Army: Training
(asked on 15th May 2024) - View Source
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many and what proportion of soldiers that took the Role Fitness Test (a) passed, (b) failed and (c) had another outcome in each year since that test was introduced; and of those, how many and what proportion were (i) ground close combat troops and (ii) non-ground close combat troops.
The below table shows the number of Regular and Reserve soldiers who took the Role Fitness test who passed and failed in each year since the test was introduced, broken down by ground close combat troops (GCC) and non-ground close combat troops (NON-GCC) and proportion rate of pass / fails.
Year | Regt Corp | Failed | Passed | Prop Failed | Prop Passed | Total Tested |
2021 | GCC | 469 | 15,479 | 3% | 97% | 31,180 |
NON-GCC | 615 | 14,617 | 4% | 96% | ||
2022 | GCC | 458 | 17,381 | 3% | 97% | 51,112 |
NON-GCC | 1,050 | 32,223 | 3% | 97% | ||
2023 | GCC | 503 | 18,617 | 3% | 97% | 55,961 |
NON-GCC | 1,129 | 35,712 | 3% | 97% | ||
2024 | GCC | 229 | 8,378 | 3% | 97% | 24,297 |
NON-GCC | 440 | 15,250 | 3% | 97% |
Notes/Caveats:
- This data was sourced by the Army’s Personnel Policy Directorate as at 17 May 2024. The data has been taken from a live system and therefore could be subject to change.
- The figures are single Service estimates based on management information which is not gathered for statistical purposes or subject to the same level of scrutiny as official statistics produced by Defence Statistics. The figures provided may therefore be subject to data quality issues affecting their accuracy.
- Regular Non-Ground Closed Combat (GCC) figures for 2021 – Role Fitness testing (RFT(S)) did not start until Sep 2021 and therefore fewer Regular Army personnel will have been tested.
- Reserve Non-GCC for 2021 – RFT(S) testing did not start until Apr 2022 and therefore Non-GCC figures should not contain results for the Army Reserve.
- Figures represent Regular and Reserve Army personnel.
- Percentages have been rounded to the nearest whole number.
- All Army personnel are included irrespective of the Top Level Budget (TLB) that they are part of, for example, Army personnel serving within the Royal Navy command.
- Ground Close Combat includes the Royal Armoured Corps (RAC) and the Infantry.
- Year is based on calendar year.
- The Role Fitness Test can only be broken down by ‘Pass’ or ‘Fail’. The system includes categories of ‘N/A’ and ‘Exempt’ in the ‘Passed’ Figure. This cannot be broken down further without incurring disproportionate cost.
- An individual will be exempt if they meet the exemption policy for RFT(S), which is that they have a medical condition precluding them from attempting the test.
- A ‘N/A’ marker for individuals is applied when they are out of scope for RFT(S) testing. This will include those in a non-deployable HQ role, Military Provost Guard Service (MPGS), staff at a University Officer Training Corps (UOTC), Elite and Professional Athletes, and Reservists on specific contracts that do not require completion of the Individual Training Requirement.