Children in uniform: A decade of abuse at the Army Foundation College
Since 2014 British army trainees aged under 18 at the Army Foundation College (AFC) in Harrogate have suffered an ingrained culture of abuse by instructors, as well as endemic bullying among recruits themselves. CRIN’s new chronological report highlights every known account of abuse at AFC between 2014 and 2024 - drawing on official data, national media reports, court judgments and the testimonies of former recruits and their parents.
[Content warning: This report discusses suicide and many types of mental health experiences including depression. If you need to talk to someone, please call the Samaritans on 116 123 - any time, any day.]
A decade of abuse at the Army Foundation College
The Army Foundation College (AFC) in Harrogate is the UK's sole initial training site for army recruits who enlist as children aged between 16 and 17½ years. Approximately 1,000 such recruits are under training at AFC at any time. Recruits at AFC hold the legal status of children.
Using official data, national media reports, court judgments and the testimonies of former recruits and their parents, the harms and abuses of AFC recruits since 2014 include:
Court judgments recording sexual abuse and exploitation of female recruits by older staff.
Multiple allegations of sexual offences committed at AFC documented through service and civilian police records.
Army records showing 75 allegations - some proven - of violence by staff against recruits, including assault and battery.
Testimony from former recruits, parents and a former instructor describing routine humiliation and frequent physical abuse by staff, a culture of bullying among recruits, several instances where a recruit’s legal right to leave was obstructed by staff and a culture of fear among recruits leading to a reluctance to raise complaints.
Record of abuse at the Army Foundation College since May 2021
Just within the past three years (since May 2021) the following has occurred at AFC:
15 internal complaints of violent behaviour by AFC staff recorded on the army’s personnel system between November 2020 and December 2023.
The conviction in November 2021 of AFC instructor Cpl Hey for routinely physically abusing under-18 recruits.
13 alleged sexual offences at AFC were reported to North Yorkshire Police over 13 months from 22 July 2022 to 17 August 2023, including nine cases of rape, two of sexual assault, and two of voyeurism.
The conviction in January 2023 of AFC instructor Cpl Bartram for the serial sexual exploitation of six female under-18 recruits for ten months to July 2021.
The finding of the service inquiry into the suicide of Gunner Jaysley Beck, published in June 2023, that in her final two-and-a-half months at AFC, in 2015, one of her instructors groomed her and started a sexual relationship with her.
The conviction in April 2024 of AFC instructor Cpl Irwin for abusing his position of trust by starting a sexual relationship with a recruit.
Two further convictions of AFC staff for unknown sexual offences other than rape between January and May 2024.
The conviction in June 2024 of AFC instructor Cpl Conway for the rape of an adult colleague in her room at AFC while she was asleep.
The conviction in June 2024 of former AFC recruit Private McGregor-Freeburn, for twice abusing an under-18 female recruit via sexual assault by penetration while she was on the AFC medical wing in 2021.
The Ministry of Defence’s (MoD) official acknowledgement in July 2024 that Cpl Kerry-Ann Knight experienced prolonged racial and sexual harassment while an instructor at AFC. Knight’s witness statement includes multiple examples of the serious maltreatment of recruits, including physical and sexual abuse.
Failures of independent oversight
Ofsted, tasked with monitoring recruit welfare, has repeatedly overlooked the substantial body of evidence of staff abuse and other harms. The MoD contracts Ofsted to inspect AFC under a limited inspection framework that excludes the educational standards expected of a civilian college, focusing instead on the arrangements and procedures to ensure recruit welfare. Although CRIN has repeatedly shared evidence of abuse with Ofsted (and all the sources cited in this document are accessible to inspectors), AFC has been graded ‘outstanding’ for welfare continuously since 2012.
On 24 September 2024, Ofsted published its report on AFC and renewed the ‘outstanding’ grade for welfare. Despite readily available evidence of a longstanding culture of serious abuse and recruit bullying, Ofsted stated that bullying and discrimination are ‘very rare’ at AFC and are investigated as soon as they occur, that female recruits ‘rarely’ experience sexual harassment and that staff take recruits’ concerns seriously.
An Independent Advisory Panel (IAP) of local civilians also monitors recruit welfare as a ‘source of assurance’ to recruits and their families. Every year since 2013, the Panel has concluded that AFC meets its duty of care to recruits effectively.
CRIN's full report, 'British army: Harm and abuse of child recruits, a timeline', includes further allegations of the abuse of recruits dating to 2014, as well as testimonies from former recruits, former instructors and the parents and guardians of under-18s who attended AFC Harrogate.
Contact:
Jim Patrick Wyke, Campaign Coordinator - National Security and Children's Rights:
jim@crin.org
Learn more about CRIN’s Campaign to end military recruitment of under-18s in the UK.
To read the complete testimonies of former AFC instructors, recruits and parents, visit our testimonies page.
In 2019 CRIN took over the campaign to end the military recruitment of children in the UK from our partner, Child Soldiers International (CSI), when the organisation closed. This page compiles resources on the recruitment of children by state armed forces, produced by CRIN and by CSI through years of research and campaigning on the issue.
For further reading see the briefing 'Why raising the recruitment age would benefit everyone' (2024), 'The pressure cooker report' (2023) and 'Conscription by poverty? Deprivation and army recruitment in the UK' (2019).