asked the Secretary of State for Defence what plans he has for seeking to increase the number of army cadetships awarded to applicants from State schools, in order to give a more equitable spread across the social strata of potential Army officers.

The number of Army cadetships and bursaries available next year will be increased by a third. Army officers are drawn from a wide variety of social backgrounds and applicants from all schools are actively encouraged but I would welcome an increase in the number of successful candidates from State schools which produced a more representative cross-section of the population as a whole.