+980 — financial-year period
The 12 months from 1 April 2025 to 31 March 2026 recorded 14,370 UK Regular entrants and 13,390 departures. Their difference is 980. This is the March-ended window, not the later June-ended rolling year.
Why UK military recruitment grew by 980, 1,460 and 1,450—depending on the question.
These three often-confused numbers refer to different reporting windows or statistical concepts. Two describe rolling intake minus outflow; the third is the difference between two serving-personnel snapshots.
+1,460 official prose; +1,450 from rounded numbers
For the twelve months to 30 June 2026, the revised source prints 14,500 UK Regular entrants and 13,050 departures. Subtracting the two displayed rounded values gives +1,450; the MOD narrative says +1,460. We retain both without inventing unrounded data.
+1,450 serving Regulars
July 2025 UK Regular Forces strength was 136,030; July 2026 was 137,480. The change between two stocks of serving personnel is +1,450. This is not identical by definition to a rolling twelve-month joining-and-leaving count—even when the printed rounded difference happens to match.
What the House of Commons Library actually reported
The Commons Library defence personnel research briefing of 31 July 2026 cites a 2025/26 financial-year intake-outflow difference of approximately 980. The later July 2026 MOD publication reports a June-ended period. Different 12-month windows do not contradict each other, even though they overlap.
Reproducible arithmetic without speculative explanations
| Measurement | Published inputs | Result | Correct interpretation |
|---|---|---|---|
| 12 months ending March 2026 | 14,370 intake − 13,390 outflow | +980 | March-ended net movement |
| 12 months ending June 2026 | 14,500 intake − 13,050 outflow | +1,450 rounded; +1,460 MOD prose | June-ended net movement |
| July 2025 → July 2026 | 137,480 Regulars − 136,030 Regulars | +1,450 | Two snapshot headcounts |
Good citation: “Project Selection compared the MOD financial-year and June-ended rolling intake/outflow releases and the two July personnel-strength snapshots. A result labelled +980 and one labelled +1,460 can refer to different 2026 reference windows; the printed rounded June-ended figures give +1,450.”
The data do not establish how many unique people applied, passed a selection stage or were rejected; nor do they isolate any policy as the cause. Always cite the original MOD publication and revision date.