PARLIAMENTARY WRITTEN QUESTION
Army: Recruitment (6 June 2018)

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what the (a) longest, (b) shortest and (c) average time taken between sending in an online application and attestation for regular and reserve recruits to the British Army has been in each year since 2012.

Asked by:
Wes Streeting (Labour)

The requested times taken between receipt of a processed application and enlistment (intake to Phase 1 training) for regular and reserve soldier applicants are shown in the table below.

Calendar Year	Regular Time in Days				Reserves Time in Days
	Min	Average	Median	High	Min	Average	Median	High
2012	36	362	345	730	16	285	264	730
2013	42	379	368	730	20	311	284	730
2014	42	348	328	730	18	312	275	730
2015	52	334	314	730	20	259	232	730
2016	24	319	298	730	23	254	220	730
2017	45	309	294	730	20	272	243	730

An improvement plan is seeking to make further, more significant, reductions in the average/median time between application and enlistment.

Notes:

Figures are a single service estimates, they are not Official Statistics.

Attestation is not at a consistently set milestone for applicants within the recruitment pipeline and is therefore not held centrally in the format requested. Date of intake to Phase 1 training has been provided.

Figures do not include Officers.

Answered by:
Lord Lancaster of Kimbolton (Conservative)
11 June 2018