The UK Government is reviewing ways to expand cadet forces across the country, recognising the benefits of cadet training for young people.

The move comes as part of a broader review of defence priorities following recent commitments to increase military expenditure.

Responding to a written parliamentary question from Luke Evans, Conservative MP for Hinckley and Bosworth, Defence Minister Al Carns said:

“We want more young people to be able to become Cadets given the tremendous benefits which can be gained from the experience. We are committed to sustaining Cadet Forces across the UK, and we are looking to significantly grow Cadet numbers and support youngsters throughout the UK to enrich their lives by choosing to join the Cadets.”

Britain ‘consulting’ on efforts to expand cadet numbers

Carns confirmed that he has ordered a review into how the size and opportunities provided by cadet forces can be increased, stating:

“To this end, I have directed that a review is carried out to look at how we can increase the size and offer of the Cadet Forces. Defence officials have engaged with a wide range of stakeholders to consider how we can deliver these aims.”

He noted that the review has sought input from a range of experts and advocates, including cadet leaders within the Ministry of Defence, Lords Lieutenants, and Cadet Honorary Colonels.

While acknowledging that resource requirements for expanding the cadet programme must be assessed against other defence needs, Carns said the value of investing in youth programmes. He highlighted that “the total annual cost of the Cadets is fully covered if the life outcomes of just 1% of Cadets change each year so that they are in education, training, or employment.”

George Allison
George Allison
George has a degree in Cyber Security from Glasgow Caledonian University and has a keen interest in naval and cyber security matters and has appeared on national radio and television to discuss current events. George is on Twitter at @geoallison
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  4. £ fo £ The best recruitment tool the forces have. The added benefits of raising awareness of what we do as well as providing structure and citizenship training that’s sorely lacking nowadays

  5. Don’t know if it would help future recruitment or not, I can’t see it hurting. It absolutely helps the younger generation out in numerous ways, fitness, teamwork, life skills, social skills, just something to do etc. etc. etc. The knock-on effects for that would be staggering, reduced crime & reduced NHS demand for physical and mental health problems to name a couple.

    Personally, I’d rather see something like a DofE Bronze award becoming mandatory during school years, facilitated by the schools and various youth organizations before seeing more calls for a rerun of National Service.

    • RAFAC is the largest provider of DofE. Cadet forces are a massive drive for recruitment around 1/3 of cadets we have want a career in the forces, sadly I have seen many let down by the recruitment system, myself included.
      RAFAC has had it budget halved in recent years and it is really showing.

      • Then it should be a no-brainer to at least restore that funding and plan to expand. Seems the decision makers were of the usual “know the price of everything and the value of nothing” types.

      • Agree totally. Cadets and Staff not getting a good deal at the moment. Recruitment suffering and retention is a problem. Far too much bureaucracy and admin is top heavy.

    • Can’t agree with DoE expansion. My school had cadets and DoE or at least it did for the first half of each year until everyone switched from DoE to cadets after realising DoE was just cadets with all the fun bits cut out.

      • Seems like your school and the cadets were doing DofE in two separate streams? If there was an expansion I’d hope they’d work together, or with scouts, guides whoever.

        Even in your school’s case I’d class it as a win as at least some kids went into a youth organization that offers extra.

  6. In reality we are losing a lot of skills and wills in regards to Generation Y, things like scouts etc are in decline as are team sports. We also have a real public health crisis due to poor diet and lack of movement..that is both physical and mental health ( the two are profoundly interconnected).

    This nation created the NHS, public health and things like the scouting movement because it realised that at the times of crunch it had a population generally unfit for military service ( most people don’t realise you can track all the great public health innovation and invests by the wars we have ). To win a war a county needs a fit healthy population that has the will and understanding of why a nation sometimes needs to fight.

    So actually having some form of mandatory scout or cadet force attached to all secondary schools would be great…Ged mentioned bronze doFE…yes having that as a mandatory part of school would be great…personally I would have silver mandated for 15 year olds unless specific disability meant it was impossible… the advent of the online world and its profound level of addiction to the child mind means that we now actually need to force activity and team-working on them..it’s adults jobs to make sure children become healthy adults and part of that is hiking in the country and learning physical skills.

  7. Great idea from the Government. Had a great experience of being in the Army Cadets 15 years ago, with a lot of the lessons of discipline, teamwork, resilience, focus and a love of the outdoors still sticking with me now. Met the late-Queen, late-Prince Philip (who simply said to me ‘blimey you’re tall!’) aswell as fired a wide array of weapon systems (where I found the army’s version of the emotional support dog, aka the LSW) plus marched through Windsor from Victoria Barracks into the Castle for the 150th anniversary celebration (as a newly-badged Irish Guards cadet!). What other kid can say they did all that?! Safe to say that when I have kids I’ll be ‘gently’ pushing them to join any of the 3 branches.

    National Service seems unlikely at this stage but to me this is honestly the next best thing.

  8. Half of the walter mittys on this site would get exposed if they had to post a MOD 90 or Veterans Card for starters

  11. The privatisation of recruiting offices was a major failure. Few recruiting offices on the High Street, and back office systems which cause young people interested in learning more about our armed forecs and the possibility of joining, having to wait sometimes for months. The chances of actual meeting a member of the forces are unlikely.

    Why don’t we re-establish recruitment offices in our largest towns and cities each headed by a suitable active officer and supported by former experienced soldiers and others would make the military real to potential recruits?

    What we currently have is pathetic.

    • I think tri-service recruitment offices would be a better use of space on the high street than another pound store or charity shop.

    • Agreed. When I joined I went to the recruitment office, in the next big town 18 miles away,spoke with a Staff Serg and took a test. Does not sound far but in the country where going to the next village was a big thing it was far. Went to Sutton Coldfield for four days took more testsmaths, English, science, medical etc. On the forth day sat down with some officer who told me what I could do or not do, I settled on AAC Harrogate as I was to young for bomb disposal (My uncle Rons trade which I wanted to follow), went back to the recritment office with my acceptance cert in my hand. The Staff Serg asked which Regt, Royal Green Jackets, No, LI, No, I said Royal Signals Harrogate. The poor guy almost had a heart attack, never, never, what, were the words coming out from him, took my oath and acceptede the Queens shilling and felt pride, five months later reported for duty, one day after my last exam and one day after my 16th birthday. I had to finish my O levels first but my acceptance was already in my hand for Harrogate so the exams made no diffrence, (it did to my headmaster so I still had to work, which I did, my headmaster got my reporting for duty delayed by a few weeks so I could do my exams. So I was delayed from by four weeks. I still wonder how he did that.). So from start to finish six months that was because I still had to finish school, do my exams and then report the following morning.

      Now it seems to take forever, the old system worked, we had people from the diffrent servicies come to the schools to speak to the forth and fifth year pupils, we would go if intrested for a week to see how things were or get an idea. There we could speak to people. Now do they even do that.
      So as I said the old system worked so lets get back to it.

  13. It’s a no brainer which will cost a pittance – just a few £million p.a. will revolutionise the cadet forces and similar organisations. E.g. The current government grant to the Sea Cadets is a pitiful £1 million a year, down from £1.5m in 2022. With fund raising the organisation has a total operating budget of £2.6 million a year. That’s equivalent to the annual accommodation cost (excluding daily allowance, health care, legal aid, …) of 60 asylum seekers.

  14. Here is an idea how this could be done and expanded not only for the military but civilian forces. School. When I was in school we had houses, Darwin, Clive, Benbow; when I was in military college we had sqns but named, Rawson, Scott, Bradley, Penney. It gave a sense of pride and competition. So why not have in school houses for the army, navy, air force, police, fire and nhs. From age 11-14 or what in my day was first year to third year the house would be allocated, from the forth upto the sixth year you can change depending on what you want to do or study for exams. From the first year to the third year you have a school uniform but from the forth year you have the cadet uniform in school. From the forth year you would go away say one week at Easter and two weeks in Summer on adventure weeks with your cadet force. Yes it would cost money, but it would give confidence, discipline, trust and understanding, nothing better to build trust cofidence etc than being attached to a rope and going over the top off a mountain.

    I know many will say Noooo. Yet in some countries that I have worked in take the training of children even further. I remember visiting a school in the Ukraine it was in Kovel. What I found strange was to find slit trenches in the school fields. I asked why and was told that that is where the children learn to fire weapons, use gas masks etc. In the school field. Could you imigine the uproar here in the UK.

  15. I don’t know whether the Cadet forces need expansion or not, but what Cadet forces there are, should be well financed.

  16. I run a military preparation course in Lancashire and would love to have more involvement with the Cadets as I was an instructor for many years before building the current program that myself and a serving cadet instructor run, howeve when ever I have asked the ACF for help there was no one willing to give us any . I would love to be more involved with tha ACF, our current success rate of getting students from our course into the armed forces is 95%. Any input here would be great.

  17. Locks up anyone who challenges him.
    Vilifies anyone who disagrees as Right wing enemies of the people

    Now we have
    The “Starmer” youth?

  18. As a cadet myself, it really has helped turn my life around. I feel if they target behaviour schools or just schools in general we could expand the number of cadets widely.

  19. Army cadets, great times in the late 80s. Kit was woeful though and we were still wearing puttees over our boots and field stripping lee enfields.

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