Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what steps his Department is taking to promote membership of the Cadets programme for young people.

The Ministry of Defence (MOD) actively supports and promotes membership of the Cadet Forces, and we are keen to attract more cadets. The MOD sponsors five Cadet Forces which offer young people fantastic opportunities to develop key skills which independent research has found can literally be life changing.

The Cadet Forces are active on social media with regular posts often generated at local level by individual units. These can be accessed on a range of popular platforms including Facebook and Instagram and further information about local units and how to join is also available on the Cadet Forces’ websites.

In addition, the Cadet Force headquarters run national or regional marketing campaigns to encourage young people to join the Cadets by showcasing the benefits for personal development, adventure, friendship and fun. A recent example of this is the ‘Be More with the Army Cadets!’ national recruitment campaign which was launched in August 2024.

Beyond national and local level recruitment and awareness campaigns and activities, the MOD publicises Cadets through specific events – for example the cadet engagement event held at Frimley Cadet Training Centre in April.

We continue to invest significantly in the Cadet Forces with independent research showing that the cost of 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.

We want more young people to benefit from the Cadet experience, and we are currently undertaking a review – closely aligned with the wider Strategic Defence Review – to determine how we can grow the size and the offer of the Cadet Forces.