Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what proportion of British Army trainees aged under 18 at (a) ATC Pirbright and (b) ITC Catterick achieved Functional Skills qualifications in English and mathematics during their training there; and at what levels those trainees achieved those qualifications.

The Army provides excellent employment opportunities across the United Kingdom. It is Britain’s biggest provider of apprenticeships and offers chances not just for a job, but for a career and ongoing training supporting Her Majesty’s Government’s social mobility agenda.

All Army training establishments support personnel in gaining basic Functional Skills (FS) in literacy and numeracy in preparation for further training, where over 95% receive nationally recognised apprenticeship training and as part of that complete literacy and numeracy FS up to Level 2.

Many trainees at Army Training Centre (ATC) Pirbright and Infantry Training Centre (ITC) Catterick already hold FS qualifications on arrival and, since 2016, these individuals will undertake a BTEC in Public Services. The table below shows the details of FS qualifications in English and Mathematics obtained by Army Trainees 18 and under at ITC Catterick in the last three years:

Over the same period at ATC Pirbright less than 5 FS qualifications in English were achieved at Entry Level 3 by a trainee aged 18 or under.

The Army has completed some initial work to consider the provision of GCSE resits for trainees and options for optimising their delivery and the balance with other training courses

provided, such as apprenticeships and BTECs. Consideration of these options is being taken forward as part of a broader Junior Entry Review due to report in 2017.

Please note that numbers have been rounded according to Ministry of Defence Disclosure Control and Rounding Policy to the nearest 5. ~ denotes less than 5. These figures are single service estimates only and are not official statistics. Rounding is necessary as a means of disclosure control and for the preservation of anonymity