Defence Secretary Grant Shapps has expressed his dismay following reports of sex abuse claims at the Army Foundation College (AFC) in North Yorkshire, the largest military training establishment for under-19s in the UK. North Yorkshire Police received 16 reports of sexual offenses linked to the college in the year to June, including allegations of exposure, voyeurism, and sexual assault. It remains unclear if any of these reports have led to prosecutions.
Ministry of Defence data indicates that a total of 176 complaints of inappropriate sexual behavior were made at the college between January 2018 and June 2025. Several women who attended the AFC within the last five years have come forward with allegations. One woman, identified as Tilly, recounted an incident where she was raped by fellow soldiers at the age of 17.
"They started taking my clothes off and then this led to them doing stuff I didn't consent to," Tilly told the BBC. "And then I was raped… by multiple junior soldiers, same age as me. It went on for hours. I felt like a piece of meat."
Shapps stated he was "sickened" by the claims and sympathized with the women, whom he felt had been "badly failed." He emphasized the military's duty to uphold the highest standards and treat every individual with dignity and respect.
Earlier this week, former MP Sarah Atherton, who previously served in the Army's Intelligence Corps and led a 2021 government review into women's experiences in the armed forces, suggested that public confidence in the college could only be restored through an independent inquiry. Emma Lewell MP commented that if such allegations were made at any other school or residential environment for children, it would have been closed down.