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Armed Forces: Recruitment

Asked by James CartlidgeConservativeMinistry of DefenceTabled Answered 9 March 2026UIN 116544

The question

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many applications to join the (a) Army, (b) Royal Air Force and (c) Royal Navy were rejected due to medical reasons since 5 July 2024.

Answered by Louise Sandher-Jones

The following table provides the number of applications rejected with the reason ‘Medical’ from 5 July 2024 to 31 January 2026.

Total applications rejected for medical reasons between 5 July 2024 to 31 January 20261

Army

45,680

Royal Air Force

12,310

Royal Navy

1,020

[1] All figures have been rounded to the nearest 10 in line with disclosure control policy. Figures ending in 5 are rounded to the nearest 20 to avoid bias.

These figures represent the number of applications rejected and not the number of people rejected; one applicant can apply (and be rejected) multiple times. The figures show the number of rejected applications in the specified time period regardless of when the application was received.

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