Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what the average Ofsted status was of schools with Combined Cadet Force contingents in 2023.

The Government committed £50 million of London Interbank Offered Rate funding to the Cadet Expansion Programme to increase the number of Cadet Units in schools across the UK to 500 by April 2020. Having achieved this target, the Department for Education and Ministry of Defence are continuing to work on the Government's ambition to increase the number of cadets in schools to 60,000 by April 2024.

Cadets have access to a broad range of youth activities, which are undertaken in a safe and controlled environment. These experiences can help develop qualities such as loyalty and respect, self confidence, teamwork, and resilience which helps cadets achieve excellence and shape their own future. Schools that have set up Cadet Units have also reported a range of benefits, including improvement in attendance, attainment, commitment and relationships between staff and students.

Ofsted grades for the 275 state funded schools with cadet units are below. There are three schools that do not have Ofsted grades as at 31 December 2022.