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Army Section
Royal Navy Section
Royal Air Force Section
Home › Extra-curricular › Combined Cadet Force
The Combined Cadet Force (CCF) operates on Friday afternoon and is made up of three sections, affiliated to the Royal Navy, the Army, and the Royal Air Force, and led by adult volunteers from the School staff. It comprises some 160 volunteer cadets from the upper four years of the School, and around 50 cadets from our partner school, Selly Oak Trust School – more details of this on the Navy Section page.
The CCF provides a disciplined framework within which boys can further the King Edward's learning values by developing their character, resourcefulness, and adaptability, as well as the personal skills associated with leadership, problem-solving and teamwork. Through a combination of adventurous and military training, we aim to promote responsibility, self-reliance, and perseverance.
Cadets work towards proficiency awards in the syllabus of their chosen section and visit active military bases; they also have the opportunity to pursue the Duke of Edinburgh's Award to Gold level, and to attend a variety of adventurous courses with the Armed Forces. Within the School staff we are able to organise adventurous activities including scuba diving, kayaking, sailing, canoeing, target shooting, climbing, trekking, and orienteering, and we are able to access flying through RAF and RN sources.
The Royal Navy Section is affiliated to HMS Daring, the first of the Navy's new Type 45 Destroyer class, the Army Section has an active link with the Royal Regiment of Fusiliers, in which a number of Old Edwardians are serving, and the Royal Air Force Section is affiliated to RAF Cosford. All three sections are supported by regular visits from Service instructors, and there are annual camps and two expedition weekends each year for each section. For more detail, see the section pages.
While the CCF is not a recruiting organisation, it does give an insight into Service life. More importantly, however, we believe that the self-confidence, self-discipline and teamwork required in the Services are of equal value in civilian life, whatever careers our pupils pursue, and above all we aim to help them develop these qualities in an enjoyable and challenging fashion.