HC Deb 22 February 1979 vol 963 cc309-10W
Mr. Crawshaw

asked the Secretary of State for Defence what plans he has for seeking to increase the number of army cadetships awarded to applicants from State schools, in order to give a more equitable spread across the social strata of potential Army officers.

Mr. Robert C. Brown

The number of Army cadetships and bursaries available next year will be increased by a third. Army officers are drawn from a wide variety of social backgrounds and applicants from all schools are actively encouraged but I would welcome an increase in the number of successful candidates from State schools which produced a more representative cross-section of the population as a whole.