🔗 Share this article MoD Allocates Large Sums on Private Schools to Avoid Welsh Education RAF Valley trains UK fighter pilots as well as crew for alpine and maritime missions The Ministry of Defence spends approximately £1m annually to place children to private schools in north Wales because "public schools teach some or all lessons in the Welsh language". It paid over one million pounds in educational stipend in the northern region for 83 children of military families in 2024-2025, and £942,000 for seventy-nine students in the previous year under a longstanding practice. A spokesperson said "military families' children can experience frequent moves" and the stipend "aims to reduce disruption to their schooling". The Welsh party described it as a "complete waste of funds" and "an insult to our tongue" while the Conservatives argued families should be able to choose the medium in which their children are taught. The Duke of Cambridge was stationed in the Anglesey base from 2010 to 2013 The figures were obtained following a inquiry under the Freedom of Information Act. The online portal of the military installation on Anglesey informs its workforce, "for those residing and working in northern Wales, where state schools provide some or all classes in the Welsh language, you may choose to send your kids to an English-language private institution". "As long as you are accompanied by your household at your duty station, you can utilize this allowance to pay for the cost of school charges, field study trips/residential educational courses and regular commuting." A defense ministry representative told, "the purpose of Day School Allowance in North Wales (the allowance) is to support military households stationed to the area, where Welsh is the main language of local state education". "As mobility is a aspect of military career, service children can encounter regular transfers and from DSA-NW aims to lessen interference to their education." "The ministry acknowledges the contributions service personnel, and their families make, and from DSA-NW helps with the costs of private education provided in the English language." 'In Areas With Bilingual or Non-English Instruction' The allowance includes school costs up to a limit of £22,755 annually, £7,585 per term, and is accessible to personnel living in the regions of Conwy, the area, the locality, the island or the district and serving in one of the following establishments: The military base, Anglesey The combined forces alpine training facility, the island The joint military mountain unit, Llanrwst Wales University Officers' Training Corps (the corps), Bangor unit, Caernarfon The qualifying private schools are Treffos school, Llansadwrn, Anglesey; Rydal Penrhos preparatory institution in Colwyn Bay; St Gerard's, Bangor and St David's College, the town. The applicable joint service publication confirms that "payment of the stipend is limited to those areas where teaching in the public system is on a bilingual or non-English basis". Personnel stationed elsewhere in the multiple services of the armed forces - the ground forces, the naval service and the air service - can apply for a continuity of education allowance which contributes towards boarding and/or school charges up to a cap, with a required family share of ten percent for each qualifying student. Welsh Conservative assembly representative the politician commented "personnel of the British armed forces move around the nation and the world, and the ministry has always tried to guarantee that their children have access to continuity in schooling". "Although we strongly endorse Welsh-language teaching throughout the country, it's important to recognize there are dual recognized tongues in our country, the English tongue and Welsh, and local councils and school boards should provide for each." "Families should always have the option to select the medium in which their children are instructed." The Welsh party's education spokesperson the assembly member said "not just is this a complete waste of funding, it is an insult to our tongue". "I cannot think of any valid reason to be spending such money annually, on blocking youth living in Wales from having the opportunity to acquire the Welsh tongue." "Bilingualism enhances life and aids the growth of youth, but the British administration is clearly blind to this." "These funds is a clear illustration of the approach of the Westminster parties towards the nation and the Welsh language - namely unawareness and disrespect."