asked the Secretary of State for Defence (1) how many applications were received for investment into the Army as an officer, Service man or woman and how many were rejected in each of the following years: 1975, 1976, 1977 and to the latest available date in 1978:(2) how many applications were received for enlistment in the Royal Navy and Royal Marines as an officer, Service man or woman and how many were rejected in each of the following years: 1975, 1976, 1977 and to the latest available date in 1978.(3) how many applications were received for enlistment into the Royal Air Force as an officer, Service man or woman and how many were rejected in each of the following years: 1975, 1976, 1977 and to the latest available date in 1978.
The information requested is as follows:
| OFFICERS | ||||||||||
1975–76
| 1976–77
| 1977–78
| 1978–79 to date
| |||||||
Applied
| Rejected
| Applied
| Rejected
| Applied
| Rejected
| Applied
| Rejected
| |||
| Army—(including WRAC in brackets) | … | … | 2,085 | 1,520 | 1,751 | 1,011 | 1,761 | 980 | 797 | 409 |
| (161) | (109) | (184) | (114) | (181) | (117) | (61) | (39) | |||
| Navy— | ||||||||||
| RN and Royal Marines | … | … | 2,851 | 2,413 | 2,621 | 2,190 | 2,351 | 1,773 | 898 | 559 |
| WRNS | … | … | 77 | Figures not available | 123 | 107 | 70 | 55 | 31 | 26 |
| QARNNS | … | … | 65 | 22 | 87 | 21 | 71 | 38 | 15 | 3 |
Includes withdrawals
| Includes withdrawals
| Includes withdrawals
| Includes withdrawals
| |||||||
| RAF— | ||||||||||
| Direct Entry GD Officers (Males) | … | … | 1,238 | 1,122 | 1,586 | 1,342 | 1,852 | 1,631 | 1,840 | 1,618 |
| Direct Entry Ground Officers(Males) | … | … | 872 | 781 | 1,404 | 1,237 | 1,332 | 1,193 | 704 | 616 |
| Direct Entry WRAF Officers | … | … | 475 | 430 | 954 | 851 | 756 | 693 | 352 | 311 |
| Cadetships | … | … | 1,097 | 1,000 | 815 | 721 | 868 | 773 | 289 | 261 |
| Airmen Aircrew | … | … | 101 | 90 | 177 | 158 | 172 | 155 | 72 | 69 |
| SERVICE MEN/SERVICE WOMEN | ||||||||||
1975–76
| 1976–77
| 1977–78
| 1978–79 to date
| |||||||
Applied
| Rejected
| Applied
| Rejected
| Applied
| Rejected
| Applied
| Rejected
| |||
| Army-(voluntary withdrawals in brackets)— | … | … | ||||||||
| Service men* | … | … | 63,254 | 37,849 | 60,807 | 39,397 | 61,767 | 40,778 | 30,121 | 19,010 |
| — | (15,375) | — | (15,661) | — | (14,871) | — | (8,823) | |||
| Service women† | … | … | 12,570 | 9,132 | 12,477 | 10,806 | 11,839 | 10,520 | 5,287 | 4,365 |
| — | (4,011) | — | (4,856) | — | (4,812) | — | (2,004) | |||
| Navy— | … | … | ||||||||
| Royal Navy | … | … | 26,086 | 15,891 | 28,031 | 18,070 | 23,638 | 14,984 | 6,289 | 4,206 |
| Royal Marines | … | … | 4,522 | 2,888 | 3,911 | 2,553 | 4,153 | 2,816 | 1,808 | 1,195 |
| WRNS | … | … | 6,501 | 4,505 | 7,749 | 4,003 | 7,243 | 4,914 | 2,289 | 1,538 |
| QARNNS | … | … | 969 | 93 | 962 | 115 | 653 | 127 | 145 | 54 |
Includes withdrawals
| Includes withdrawals
| Includes withdrawals
| Includes withdrawals
| |||||||
| RAF— | ||||||||||
| RAF Adult Service | … | … | 20,197 | 15,143 | 20,161 | 14,783 | 18,576 | 13,340 | 13,359 | 1,940 |
| WRAF and PMRAFNS | … | … | 9,021 | 7,630 | 7,811 | 6,665 | 7,072 | 5,699 | 3,968 | 489 |
| Apprentice Technicians | … | … | 1,988 | 1,734 | 2,204 | 1,952 | 2,424 | 2,178 | 1,551 | 1,386 |
* Service men include adults and juniors for which there are differing rates of rejection. | ||||||||||
| † Service women include WRAC and QARANC for which there are differing rates of rejection | ||||||||||
In the case of Naval officers, it is not possible to distinguish those rejected by the selection procedure from those who withdraw voluntarily, nor is it possible to separate figures for the Royal Marines from those for the Royal Navy. The rating-rank figures show those rejected by the selection procedure, except that for Naval nurses the rejection figures cannot be complete, since some applicants who applied at the age of 161 are still taking or re-taking examinations.