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The MoD allocates around £1m annually to send students to private schools in north Wales because "public schools teach some or all classes in the Welsh tongue".

It paid £1,019,000 in day school allowance in the northern region for 83 children of military families in 2024-2025, and nearly one million pounds for 79 children in the previous year under a established policy.

A spokesperson stated "military families' children can face regular relocations" and the allowance "aims to reduce disruption to their education".

Plaid Cymru described it as a "complete waste of money" and "an insult to our tongue" while the Conservatives said parents should be able to select the language in which their children are taught.

The figures were acquired following a request under the Freedom of Information Act.

The website of RAF Valley on Anglesey tells its workforce, "if you live and serve in northern Wales, where public schools teach various classes in the Welsh tongue, you may choose to send your kids to an English-language private institution".

"Provided you are joined by your family at your posting, you can use this allowance to pay for the expense of school charges, field study trips/residential learning programs and regular commuting."

An MoD spokesperson told, "the purpose of the educational stipend in North Wales (the allowance) is to support service families posted to the region, where the Welsh tongue is the main language of local state education".

"Since relocation is a aspect of service life, military kids can encounter regular transfers and from DSA-NW aims to lessen disruption to their learning."

"The MoD supports the contributions service personnel, and their families undertake, and through DSA-NW assists with the costs of independent day schooling provided in English."

'In Areas With Bilingual or Non-English Instruction'

The allowance covers tuition fees up to a maximum of twenty-two thousand seven hundred fifty-five pounds a year, £7,585 per term, and is available to personnel living in the counties of the county, Denbighshire, Gwynedd, Anglesey or Flintshire and working in one of the following establishments:

• RAF Valley, the island
• The combined forces alpine training facility, the island
• Joint Services Mountain Training Wing, the town
• Wales University Officers' Training Corps (the corps), Bangor unit, the city

The qualifying private schools are Treffos institution, the village, Anglesey; Rydal Penrhos Prep school in the town; St Gerard's school, the city and St David's institution, the town.

The applicable joint service publication states that "payment of the stipend is limited to those areas where teaching in the state sector is on a bilingual or non-English basis".

People serving in other locations in the three branches of the military - the ground forces, the naval service and the air service - can claim a educational continuity benefit which helps with boarding and/or school charges up to a cap, with a minimum parental contribution of 10% for each qualifying student.

Welsh Conservative Senedd member the politician said "members of the UK military move around the country and the globe, and the ministry has always tried to ensure that their children have availability to consistency in schooling".

"Although we fully support Welsh-language teaching across Wales, it's crucial to recognize there are two official languages in our country, the English tongue and Welsh, and municipal authorities and school boards should accommodate both."

"Families should always have the option to select the medium in which their children are taught."

Plaid Cymru's education spokesperson the assembly member stated "not only is this a complete waste of money, it is a slight to our language".

"It's hard to imagine any valid reason to be spending such money annually, on blocking youth residing in the country from having the opportunity to acquire the Welsh tongue."

"Bilingualism enriches life and supports the development of young people, but the British administration is clearly blind to this."

"These funds is a perfect example of the approach of the Westminster parties regarding Wales and the native tongue - namely unawareness and disrespect."