Independent Schools' Bursars Association
Source: gov.uk (2025-11-10)

We, the undersigned, commit to honour the Armed Forces Covenant and support the Armed Forces Community. We recognise the value Serving Personnel, both Regular and Reservists, Veterans and military families contribute to our business and our country.

The Armed Forces Covenant

An enduring covenant between the people of the United Kingdom, Her Majesty’s Government and all those who serve or have served in the Armed Forces of the Crown and their families

The first duty of Government is the defence of the realm. Our Armed Forces fulfil that responsibility on behalf of the Government, sacrificing some civilian freedoms, facing danger and, sometimes, suffering serious injury or death as a result of their duty. Families also play a vital role in supporting the operational effectiveness of our Armed Forces. In return, the whole nation has a moral obligation to the members of the Naval Service, the Army and the Royal Air Force, together with their families. They deserve our respect and support, and fair treatment.

Those who serve in the Armed Forces, whether Regular or Reserve, those who have served in the past, and their families, should face no disadvantage compared to other citizens in the provision of public and commercial services. Special consideration is appropriate in some cases, especially for those who have given most such as the injured and the bereaved.

This obligation involves the whole of society: it includes voluntary and charitable bodies, private organisations, and the actions of individuals in supporting the Armed Forces. Recognising those who have performed military duty unites the country and demonstrates the value of their contribution. This has no greater expression than in upholding this Covenant.

Section 1: Principles of the Armed Forces Corporate Covenant

1.1 We Independent Schools’ Bursars Association will endeavour in our business dealings to uphold the key principles of the Armed Forces Covenant, which are:
- no member of the Armed Forces Community should face disadvantage in the provision of public and commercial services compared to any other citizen;
- and in some circumstances that special treatment may be appropriate especially for the injured or bereaved.
Section 2: Demonstrating our commitment

2.1 Independent Schools’ Bursars Association recognises the value serving personnel, reservists, veterans and military families bring to our business. We will seek to uphold the principles of the Armed Forces Covenant, by pledging to the following:
- Armed Forces Friendly
- UK Service Veterans And Leavers
- UK Service Spouses And Partners
- UK Reservists
- UK Cadets
- Armed Forces Day
- Reserve Forces Day
- Armed Forces Charities
- UK Wounded, Injured And Sick
We also pledge the following:

Promoting the Armed Forces: endorsing that we, the Independent School’s Bursars Association, are an Armed Forces-friendly organisation to all our staff, schools, suppliers, contractors, the wider public and encouraging schools to become signatories to the Covenant. Veterans: supporting the employment of veterans, recognising military skills and qualifications in our recruitment and selection process; working with the Career Transition Partnership (CTP) to support the employment of Service leavers across the independent school sector. Service Spouses & Partners: supporting the employment of Service spouses and partners; partnering with the Forces Families Jobs Forum (https:(/www.forcesfamiliesiobs.co.uk/); and encouraging schools to provide flexibility in granting leave for Service spouses and partners before, during and after a partner’s deployment. Reserves: supporting our employees and encouraging schools to support their staff, who are members of the Reserve Forces, with granting additional paid/unpaid leave for annual Reserve Forces training; supporting any mobilisations and deployment and encouraging schools to support their staff members who wish to become Reservists; Cadet Organisations: encouraging and supporting our schools who have military cadet organisations and their volunteer leaders to grant additional leave to attend annual training camps and courses; actively encouraging members of staff to become volunteer leaders and recognising the benefits of employing cadets/ex-cadets within the workforce. National Events: supporting Armed Forces Day, Reserves Day, the Poppy Appeal Day and Remembrance activities; Armed Forces Charities: supporting Armed Forces charities with fundraising and supporting staff who volunteer to assist; Commercial Support: offering a discount to members of the Armed Forces community; Assisting veterans: applying for jobs within the independent school sector particularly potential but not exclusively bursars, finance and operations directors. Training opportunities: providing training opportunities to veterans that may wish to work as support staff in the independent school sector.

2.2 We will publicise these commitments through our literature and/or on our website, setting out how we will seek to honour them and inviting feedback from the Service community and our customers on how we are doing.