Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what recent steps his Department is taking to raise public awareness of opportunities available to women in ground close combat roles.

Following the announcement in July 2016 that the exclusion on women serving in Ground Close Combat (GCC) roles had been lifted, the Army opened the Royal Armoured Corps from November 2016 and the Royal Air Force Regiment was opened from September 2017. The Infantry and the Royal Marines are due to open from the end of this year.

Marketing and recruiting material continues to be updated to show women in those roles now open to them.

The number of female officers and other ranks in GCC roles as of 12 March 2018 is shown below:

Notes:

Numbers have been rounded to the nearest 10 to limit disclosure and ensure confidentiality.

~ denotes numbers less than 5.

Numbers represent Regular and Reserve personnel.