The Ministry of Defence (MOD) spends around £175 million to £180 million on cadet forces annually.
For over a decade, the Department for Education (DfE) has also funded (along with the MOD) a programme to expand cadet numbers in secondary schools.
In November 2024, the Schools Minister announced the DfE would end its £1.1 million grant for the expansion programme for the 2024–25 academic year. Funding from the MOD will continue, and £3.6 million has been allocated for the 2024–25 academic year.
In November 2024, the Minister for Veterans and People, Al Carns, also said the MOD had begun a review of cadet and reserve forces.
This Insight sets out what the cadets are, current cadet funding and the cadet expansion programme.
What are the cadets?
Cadet forces are voluntary youth organisations supported by the MOD. They are managed and run by adult volunteers.
There are five cadet forces:
- The Army Cadet Force (ACF) and the Air Training Corps (ATC) are linked to the army and Royal Air Force (RAF) respectively.
- The Volunteer Cadet Corps (VCC) is part of the Royal Navy’s Cadet Forces and is solely based at Royal Navy establishments. The VCC include the Royal Navy Cadets, the Royal Marines Cadets and the Bands of the Royal Marines.
- The Sea Cadet Corps (SCC) is a charity that provides activities for young people on the water. It is supported by the Royal Navy, which provides around half of its funding.
- The Combined Cadet Force (CCF) is a programme based in secondary schools programme combining one or more elements of each service.
What is the cadets’ relationship with the MOD?
The MOD sponsors the cadet forces, but they are not recruiting organisations and there is no expectation that cadets will subsequently join the armed forces. Cadets are not liable for military service.
The aim of the cadet forces, as set out by the MOD (PDF), is to:
Provide disciplined uniformed youth organisations that enable young people to develop leadership skills and teamwork by means of training to promote the qualities of responsibility, self-reliance, resourcefulness, endurance and perseverance and a sense of service to the community.
The policy and regulations for the MOD-sponsored cadets are set out in Joint Service Publication 814 (PDF).
How many cadets are there?
As of 1 April 2024, there were over 88,000 cadets in the four individual cadet forces and a further 51,000 in the Combined Cadet Force (CCF), according to MOD statistics. Over 26,000 adults volunteer across all five cadet forces.
Most CCF volunteers are in its army sections. About 39% of cadets in the CCF are female and 61% are male. Around 4,320 adult volunteers support the CCF.
How are the cadet forces funded?
The cadet forces are funded in different ways.
The Army Cadet Force, Air Training Corps and CCF are “wholly funded” by the MOD.
Sea Cadet Corps units are independent charities affiliated to the Marine Society and Sea Cadets (MSSC), a charity that is responsible for the overall management of cadets and volunteers.
The Voluntary Cadet Corps says that the “vast majority” of its costs are met from its own funding, although it does receive a “capitation grant” from the MOD.
How much does the government spend on cadet forces?
In July 2020, the then Minister for the Armed Forces, James Heappey, said that the MOD “does not allocate funding directly to the Cadet Forces and there are no discreet Cadet budgets”; instead, the funding comes from a wide range of agencies and organisations.
Ministers have said it costs the MOD around £180 million to support cadets.
The Minister for Veterans and People, Al Carns, has set out annual funding for the army cadet force from 2019 to 2024, with funding expected to be £29.8 million in financial year 2023/24.
The cadet expansion programme in secondary schools
In 2012, the coalition government launched the cadet expansion programme (CEP) to increase the number of cadet units in state schools across England. Successive governments have increased the number of cadets and the number of schools that the expansion programme is intended to reach, as the table below shows:
| The three phases of the cadet expansion programme, 2012 to 2024 | ||
|---|---|---|
| Budget | Aim | |
| Phase 1 (2012 to 2025) | £10.9 million | Deliver 100 new cadet units in state-funded schools in England, achieved in March 2015. |
| Phase 2 (2015 to2020) | £50 million | Increase the number of cadet units across the UK to 500 by 2020. Achieved by November 2019. |
| Phase 3 (2020 to2024) | £1.1 million annually from the Department for Education in England only (2021 to 2024)
£9.9 million from the MOD (2021 to 2025): |
Increase the number of cadets to 60,000 by April 2024. This target was not reached, but the covid-19 pandemic limited cadet activities |
Department for Education ends grant
In April 2021, the DfE announced £1.1 million in funding for the CEP. This took the form of a grant to help fund the cost of school staff instructors, who in turn were intended to help support the sustainability of cadet units in schools. This funding was continued annually and distributed to 230 schools in England.
In February 2024, the DfE indicated that this funding was committed up to the end of the 2023/24 financial year.
On 5 November 2024 the Schools Minister, Catherine McKinnell, said the DfE would no longer provide the grant to fund school staff instructors for this academic year (2024–25). The minster said this was due to “the current challenging fiscal context”.
The minister said the cadet expansion programme will continue to be delivered for this academic year, with £3.6 million in funding from the MOD. The government has also said the MOD’s £3.6 million a year would continue “through to the 2033/34 financial year”.
What is the return on cadet investment?
A study from the University of Nottingham identified a number of benefits from being a cadet (PDF), including improved school attendance, better mental and physical wellbeing, and enhanced employability.
It also found that volunteering for the cadets as an adult was beneficial, and that cadet forces can promote “inclusive community links across ethnic, religious and socio-economic dimensions”.
While the report did not make a monetary estimate of the total benefits of being a cadet, it did estimate that cost savings from reduced use of mental health services and better educational outcomes (PDF) were worth around £95 million per year.
A summary of the report can be found in a Lords Library briefing on cadet funding published in July 2021.
Government review of the cadets
The Minister for Veterans and People, Al Carns, has told Parliament he is reviewing the cadet and reserve forces and reiterated the government’s support for the CEP.
The government has not said when it will conclude its review, and the minister did not indicate if the review would be published. On 27 November 2024, Mark Francois (Con) tabled a written parliamentary question asking for this information.
About the author: Louisa Brooke-Holland is an international affairs researcher at the Commons Library specialising in defence and Africa.
Photo by: Harland Quarrington via Open Government Licence