New Ministry of Defence figures show that prospective Army Reserve recruits face a wait of around seven months from application to entry, highlighting persistent friction in the Reserve recruitment pipeline.
In a letter dated 4 December 2025, Defence Minister Louise Sandher-Jones wrote to Sir Andrew Mitchell in response to a parliamentary question on recruitment timelines. The data relates to Army untrained Volunteer Reserve Other Ranks with no prior Armed Forces service who joined in the 12 months to 1 July 2025.
Sandher-Jones confirmed that “of the Army untrained Volunteer Reserve Other Ranks who joined in the 12 months ending 1 July 2025, the estimated average time from application to entry was 209 days.” The minister clarified that this figure applies only to individuals with no previous service.
The 209-day figure represents the median rather than the mean, meaning half of recruits entered more quickly and half took longer. As the letter explains, “the average is expressed as the median number of days… half of those that entered the Reserve Other Ranks did so in 209 days and half took longer.”
The minister also acknowledged that the published figure likely understates the true scale of delays. “Because the Reserves application process is complex and some data is inconsistent, certain groups were excluded when calculating this figure,” she wrote, adding that “including them would make the average longer.”
Those excluded include individuals commissioned through the University Officer Training Corps, anyone with recorded prior Armed Forces service since April 2007, and applicants who joined the Reserves through alternative routes such as Regular service or officer entry.
How complex is rocking up to a reserve centre express a desire to join and then said recruitment team does a criminal record check etc?
And people wonder why Putin thinks he has the upper hand. Heads should roll for this, exactly what this country does not need right now.