Alex Cunningham – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Alex Cunningham on 2014-03-27.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many (a) junior entry and (b) standard entry soldiers enlisted in the Army in 2012-13; and how many such people left before completing Phase 2 training.

Anna Soubry

The minimum age for enlisting in the Army is 16 and those between the ages of 16 and 17, or in some cases 17.5, are trained as Junior Entry. The remainder are trained as Standard Entry. Those who commenced training in either the Junior Entry or Senior Entry cohorts in 2012-13, and of those who subsequently discharged prior to completing Phase 2 training are shown in the following table:

Individuals may withdraw or be discharged for a number of reasons, including medical and fitness factors, disciplinary reasons, or voluntary withdrawal. Personnel under 18 have a statutory right to discharge from the Armed Forces if they wish to leave.

Figures have been rounded to 10; numbers ending in ‘5′ have been rounded to the nearest multiple of 20 to prevent systematic bias.