Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to paragraph 23 on page 19 of the Strategic Defence Review, published on 2 June 2025, whether her Department has allocated funding to help develop understanding of the Armed Forces among young people in schools.

The Strategic Defence Review (SDR) states that, as part of a national conversation on security, the Ministry of Defence (MoD) will work with the department to develop understanding of the armed forces in schools.

The department works jointly with MoD on the Cadet Expansion Programme, which was launched to establish new cadet units in English state secondary schools. We will continue to work with MoD as they implement the SDR’s recommendation to expand in-school and community-based Cadet Forces.

We will also work with MoD on the SDR’s recommendation to increase understanding of the armed forces in schools in a way that creates opportunities.