Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many people applied to join the Army Reserve in 2015; and how many such applications were successful.

Defence Statistics publish information on a regular basis showing intake figures for the Armed Forces, including the Army and Army Reserve. The most recent information is contained in 'UK Armed Forces Monthly Service Personnel Statistics: December 2015' and associated tables, which is available at the following link:

https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/uk-armed-forces-monthly-service-personnel-statistics-index.

The number of applications to the Army Reserve in the 12 months ending 30 September 2015 was 29,730. The intake of Army Reserve New Entrants in the 12 months ending 30 September 2015 was 3,750.

There is not necessarily a direct correlation between the individual applicants who applied within the period above, and the individuals who were classed as new entrants within the same period: due to the time taken to process applications, not all new entrants would have been applicants during the period specified.

New Entrants reflect intake into the initial phase of training only, and comprise new recruits, ex-Regulars and Reserve re-joiners that require training.

'UK Armed Forces Monthly Service Personnel Statistics: 1 January 2016' will be published on 11 February 2016.