Laura Shewan, SGR, looks at the major expansion of military involvement currently underway in British schools – and questions the motivation of both the government and the arms industry.

Responsible Science blog, 11 March 2026

The normalisation of military ideologies – which, for decades, have been deeply entrenched in social discourse in the UK – is becoming much more explicit. The extension of military programmes into schools and young people’s spaces is a reflection of the latest push by the Ministry of Defence (MOD) for a new “whole-of-society approach” to military activities and a further movement towards conscription.[1],[2] The latest escalation of international tensions – including the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the expansion of NATO, Trump’s threats over Greenland, and US attacks on Iran and Venezuela – means that the military industrial complex is now advocating openly for a war economy. At the NATO summit last summer, the 32 member states – including Britain – committed to increasing spending on ‘defence and security’ to a whopping 5% of GDP by 2035.[3] This includes 3.5% GDP on their militaries and a further 1.5% GDP on other security-related spending, including extra support for the arms industry. As we witness the chronic underfunding, under-resourcing and racing privatisation of education, the UK government is pushing programmes of armed forces recruitment into schools in an attempt to normalise warfare and manufacture consent for the military.

From after-school activities to conscription?

The ‘new tide of militarisation’ that has been emerging over the last 25 years is a concerted effort by the state to build public support for the military, in order to raise willingness to fund and pay for military activities, to bolster recruitment, and to stifle opposition to UK involvement in international wars.[4] Military involvement in schools has a long history, predominantly through the Combined Cadet Force (CCF).[5] However, over the past two years, the British government has begun to extend the scale and sophistication of their youth schemes alongside of an open narrative around recruiting young people that is widely seen by peace campaigners as a step towards compulsory conscription.[6] In tandem with France, Belgium and Germany, who introduced National Service Schemes in 2025, the Chief of Defence Staff, Air Chief Marshal Sir Richard Knighton, said that Britain’s “sons and daughters should be ready to fight” to defend their country in the face of a perceived Russian military threat to the UK.[7]

Following the many failures of the so-called ‘War on Terror’, a critical turn in the national discourse came in 2012, under the Conservative-led coalition government. The aim to introduce a “military ethos into [our] education system” in an attempt to “raise standards and tackle issues such as behaviour” was outlined by the then Prime Minister, David Cameron.[8] The entry points into spaces of education were diverse. The Cadet Expansion Programme was introduced in the same year by the MOD, with a remit to bring a military ethos into schools, utilising discipline to “build character”.[9] Close to 60% of school cadet units are in the state sector and frequently in disadvantaged areas of the UK.[10] Alongside this, the government initiated four alternative provision programmes at a cost of £3.2 million with the aim to harness the skills of the armed forces and bring military values into schools.[11]

However, over the past year, we have seen an intensification of these policies designed to bridge the divide between civilian and military spheres – with a focus on education. In August 2025, the government announced a huge funding increase of £70 million for these school cadet forces, following a pledge in the new Strategic Defence Review to increase cadet numbers by 40%.[12] At the same time, a pilot programme will be implemented in the spring of 2026 to engage young people on two-year placements within the armed forces. In the initial stages, up to 150 under-25 year olds will be recruited to the programme, with plans to expand the intake to up to 1,000 each year.[13] The Defence Secretary, John Healey has said that the ambition of the scheme is for the “outstanding opportunities on offer in our armed forces to be part of that conversation in homes around the UK.”[14]

The drive to push this conversation forward has already become entrenched in the education system with the BAE Systems ‘roadshow’. Over the past 20 years, this leading UK engineering company has toured over 5,000 British schools annually, promoting its ethos under the guise of encouraging young people into STEM (science, technology engineering and mathematics). But BAE Systems is Europe’s largest military contractor, with close ties to 93 countries in the form of trading and arms manufacture.[15] BAE Systems has successfully neutralised its political message through its engagement with the education system, most recently with the development of ‘robot dogs’, which are ostensibly designed to ‘inspire students’, according to its publicity. In reality, of course, these innovative and fun designs are a distraction from the company’s core business: warfare.

Spending shift

This radical drive towards military recruitment in the UK comes at a time when the geopolitical landscape is becoming increasingly fractured. As the USA’s political hegemony is challenged, and global hierarchies are rapidly being reordered, it is becoming increasingly difficult to sustain the liberal hegemony through economic and political means. As a consequence, the military industrial complexes in powerful nations are promoting aggressive nationalist narratives to justify major military expansions and demonstrations of force. Tensions are escalating. In just the first few weeks of 2026, the US government has ‘kidnapped’ the Venezuelan president Nicolas Maduro, President Trump has made repeated threats against the sovereignty of Greenland, NATO leaders including Keir Starmer have talked-up the possibility of war directly with Russia as the war in Ukraine continues, and the USA and Israel (with Britain’s involvement) have launched a massive military attack on Iran.

The increasing instability at an international level comes in tandem with the degradation of national public spaces, most crucially in schools and higher education. The push towards the expansion of military involvement within schools is coupled with the chronic underfunding of primary and secondary education, in particular. Under-resourced, over-subscribed and inadequately financed schools are struggling to provide sufficient provision for children. Over-worked teachers in the most disadvantaged areas of the country are left to pick up the burden in an attempt to fill the gaps caused by cuts to the welfare state. As a result, teachers are burned out, and struggling to support themselves on their own salaries amidst a cost of living crisis.[16]

However, introducing militarised programmes into these spaces is not the answer. Not only will these ‘military ethos’ programmes reinforce and reproduce the very dynamics of nationalism and power that produce these inequalities, they are fundamentally disingenous in their weaponisation of narratives of disadvantage to promote these policies. Bringing a military agenda into schools normalises a discourse of warfare, and legitimises conflict without critique.

Furthermore, all military spending is public spending. Huge budgets for the armed forces and military technologies suck up capital that should be spent on social services, critically state-serviced education. In 2024-25, UK military spending stood at £60 billion. This was an increase (in real terms) of 25% over the previous five years, and the plan at the time of writing is to increase this by a further 12% by 2028-29, with further major increases to reach the new NATO spending target following after the next general election.[17] However, the Prime Minister is considering accelerating this timetable.[18] This will lead to an industrial shift away from civilian technologies – such as those needed to help tackle the climate crisis – to weapons and other military technologies. Meanwhile, public services such are education, health and welfare are crumbling – and international aid budgets are being slashed. The super-profits accumulated by contractors and shareholders of the arms industry (many of which are owned, or part-owned, by US firms)[19] cannot survive without the state sanctioning their activities, and legitimising the drive towards warfare.

Expendable lives

The intersecting processes of social degradation and militarisation are coalesced through these military youth programmes. The socialisation of young people into militarised norms reinforces and reproduces harmful structures at both the local and the global level. This renders young people expendable – not only through their potential deaths on the battlefield, but also through the lack of care and custodianship that should be provided to them through their education and other public services.
 

Laura Shewan is campaigner on the militarisation of science education at Scientists for Global Responsibility.

Image credit:  CDC via Pexels.

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