.

6. Reserve pay or bounty, for the type of work, former Regular and wanted to carry on serving

7. Career opportunities in the [Service] Reserve, to develop my civilian career, interested in joining the Regulars in the future, recommended by friends family or colleagues.

Figure 40: Main reasons for joining and staying in the [Service] Reserves

Figure 40 shows the main reasons for joining and staying in the Reserves. To serve my country scores top in the reasons for joining and staying. For the challenge scores high in reasons for joining. For the camaraderie scores high in reasons for staying.

Reasons for leaving the Reserves

Of the 5% of Reservists that intend to leave the Reserves within the next year, 37% reported they don’t feel valued by the Service, 35% reported poor management and leadership and 27% reported they’ll have reached the Reserves retirement age. These were the 3 top reasons given that played a part in their decision.

Results are not presented by Service or by Officers and Other Ranks due to the small number of reservists intending to stay in the Reserve for less than one year.

Figure 41: Reasons for leaving the [Service] Reserves

Figure 41 shows a bar chart explaining the main reasons given for leaving the Reserves. Not feeling valid by the Service was the most given reason for leaving at 37%, poor management and leadership and reaching the retirement age also scored highly (35% and 27% respectively).

About you

This section provides some insight into the demographics of reservists.

It should be noted that these statistics are survey estimates of the Volunteer Reserves based on weighted survey data.

• RAF Reservists are more likely to be married/in a civil partnership (61%) compared to Maritime (51%) and Army (46%).

• Almost a third (31%) of Maritime Reservists have a higher university degree/doctorate/MBA or equivalent, more than the Army Reserves (22%) and at a similiar level to the RAF Reserves (26%).

• Other Ranks (64%) are more likely to be in full-time civilian employment compared to Officers (50%).

• More Maritime Reservists (76%) are in full-time civilian employment compared to 58% for Army and 63% for RAF.

• RAF Officers (28%) are more likely to be self-employed compared to Maritime Officers (13%) and Army Officers (12%).

Well-being in the Reserves

The average well-being scores are out of ten and mean averages have been calculated for analysis.

Measuring well-being

The Office for National Statistics collects data on well-being for the UK population in their Annual Population Survey. Average scores and threshold groupings are released in their *Personal Well-being in the UK report.

Well-being is measured on a scale of 0 (Not at all) to 10 (Completely).

For the anxiety question, ratings are grouped differently to reflect the fact that higher anxiety is associated with lower personal well-being.

RAF Reserves’ average well-being ratings for life satisfaction, happiness and feeling things in life are worthwhile are higher compared to Maritime Reserves and Army Reserves.

Figure 42: Well-being average scores by Service

Figure 42 shows the average well-being scores for life satisfaction, happiness and feeling things in life are worthwhile by Service. For overall satisfaction with life, RAF Reserves average 7.5 out of 10, compared to Maritime Reserves and RAF Reserves who both average 7.1 out of 10.

The following percentages and comparisons combine the “Very high” and “High” estimates, these refer to scores of seven or more out of ten.

Nearly seven in ten Reservists (68%) report their satisfaction with their life nowadays as high/very high. A similar proportion (69%) report high/very high levels for the extent they feel the things they do in life are worthwhile whilst 64% rated their happiness yesterday as high/very high.

A higher proportion of Officers report high/very high levels of happiness (71% for Officers, 62% for Other Ranks), life satisfaction (75% for Officers, 67% for Other Ranks) and feeling things in life are worthwhile (76% for Officers, 67% for Other Ranks) compared to Other Ranks. Officers having higher levels of well-being across the board can be seen in Figure 43 below.

Figure 43: Wellbeing scores grouped from low to very high by Rank

61% of personnel felt low/very low levels of anxiety yesterday. This can be seen in Figure 44 below, where the chart shows the overall well-being scores for levels of anxiety felt yesterday.

Figure 44: Levels of anxiety scores grouped from very low to high

National comparison

*National well-being results are not directly comparable to those of Reserve Service personnel due to differences in demographics i.e. the majority of Reserve Service personnel are male. Furthermore, national figures include a larger proportion of over 60s who generally score their well-being higher than younger people.

Managing Change

Satisfaction with change management at a team, unit and Service Reserve level have all decreased since last year (2023 being the first time these questions were asked).

Just under six in ten (59%) agree change is managed well in their immediate team (down from 63% last year), over half (51%) agree change is managed well in their unit/establishment (down from 57% last year) and just over three in ten (31%) agree change is managed well in their Service Reserve (down from 37% last year). These decreases are visualised in Figure 45 below.

Figure 45: Agree: Change is managed well in my immediate working team, Unit/Establishment and the [Service] Reserve broken compared against 2015

Methodology

1. Target population

The target population is all volunteer reservists excluding Non-Regular Permanent Staff (NRPS), Special Forces and those deployed at the time the surveys were administered.

2. The survey

Data collection took place between January and April 2024.

For the Maritime Reserve and RAF Reserve a census approach was used. After exclusions, 2,619 questionnaires went out to Maritime Volunteer Reserves and 2,788 questionnaires went out to RAF Volunteer Reserves.

Maritime Reservists were able to complete an online self-completion questionnaire, via generic web link distributed to their Defence Gateway addresses from their Unit. Links were also posted on all Units Defence Gateway pages which can be accessed by unit ships company.

RAF reservists were able to complete an online self-completion questionnaire.

Army reservists were sent a paper questionnaire and pre-paid envelope to their unit address using contact details recorded on Joint Personnel Administration (JPA) system. The paper questionnaires provided an option to complete the survey online. 15,060 Army reservists were sent the survey.

The Army sample excluded Special Forces, Mobilised, Unposted List, Army Reserves Reinforcement Group and anyone who had not received pay in the preceding 6-month period.

The Army sample was designed to provide sufficient responses to yield estimates with a margin of error of plus or minus 3% by four rank groups: Officers - Major and above; Officers - Captain and below; Soldiers – Sergeant and above; Soldiers – Corporal and below.

3. The sample and respondents

The ResCAS 2024 sample consisted of 20,467 volunteer reservists. 4,656 responses were used in the ResCAS 2024 analysis, giving an overall response rate of 23%, down ten percentage points since 2020 (2021 was down seven percentage points from 2020). The table below contains information on the number of questionnaires issued and received, along with corresponding response rates.

Volunteer Reserve Service	Officer/Other Rank	Sample size	Respondents (No of useable returns)	2024 Response rate
Maritime	Officer	979	267	27%
Maritime	Other Rank	1,640	255	16%
Maritime	Total	2,619	522	20%
Army	Officer	3,516	1,470	41%
Army	Other Rank	11,544	2,179	19%
Army	Total	15,060	3,649	24%
RAF (RAUXAF)	Officer	686	110	16%
RAF (RAUXAF)	Other Rank	2,102	375	18%
RAF (RAUXAF)	Total	2,788	485	17%
Tri-Service	Officer	5,181	1,847	35%
Tri-Service	Other Rank	15,286	2,809	18%
Tri-Service	Total	20,467	4,656	23%

Note that percentages have been rounded to the nearest whole % for ease of interpretation.

The response rate for the Royal Marine Reserves (who, along with the Royal Navy Reserves, make up the Maritime Reserves) experienced a fall from 17% in 2023, down to 8% in 2024. This is likely to be due, at least in part, to the Officer responsible for survey distribution and marketing leaving his post one week into the ResCAS in-field window. This post was filled after the ResCAS in-field period had ended.

4. Weighting methodology and non-response

Due to the sample design and the differences in prevalence of non-response between the Service and rank strata, the distribution of characteristics amongst the ResCAS respondents did not reflect the distribution in the whole Volunteer Reserve population. Response rates tend to vary by rank, therefore responses are weighted by rank in order to correct for the bias caused by over or under-representation.

The weights were calculated simply by:

1. Calculating the population size within weighted class (p)
2. Dividing by the number of responses within weighted class (r)

Weighting in this way assumes missing data are missing at random (MAR) only within weighting classes. This means we assume that within a single weighting class the views of non-respondents do not differ (on average) to the views of respondents.

Weighting Class	Weighting Applied
RAF Volunteer Reserve Wg Cdr or above - OF4+	9.17
RAF Volunteer Reserve Sqn Ldr - OF3	7.29
RAF Volunteer Reserve Flt Lt - OF2	6.21
RAF Volunteer Reserve Officer Cadet/FG Off/Plt Off - OF(D)/OF1	2.00
RAF Volunteer Reserve WO or MACR - OR9	6.86
RAF Volunteer Reserve FS/ChfTech - OR7	6.07
RAF Volunteer Reserve Sgt - OR6	5.70
RAF Volunteer Reserve Recruit/AC/LAC/SAC/Jnr Tech/Cpl - OR1/OR2/OR3/OR4	6.13

Weighting Class	Weighting Applied
Army Col and above - OF5 and above	2.10
Army Major / Lt Col - OF3/OF4	3.30
Army LCpl / Cpl - OR3/OR4	8.96
Army Capt - OF2	4.28
Army Officer Cadet/ Untrained 2Lt (not completed Ph2 training)/ Trained 2Lt (completed Ph2 training)/ Lt - OF(D)/ OF1	8.40
Army WO2 / WO1 - OR8/OR9	3.36
Army Sgt / SSgt - OR6/OR7	4.72
Army Trained Private soldier (completed Ph2 training) - OR1/OR2	24.71
Army Untrained Private (not completed Ph2 training) - OR1/OR2	75.92

Weighting Class	Weighting Applied
RMR Officer	7.58
RMR Ratings/ORs	24.06
RNR Officer	4.53
RNR Ratings/ORs	6.02

Note: Weights have been rounded in the tables above to 2 decimal places. Non-rounded weights were applied during analysis. The rank OR-8 does not exist in the RAF and there is no equivalent OR-5 rank in the UK AF.

5. Analysis and statistical tests

Attitudinal questions in the questionnaires have generally been regrouped to assist in analysing results and to aid interpretation. For example, questions asked at a 5-point level (e.g. Strongly agree – Agree – Neither Agree nor Disagree – Disagree – Strongly Disagree) have been regrouped to a 3-point level (e.g. (Agree – Neutral – Disagree).

Missing values, where respondents have not provided a response/valid response, have not been included in the analysis. In addition, some questions are filtered to exclude invalid responses. As a result the unweighted counts (or ‘n’) will vary from question to question and these are shown within the reference tables published alongside this report on the ResCAS webpage (see 6. Format of the reference tables below for a link to the tables).

Unless otherwise specified, “Don’t know” and “Not applicable” responses are ignored and percentages are based only on the numbers of respondents who chose the remaining item response options.

Where applicable, Z-tests at a 1% alpha level were used to test whether observed estimates were significantly different to estimates from previous surveys. A statistically significant difference means that there is enough evidence that the change observed is unlikely to be due to chance variation (less than a 1% probability that the difference is the result of chance alone).

If those Volunteer Reservists that did not respond to the survey would have had different responses to those that did then the survey results will be biased.

6. Format of the reference tables (published separately to the report can be found on the *ResCAS webpage)

Each reference table refers to a question asked in the survey and includes estimates of the proportion of the population by category as well as margins of error associated with those estimates.

Tables are arranged generally in the order in which they were asked in the questionnaires, which is not the same as the order of the sections in the Main Report.

An index is available within the Excel tables. Each table is broken down by Service and also by Rank Group with the Total column referring to the Officers and Other Ranks results combined.

Section	Table Numbers
01 Life in the Reserves	B1.1 - B1.11
02a Reasons for Joining the Reserves	B2a.1 - B2a.19
02b Reasons for Staying in the Reserves	B2b.1 - B2b.18
02c Reasons for Leaving the Reserves	B2c.1 - B2c.21
03 Pay, Allowances and Admin Support	B3.1 - B3.4
04 Kit and Equipment	B4.1 - B4.2
05 Mobilisation	B5.1 - B5.4
06 Training	B6.1 - B6.4
07 Career Progression	B7.1 - B7.3
08 Perception of Reserves	B8.1 - B8.2
09 Family Support	B9.1 - B9.3
10 Your Civilian Employment	B10.1 - B10.13
11a Fairness at Work; All	B11a.1 - B11a.13
11b Fairness at Work; Ethnicity	B11b.1 - B11b.2
11c Fairness at Work; Gender	B11c.1 - B11c.2
12 About You	B12.1 - B12.15
13 Well-being	B13.1 - B13.4a
14 Managing Change	B14.1 - B14.3

Glossary

Additional Duties Commitment Reservists who undertake part-time work with the Armed Forces with a minimum commitment of 13 weeks - at least one day a week throughout this period.

Adventurous Training Training undertaken in an outdoor environment intended to develop skills and abilities required in operational deployment.

AFCAS Armed Forces Continuous Attitude Survey.

Air Training Corps The Air Training Corps is a British youth organisation sponsored by the Ministry of Defence and the Royal Air Force.

Annual Bounty A tax-free lump sum paid on completion of annual training commitment.

Army Cadet Force The Army Cadet Force is a national youth organisation sponsored by the United Kingdom’s Ministry of Defence and the British Army.

Army Personnel Centre The APC is the administrative centre for Army personnel records, formed in December 1996, and which formally ceased to be a Defence Agency as at 1 April 2004.

Combined Cadet Force The Combined Cadet Force is a Ministry of Defence sponsored youth organisation in the UK. Its aim is to “provide a disciplined organisation in a school so that pupils may develop powers of leadership by means of training to promote the qualities of responsibility, self-reliance, resourcefulness, endurance and perseverance”.

FAMCAS Families Continuous Attitude Survey.

Full-Time Reserve Service (FTRS) Those on FTRS fill Service posts on a full-time basis while being a member of one of the reserve services, either as an ex-regular or as a volunteer. In the case of the Army and the Naval Service, these will be posts that would ordinarily have been filled by regular service personnel. In the case of the RAF, FTRS personnel also fill posts designated solely for them.

JPA Joint Personnel Administration is the system used by the Armed Forces to deal with matters of pay, leave and other personal administrative tasks.

Maritime Reserves a term that covers the combined Royal Navy Reserve (RNR) and Royal Marine Reserve (RMR).

Missing at Random (MAR) Statistical theory that states that those who did not respond to a question do not differ from those who did respond.

Missing Values Refers to the situation where a respondent has not submitted an answer or a valid answer to a question.

MOD Ministry of Defence.

n Letter that represents ‘Unweighted Count’. This is the actual number of Volunteer Reservists that provided a valid response to a question in the survey.

N/A Not applicable.

NATO North Atlantic Treaty Organisation.

Neutral In Key Results and Tables, refers to the situation where there is neither agreement or disagreement, satisfaction or dissatisfaction, positions taken in response to a question.

Non-response Refers either to a person who although sampled and sent a questionnaire did not reply or to a respondent who did not reply to a question.

OF Officer of NATO rank designation ranking from ‘1’ lowest to ‘10’ highest.

Officer(s) All Officers of NATO ranks OF1 to OF10.

OR Other Ranks of NATO rank designation ranking from ‘OR1’ lowest to ‘OR9’ highest

Other Rank(s) Other Ranks are members of the Royal Marines, Army and Royal Air Force who are not Officers. The equivalent group in the Royal Navy is known as “Ratings”.

RAF Royal Air Force.

Regular Reserve Former members of the UK regular forces who have a liability for service with the Reserve forces. Includes the Royal Fleet Reserve, Army Reserve and Royal Air Force Reserve as well as other individuals liable to recall.

Reserves Continuous Attitude Survey (ResCAS) Refers to the questions asked on a Tri-Service basis in each of the single-Services Reserves Continuous Attitude Surveys.

Royal Marines Reserve (RMR) Approximately 10% of the RMR are working with the Regular Corps on long term attachments, mostly FTRS. The remainder are Volunteer Reserves.

Royal Naval Reserve (RNR) Formed in 1859 it was merged with the Royal Navy Volunteer Reserve (RNVR) in 1958, and also incorporates the former Women’s Royal Navy Volunteer Reserve (WRNVR) and QARNNS (Reserve). See Volunteer Reserves.

Sea Cadet Corps The Sea Cadet Corps is a national youth organisation sponsored by the United Kingdom’s Ministry of Defence and the Royal Navy.

Service(s) Royal Navy, Royal Marines, Army and RAF.

Standard Error A measure derived using weighting factors from the sample proportion and unweighted count in a sampling distribution and used as a benchmark in order to ascertain a range of values within which the true population proportion could lie.

Statistically significant Refers to the result of a statistical test in which there is evidence of a change in proportions between years, ranks, or Services.

Statistical tests Refers to those tests which are carried out to see if any evidence exists for a change in response proportions from one year to another.

Trained Trained Strength comprises military personnel who have completed Phase 1 and 2 training. * Phase 1 Training includes all new entry training to provide basic military skills. * Phase 2 Training includes initial individual specialisation, sub-specialisation and technical training following Phase 1 training prior to joining the trained strength.

Tri-Service (Reserve) refers to the Maritime Reserve, Army Reserve, and RAF Reserve collectively.

UK United Kingdom.

Unit A sub-organisation of the Service in which personnel are employed.

Untrained see Trained above.

Unweighted Count Refers to the actual number of Volunteer Reservists that provided a valid response to a question in the survey.

Volunteer Reserves Volunteer Reserves are civilian volunteers who undertake to give a certain amount of their time to train in support of the Regular Forces. They include the Royal Naval Reserve, the Royal Marines Reserve, the Army Reserve and the Royal Auxiliary Air Force but do not include Royal Fleet Auxiliary Service (RFA). Some Volunteer Reservists undertake (paid) Full-Time Reserve Service.

Weighting (factors) Refers to factors that are applied to the respondent data set by Service and rank group in order to make respondent Service rank groups representative of their population equivalents.

Weighting class Refers to those members of a specific rank group to whom a weighting factor is applied.

Z-test Statistical test based on a standardised distribution which allows comparison between years for populations of different sizes.

Further Information

Disclosure Control and Rounding

Tables with low unweighted counts and senstive breakdowns have had their unweighted counts rounded up to the nearest 5. Where this rounding policy is applied, sub-totals and totals have been rounded seperately so may not equal the sum of their parts.

Revisions

There have been no revisions for this edition of the ResCAS.

Contact Us

The Analysis Directorate welcomes 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:

Email: [email protected]

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

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