At a time when competition between universities to attract and recruit new students is intensifying, institutions need to be wise to the demographic groups that aren’t yet fully embracing a higher education experience.
One such opportunity is with young people who are brought up in Armed Forces families.
Two years ago, UCAS introduced a new self-selecting category for undergraduate applicants: “parent has served in UK Armed Forces”. Data comparing the last two full UCAS reporting cycles (2023 and 2024) shows that the number of applicants in this category is static at 20,000.
As a proportion of overall applications (via UCAS), the level of undergraduates that are drawn from Armed Forces parental backgrounds is at just 3.3 per cent and in annual decline.
Reaching armed forces applicants
Most universities do not yet have meaningful strategies to understand, engage, or support applicants for this type of background. They need to examine where these prospective students are (geographically), where they tend to congregate, their preferred sources of trust and information, and the types of support that will strengthen their overall interest in a higher education experience.
One of the most helpful sources here is the Service Children’s Progression Alliance (hosted by the University of Winchester and the Ministry of Defence). The SCiP Alliance has produced an online map that identifies the numbers of children from Armed Service families across the various local authorities in England: SCiP Alliance Map – and segmented at both primary and secondary school levels. Supporting Service Children in Education in Wales and Forces Children Scotland also have useful data and insight.
In addition to the usual places that teenagers hang out, those from Armed Forces families also have a tendency to take part in cadet forces and other youth groups associated with the Forces. Each branch of the Armed Forces has its own young people networks, volunteering programmes and experiences – for example, the RN Youth Network, the RAF’s Air Cadet squadrons, and Army Cadets. The Tri-Service Youth Forum acts as a source of intelligence about the common voice and interest of such young people.
What forces families do
Beyond engaging young people directly, universities should also place greater emphasis on working with families. For many Armed Forces families, awareness of higher education pathways can be limited, with joining the services after post-compulsory education often viewed as the default next step. Proactive engagement with families, particularly through trusted intermediaries such as the Armed Forces Families Federations (Army AFF, Royal Navy NFF, RAF FF) offers a valuable opportunity to raise awareness, challenge assumptions, and position higher education as a viable and supported option.
By working more closely with these organisations and tapping into out-of-school activities and channels (such as the AFF Army&You magazine, NFF Homeport magazine) – and also joining the SCiP Alliance networks of regional hubs, universities can expand their knowledge and reach of such a valuable market.
It is estimated (via research from the University of Winchester) that just 24 per cent of those from an Armed Forces family background are progressing into higher education – compared with 43 per cent of the wider population. Undergraduate enrolments (in the last UCAS cycle) are in the region of 16,400.
We need a twin-track campaign that both spells out the value of higher education to relevant prospective students and that also explains the value that those from Armed Forces family backgrounds bring to universities themselves (and to other students attending university).
Thriving lives
Earlier this year, my own organisation (the Naval Children’s Charity) led the commissioning of a report (funded by The Armed Forces Covenant Fund Trust) called Thriving Lives in Higher Education. This study explored the broader market potential, the overall benefits to universities, and the particular support needs when engaging with and enrolling students from Armed Forces families.
It identified the following themes:
Contribution: such students bring considerable strengths and distinctive value to the university experience. These are individuals who have been brought up to face and to cope with unique challenges. Their formative years are filled with change, disruption, and transition and so they develop tremendous resilience and determination to succeed. They are highly adaptable, used to coping with independence, and capable of operating in diverse cultural and social settings. They tend to make ideal students, not least because they are able to assist others (from civilian lives) to work well together and to thrive. Such traits have been celebrated in a previous Wonkhe article.
Barriers: Universities are generally weak when it comes to identifying participation and progression patterns among prospective and current students drawn from Armed Forces backgrounds. This means that universities struggle to have the information that they need to create tailored and targeted support, especially when it comes to outreach, interventions, and financial risk.
Support: Frequent disruption during earlier schooling is bound to have an impact on young people. Universities therefore need to be aware that often students coming from Armed Forces families might sometimes need tailored support to help with their higher education continuity. They will also require additional financial support as military families tend to exhibit higher level of financial risk for incurring financial debt – as highlighted in work by the RAND Europe and the Army Families Federation.
Because the financial challenges facing students from Armed Forces families are often distinct, targeted financial support can play a crucial role in enabling participation and continuation in higher education. The Naval Children’s Charity has therefore launched a new University Education Bursary Scheme, providing support for learning resources, living costs and accommodation – incentivising a greater number of university applicants from Naval families.
The scheme is delivered using JS Group’s innovative Aspire platform, which is already used by more than 40 higher education institutions to distribute bursaries and hardship funds. Recent Aspire data shows that timely, flexible financial support significantly improves students’ ability to participate and remain engaged in their studies. For universities, this highlights an important opportunity: where students face specific financial disruptions – such as those experienced by Armed Forces families – having mechanisms to deliver funding quickly, transparently, and in a tailored form can make a meaningful difference to outcomes.
Priorities
The Thriving Lives analysis points identified four main priorities for universities as they consider the increased opportunities for recruiting more students from Armed Forces family backgrounds:
- Adopting a university-wide approach: by integrating the experience of these types of students into institutional policies and practices.
- Enhancing student success: setting in place inclusive and flexible support systems that address these students’ unique challenges while also maximising the strengths they bring to the University and to fellow students.
- Increasing staff awareness: equipping staff with the knowledge, training, and resources to be able to support such students effectively and across the student journey.
- Fostering a sense of belonging: exploring the establishment of peer networks, providing tailored sessions during induction and orientation, and encouraging such students to have a deliberate role in the student voice and to participate as designated representatives within subject-specific and university-wide fora.
To help universities to take a more action-based approach on this, the SCiP Alliance is just completing a three-year project to design a toolkit for HE establishments to help them to support students from Armed Forces families – as an extension to their existing Thriving Lives Toolkit for schools.
In the meantime, it is important that UK universities develop more forward-thinking and creative approaches within their outreach and recruitment strategies so that they can enthuse, attract and expand this significant and valuable stream of students. If higher education institutions are serious about reaching overlooked groups, then students from Armed Forces families deserve more intentional strategies, more consistent data capture, and more targeted support than they receive today.
Thank you for this excellent article which highlights this important gap where participation is concerned. My institution does not actively encourage students from this community and WP is critical to their strategy. I think the sense of belonging for students at university is also crucial; I certainly felt a huge culture shock coming to university with an Armed Forces background so I would be intrigued to know if others felt that too.