Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answer of 22 March 2021 to Question 170542 on armed forces: officers, (a) when and (b) for what reasons his Department stopped collecting information identifying the (i) state and (ii) private school background of successful applicants for scholarships.

The Ministry of Defence (MOD) is not aware of any historical policy to record the school status of recipients of scholarships and bursaries. Such awards have always been made on the basis of merit alone and, as such, there continues to be no business reason for the MOD to create a central record of school status.