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Childhood dreams of becoming a pilot in the Royal Air Force ended in rejection for two white men in their 20s, who described a sluggish recruitment process of delays and disinterest.

The mother of a third white male candidate recalled how her son tried his best to become a drone pilot, only to fail and apparently not receive a clear reason why.

A career as a pilot is hugely competitive, with many more candidates than training slots.

The RAF says it recruits on merit and only selects the best, meaning a lot of highly competent applicants are rejected each year.

However, an admission in June that the air force had discriminated against white male recruits in the two years to March 2021 - even though the 161 confirmed cases involved other ranks, not pilots - has left others wondering if they were victims of discrimination too.

There is also fury that no one has been held accountable for the failing.

The two men, who we are calling James and William, and the mother, who we are calling Rachel - not their real names - agreed to speak to Sky News about their experiences, which happened separately over the past four years.

James

"It was a very long process.

"You had a lot of things to get through - interviews, medical tests, fitness tests, computer tests ... with roles that are highly sought after, these things are expected.

"But what I didn't really expect was the recruitment team I had to get in touch with, they regularly ignored my emails, my calls, when I was asking what was going on. It drew out the process.

"The whole thing took about nearly two years, and a lot of the time I just didn't know what was going on. You were just like in limbo."

James was in the system at the time of the COVID pandemic, which he thought might at least be part of the reason for the holdups.

He described undergoing a series of computer-based aptitude tests at an air base in Lincolnshire. Partway through, he discovered there was a problem with the keyboard he was using.

"Eventually they moved me to a different one. But they didn't let me resit any of the previous tests that I did."

He said his score fell short of the level required to become a pilot by just half a point.

"It felt terrible because not only was it my dream, but my family and friends are obviously very invested as well. So when they hear that things didn't quite work out then yeah, it's disappointing for everyone, not just me."

James still scored well enough to aim instead to become a weapon systems officer.

The next hurdle was an assessment at the Officer and Aircrew and Selection Centre also at RAF Cranwell in in Lincolnshire.

James said he was grouped together with two other white men and a woman. They were tested on a variety of group tasks and had a one-on-one interview.

About a week later James was told the outcome - rejection.

"They didn't pull their punches. They just said they thought I didn't offer anything useful at all.

"They didn't really expand much upon that though, which was the disappointing thing. They just kind of called me useless.

"I followed up and I asked for more feedback ... and they just ignored me. A few weeks after that, I withdrew my application and that was that."

James said the female recruit in his group was the only one out of the four to be selected even though he said he felt she had seemed the weakest.

However, he said he figured the recruitment officers must have seen something he had not and said he had never even considered he might have been discriminated against - until the allegations about RAF recruitment priorities subsequently emerged.

"I felt completely let down, to be honest," he said. "You feel cheated. You feel a bit angry because you put so much in over such a long period of time."

James said he plans to request a review of his application in the wake of the scandal even though the cases of positive discrimination admitted by the RAF involve enlisted recruits rather than prospective pilots and other officer candidates like him.

"It would be nice to know that I didn't get in because I wasn't good enough and then I could have another try at it, rather than living with this lingering doubt: Was I good enough? Wasn't I good enough? Or was it just because I'm a white man?"

He said he was also dismayed that no one in the RAF has been sanctioned over the debacle.

"I think it is awful, to be honest. There'll be hundreds of other people investing so much time and effort, jumping through hoops to follow their dream.

So many lives will have been affected by it. Some even maybe ruined ... And for there to be no action, nothing really done about it, other than an apology. It just feels very cheap."

William

William was left confused and enraged by his failed attempt to become a pilot.

Like James, he said the process was painfully slow - delays that were likely impacted by a temporary pause for a period of months in around 2020 of placing pilot candidates onto training slots as well as because of the COVID pandemic.

"It was a year of no one getting back to me on phone calls. I was told all sorts: my application was on freeze, they had delays at the moment, they had a number of other applicants that were also waiting before me, there were lots of queues...

"They kept sort of stringing me along in a sense. Every time I said, is my application still under review? Is it still actually going to go forward? They go: Yes. We can't give a timeframe, but let's say [wait] two months.

"Then two months would come around, I'd contact them again after hearing nothing, and they said: Oh yeah, we'll get you booked in as soon as possible, check your inbox and then I'd have to wait again."

He eventually was invited for the day-long computer-based aptitude test, which he passed with top marks.

"I was told by several people at RAF Cranwell ... it was extremely likely my application would be fast tracked as a result of the scores I achieved ... I felt like all of my prayers were answered. The last year of my life wasn't a waste of time.

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"I immediately began planning my future. I spoke to my girlfriend and said, right, we need to prepare for life within the armed forces: barracks living, moving to Lincoln ... I started planning my entire life around it.

"It was probably the first time in my life and the only time still that I actually shed a tear of joy on the drive back from Lincoln, thinking: this is it. This is what I am meant to do. This is the rest of my life. And then I didn't hear anything at all."

After another wait, as well as medical and fitness tests, he reached the assessment stage at the Officer and Aircrew Selection Centre but was left waiting yet again for a date to go there - eventually losing confidence in the responses he was receiving about the delays.

"I sent an email saying: I'm withdrawing ... it's been absolutely disgraceful, please don't contact me in the future."

William said when reports emerged last August about allegations of the RAF discriminating against white male recruits he "felt absolutely betrayed".

"Personally, anyone who had any involvement in it should be sacked because - whether you received legal advice or not that doesn't provide you immunity from your actions."

He has requested a review of his rejected application.

"It's just devastating. You've just come to the point where you have to accept that the world doesn't work anymore and people are more worried about the sizzle than the steak.

"It is more about how things look than how things are. The RAF is just an absolute mockery of an institution… It's a complete betrayal."

Rachel

The mother of a young man, who wanted to become a drone pilot, said she watched her son give his all to the recruitment process only to face rejection and disillusionment.

"I was so proud of his focus, of his drive. I could see that he really wanted it. And obviously as a mother, you just really want to support that."

Rachel, not her real name, took her son to his first assessment day.

"I watched him go in ... and then I went off and parked and I just couldn't wait for him to come out and tell me about the day…

"He felt the guy who ran the day was impressed with him because, for example, they'd asked a trick question about what is the latest country to join NATO. Nobody else knew it, but he did."

Her son also experienced significant delays as he waiting to move to the next stage.

"He felt like he was a nuisance to them because he'd say: what happens next? And they would say, this is what happens next - and then that didn't happen.

"So then he'd write or email, where are we? We'll be in touch soon. Then another month would go by.

"It was just blunt, rude and very hostile. But he didn't know if that was the military way, and so he was preparing himself for that."

He eventually made it to the day of computer-based aptitude tests at RAF Cranwell.

Read more:
RAF personnel chief 'unashamed' of 'pausing job offers for white men'
RAF boss ready to test 'the limit of the law' to improve diversity

"All day my stomach was churning, thinking, I wonder how he's getting on ... well, he got the second-highest score ... so he said, I'm going to be a drone pilot.

"I think he was very excited ... it suddenly dawned on him that this could actually be something. And I saw that light in his eyes and I was really excited for him."

But then came more delays until he finally made it to the assessment day at the Officer and Aircrew Selection Centre, which ended in rejection.

Rachel tried to recall the reason why.

"He said it was a very - you just didn't perform, you didn't perform and answer the questions appropriately - nothing actually very specific so that he could even take away and learn from it."'

When reporting emerged last summer about allegations of discrimination by the RAF against white male candidates, Rachel said she started to wonder whether that might have been a factor in her son's case too, even though she has no evidence.

"I'd always had a sense of: This is unfair and there's something wrong here ... he got one of the top scores and you're telling me there's no room for anyone like him in the RAF?

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0:46

In June, the RAF admitted unlawful discrimination against white male candidates seeking to become enlisted aviators, rather than a pilot role.

But Rachel was still furious.

"Oh my God. It just made my toes curl when you say it. Somebody needs to be sacked ... you cannot discriminate against anybody - white males or anybody."

Whatever the reason for the rejection, the impact on her son has been profound.

"I feel like he's withdrawn from life - like what is the point in trying? As a mother, you tell your children you don't have to be the best, but just do the best you can do. I watched him do the best he could do and then it not come to anything."

Rachel has a message for Air Chief Marshal Sir Richard Knighton, the new head of the RAF.

"It [the recruitment scandal] needs to be investigated and people held accountable for that."

A Royal Air Force spokesperson said: "The RAF Officer and Aircrew recruitment process is not the same as the Enlisted Aviator (Other Ranks) recruiting system.

"Any offer of employment is based solely on merit. Candidates are assessed across a number of areas by different specialists.

"With significantly more pilot applicants than there are training places available, selection is extremely competitive, which unfortunately means some very capable candidates will not be successfulc