Cadet units 'help improve behaviour of excluded children'

A four-year study by the University of Northampton's Institute for Social Innovation and Impact, commissioned by the Ministry of Defence, found that excluded children who joined the cadets were more likely to have improved attendance and behaviour on their return to school.

Initial findings from the study also found improvements in behaviour, school attendance and confidence levels among cadets who receive free school meals. 

Publication of the report coincides with the announcement from Defence Secretary Sir Michael Fallon that 31 new units have been approved.

The government is seeking to establish 500 cadet units in schools by 2020, funded from £50m from Libor fines levied on banks. All will be based in schools in areas of high deprivation or with high ethnic-minority representation as well as the first to be set up in Wales.

Meanu Bajwa-Patel, senior researcher at the Institute for Social Innovation and Impact, said: "The evidence so far has been overwhelmingly positive and demonstrates that the cadet forces can make a huge difference to social inclusion, social mobility and the mental wellbeing of young people."

"More research on the cadet expansion programme and cadet forces across the devolved nations is planned, allowing us over the next three years to evaluate the social impact further."

The interim report included interviews with young people about their experience of being a cadet, with some saying the experience has given them greater confidence and also offered them new experiences, such as travelling abroad.

"The data gathered and analysed by the research team shows how young people and cadet force adult volunteers become more confident, more qualified, better communicators and more sociable as a result of membership of the cadet forces," the interim report states.

"Their experiences and roles in the wider community increase trust and social capital and build the bridges which can help strengthen bonds and respect across both cultures and generations."

One cadet interviewed said: "This has shown me that if I put my head down I can do whatever I want. So it's changed how I see school."

Despite praise for the impact of cadet involvement on young people the report raised concerns that the paperwork involved in running units was distracting unit volunteers from their work with cadets.

Concerns are also raised that volunteers who are unemployed have had their benefit payments cut as they receive a volunteer allowance for some training activities.

"They are thus being penalised for developing new skills and for volunteering," the report states.