The Ministry of Defence has pushed back its target for expanding the UK’s cadet forces by 30% from 2030 to 2035, while confirming that the funding required to support the planned increase has yet to be finalised, the department has said.
The change was disclosed in a written parliamentary answer to Conservative MP Stuart Anderson, who asked the Defence Secretary what target had been set for the size of the cadet forces by 2030 and what funding had been allocated to achieve it.
Veterans and People Minister Calvin Bailey said the original target came from the Strategic Defence Review published in June 2025. He said: “The Strategic Defence Review, published in June 2025, recommended that MOD should expand in-school and community-based Cadet Forces across the country by 30% by 2030. This timeline has recently been re-set in the Defence Investment Plan to 2035 as one of the measures required to increase the rate of Armed Forces transformation.”
The MOD currently supports just over 137,000 cadets alongside around 28,000 adult volunteers. Bailey said achieving the planned 30% expansion would mean recruiting around 40,000 additional cadets, taking the overall number to roughly 177,000, while also requiring a substantial increase in the number of adults supporting cadet units.
He said: “There are currently just over 137,000 cadets supported by 28,000 adult volunteers. An increase of 30% in cadet numbers equates to an additional 40,000 cadets, an expansion that would also require approximately 8,000 more adult volunteers. Details of the funding necessary to support this level of growth are yet to be finalised.”
The department is therefore working towards an expansion of both cadet numbers and the volunteer workforce needed to support them, but has not yet set out the final financial requirement for delivering the programme. On the figures provided by the minister, the adult volunteer population would need to rise from around 28,000 to approximately 36,000 if the planned increase is delivered.
Bailey said work was already underway on how the expansion would be carried out. “Work is currently underway to set the foundations for sustainable growth and to determine how the 30% increase in cadet numbers will be delivered.”
The MOD is also preparing a new Cadet Action Plan, which Bailey said would be announced in October during the first National Cadets Week. The plan will cover both cadets and the adults who support them, including recruitment, retention and the resources available to individual units.
Bailey said: “And we are developing a new Cadet Action Plan, to be announced in October during the first National Cadets Week. The Plan will focus on modernising the cadet experience, providing an attractive offer to retain and recruit adult volunteers, and ensuring that cadets and volunteers have the right resources and support.”
