Nearly 60,000 applications to the British armed forces have been rejected on medical grounds since July 2024, data has shown.
Some 45,680 applications to the British Army were rejected between July 2024 and January 2026, as well as 12,310 to the Royal Air Force and 1,020 to the navy, Ministry of Defence figures show.
The data was shared by the Ministry of Defence minister Louise Sandher-Jones in a written parliamentary answer to a question asked by MP James Cartlidge on March 9.
The numbers could include people who have applied and been rejected more than once, the minister said.
Medical conditions that could impact entry to the British Army include chronic back pain, knee injuries, deafness, migraines, widespread psoriasis, diabetes, or hypertension, according to its website.
Being an organ transplant recipient, having a serious food allergy, or poor dental hygiene, including needing the removal of teeth, could also cause an application to be rejected.
A decade-old rule banning people with asthma or severe acne was overturned in 2024 in a bid to boost recruitment.
Speaking at the Labour Party conference the same year, defence secretary John Healey said more than 100 regulations that stop “the brightest and the best” from enlisting would be removed.
“We will create an Armed Forces that draws the very best of British talent. Better fit to fight. Better reflecting the country they defend,” Healey said.
As well as failing medical checks, applicants are most frequently rejected for failing security clearance, not having the required residency, not being fit enough, or failing to get the right test scores for their desired branch, according to a quarterly report from the MOD, last updated in November.
It said there were 155,520 people who applied to join the British Army Regular Forces between June 2024 and June 2025, and 51,290 people who applied to join the RAF across the same period.
A spokesperson for the Ministry of Defence said, “We are taking decisive action to stop the long-term decline in numbers, inherited from the previous government.
“This includes speeding up the process of allowing people to join the military and scrapping 100 outdated recruitment policies, such as rules blocking sufferers of hay fever, eczema and acne, which have previously needlessly prevented people from joining.
“While there’s much more to do, we are seeing results, with the latest figures showing more personnel now joining than leaving for the first time since 2020.”
The UK has so far refused to join the US and Israel in its offensive against Iran, but it has sent Typhoon fighter jets and Wildcat helicopters to “strengthen defensive operations” in countries like Cyprus and Qatar.
On Tuesday, the UK warship HMS Dragon set off for Cyprus, after a British base on the island was hit by an Iranian drone during the opening days of the war.
The UK is also preparing to deploy the RFA Lyme Bay, a Bay Class Landing Ship, in the Eastern Mediterranean, “should she be needed to assist in maritime tasks”, the MOD said.
The ship is capable of offloading troops and armoured vehicles to shore, and is “well-suited for humanitarian and disaster relief missions”, a spokesperson said.
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