Youth organisations in the United Kingdom

There are many national organisations in the United Kingdom that have been established to provide services to people under the age of 18.

The Air Training Corps (ATC) is a British cadet organisation; a voluntary youth group which is part of the Royal Air Force Air Cadets (official known as the Air Cadet Organisation or ACO) and is sponsored by the Royal Air Force (RAF). It is supported by the Ministry of Defence; a regular RAF officer served as Commandant Air Cadets at the rank of Air Commodore until 2012, when the post was changed (as part of the ongoing defence cuts) to a Full Time Reserve Service (FTRS) position, also at Air Commodore rank. The cadets and the majority of staff are civilians. Although a number of ATC cadets go on to join the RAF or other services every year, the ATC is no longer set up as a recruiting organisation.

Activities include sport, hill walking, parade drill, rock climbing, rifle shooting, fieldcraft and other outdoor activities, as well as the study of subjects related to aviation, leading to a national vocational diploma (BTEC). Week-long trips to RAF stations, or camps offering adventure training or music, allow the opportunity for cadets to gain a taste of military life and often to gain some flying experience in RAF gliders.

A teenager can join at the age of 12 as a junior cadet and earn positions of increasing responsibility in a military rank structure, as well as having increasing skill and competence recognised in a classification scheme. Service as a cadet ends at the age of 20. In 2012, the ATC had around 41,000 cadets aged between 13 and 20 years, in 1009 squadrons. Its cadets are supported by a network of around 10,000 volunteer staff and around 5,000 civilian committee members.

The Army Cadet Force (ACF) is a British youth organisation that offers training and experience around a military training theme including adventurous training, at the same time as promoting achievement, discipline, and good citizenship, to boys and girls aged 12 to 18 years and 9 months. It is a separate organisation from the Combined Cadet Force which provides similar training within principally independent schools.

Although sponsored by the Ministry of Defence the ACF is not a branch of the British Armed Forces, and as such cadets are not subject to military 'call up'. Some cadets do, however, go on to enlist in the armed forces in later life, and many of the organisation's leaders have been cadets or have a military background. Cadets do participate with the regular army on some occasions, however.

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