Question to the Department for Education:

To ask Her Majesty's Government how many cadet and combined cadet forces there are in the (1) academy, and (2) maintained sector; and what assessment they have made of the number of cadet and combined cadet forces in independent schools.

The government is committed to supporting the growth of cadet units and delivering 500 cadet units in schools by 2020 through the Cadet Expansion Programme.

There are currently 164 combined cadet units in academies, 87 in maintained schools (including 22 in the devolved administrations), 14 in university technical colleges and 11 in further education colleges. 195 independent schools have a cadet unit, including 21 in devolved administrations. In 2010, there were 61 combined cadet units in state sector schools.