[4] The British Army's policy of enlisting from age 16 has been criticised for leading to lower trainee retention than is found among adult recruits.

[21] In addition to initial military training, Junior Soldiers can study Functional Skills courses in maths, English and IT at Levels 1 and 2, provided by Pearson TQ.

[29] Research in the United Kingdom has found that the enlistment and training of adolescent children, even when they are not sent to war, is often accompanied by a higher risk of suicide,[30][31] stress-related mental disorders,[32][33] alcohol abuse,[34][35] and violent behavior.

[40][45][46] In response to these concerns, the Ministry of Defence (MOD) has defended the current policy, stating in 2016: 'The army needs to attract school and college leavers at the earliest opportunity.

[52] Also in 2023, North Yorkshire Police revealed that 13 complaints of sexual assault AFC, including nine of rape, had been referred to them between July 2022 and August 2023.

[55][56] In 2017, the MOD confirmed reports that 17 instructors at AFC would be standing trial at court martial for 40 counts of alleged physical abuse of recruits during battle camp at Kirkudbright, Scotland, in 2014.

[57] ForcesTV, and the Guardian reported that the allegations included assault, holding trainees' heads under water, and forcing animal dung into their mouths.

[10] In 2021 when she was the only Black British woman working in the college, fellow staff would shout "watermelon" when she approached, stack her desk with filthy crockery and boxes, loudly played Django Unchained, and post photographs of Adolf Hitler in the instructor's professional Whatsapp channel.

Knight began to secretly record evidence of the abuse and captured audio of fellow staff members threatening to lynch her.