Armed Forces: Vacancies
The question
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answer of 16 June 2025 to Question 58934 on Armed Forces: Vacancies, what the ranks of the unfilled posts are; and how long they have been unfilled.
Answered by Luke Pollard
The UK has one of the highest post fill rates in NATO. As of 1 April 2025, the UK’s post allocation was 1,053, of which 82 were unfilled. While 8% of our posts were gapped in April 2025, this was predominantly for a period of less than 10 months. The majority of gaps were at OF-3, OF-4, and OR-6 level, which corresponds to the most in demand ranks of the personnel we provide. The full data for this period is as follows:
Ranks (and corresponding Army rank) | Number of gaps per rank |
OF-2 (Captain) | 8 |
OF-3 (Major) | 15 |
OF-4 (Lieutenant Col) | 15 |
OF-5 (Colonel) | 1 |
OR-2 (Private) | 1 |
OR-3 (Lance Corporal) | 2 |
OR-4 (Corporal) | 10 |
OR-6 (Sergeant) | 17 |
OR-7 (Staff Sergeant) | 8 |
OR-8 (Warrant Officer Class 2) | 2 |
OR-9 (Warrant Officer Class 1) | 1 |
Gapped period |
|
0-10 months | 35 |
11-20 months | 10 |
20-30 months | 4 |
31-40 months | 5 |
41-50 months | 8 |
50-60 months | 3 |
60+ months | 15 |
| 80 |
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