Ministry of Defence Spends Millions on Independent Schools to Bypass Welsh Language Teaching
The Ministry of Defence allocates around £1m each year to place students to independent schools in north Wales because "public schools teach some or all classes in the Welsh language".
It paid £1,019,000 in educational stipend in north Wales for eighty-three students of service personnel in 2024-2025, and nearly one million pounds for seventy-nine students in the previous year under a established practice.
An official representative stated "service children can face frequent moves" and the stipend "seeks to minimize interruption to their education".
Plaid Cymru described it as a "complete waste of money" and "an insult to our language" while the Conservatives argued families should be able to choose the medium in which their children are educated.
These numbers were acquired following a inquiry under the Freedom of Information Act.
The online portal of the military installation on Anglesey tells its workforce, "if you live and serve in northern Wales, where public schools provide some or all lessons in the Welsh language, you may choose to enroll your kids to an English-language independent school".
"As long as you are accompanied by your household at your duty station, you can utilize this allowance to cover the cost of tuition fees, educational excursions/residential educational courses and daily transport."
A defense ministry representative explained, "the purpose of Day School Allowance in the northern region (the allowance) is to assist military households stationed to the area, where Welsh is the primary medium of local state education".
"As mobility is a part of military career, service children can encounter frequent moves and the DSA-NW seeks to minimize disruption to their learning."
"The MoD acknowledges the contributions military members, and their relatives undertake, and from the stipend helps with the costs of private education given in the English language."
'In Areas With Bilingual or Non-English Instruction'
The allowance includes tuition fees up to a limit of twenty-two thousand seven hundred fifty-five pounds annually, seven thousand five hundred eighty-five pounds each semester, and is available to people residing in the counties of the county, the area, Gwynedd, Anglesey or Flintshire and serving in one of the following establishments:
- RAF Valley, Anglesey
- Joint Services Mountain Training Centre, Anglesey
- Joint Services Mountain Training Wing, Llanrwst
- Wales University Officers' Training Corps (the corps), Bangor unit, the city
The eligible independent institutions are Treffos school, the village, the island; Rydal Penrhos preparatory institution in the town; St Gerard's school, the city and St David's institution, Llandudno.
The applicable military policy document states that "disbursement of the stipend is limited to those regions where teaching in the state sector is on a dual-language or non-English basis".
People serving in other locations in the three branches of the armed forces - the Army, the Royal Navy and the air service - can claim a continuity of education allowance which helps with residential and/or school charges up to a cap, with a required family share of ten percent for each eligible child.
Tory Senedd member Natasha Asghar commented "members of the British armed forces move around the country and the globe, and the ministry has always tried to ensure that their kids have access to continuity in education".
"While we strongly endorse Welsh-language teaching throughout the country, it's important to recognize there are two official languages in our nation, the English tongue and Welsh, and local councils and education authorities should accommodate each."
"Parents should always have the choice to select the language in which their children are instructed."
The Welsh party's learning representative Cefin Campbell MS stated "not just is this a complete waste of funding, it is a slight to our language".
"It's hard to imagine any valid reason to be allocating these funds every year, on blocking youth living in Wales from having the chance to learn the Welsh language."
"Dual-language ability enhances life and aids the growth of youth, but the British administration is clearly blind to this."
"This money is a perfect example of the approach of the UK political groups regarding Wales and the Welsh language - namely ignorance and disrespect."
