Morgan Brown (left) and Ellen O’Connor (right), from the Royal British Legion, discuss awareness of the Armed Forces Covenant using data from the British Social Attitudes Survey.
Good research should have practical applications, and effective advocacy should always be grounded in high-quality research.
But sometimes there is a disconnect between research and practice. As we learnt at the UK Data Service “Perspectives on Engagement and Impact” event, policymakers often have just 30 to 60 minutes to absorb research on an issue – a difficult match when publications can often be long and technical.
Using findings from the British Social Attitudes (BSA) survey, the Royal British Legion (RBL) explains how we turn research into meaningful action, influencing decisions from local councils to national legislation, and ensuring the needs of the UK Armed Forces community are understood and met.
About Us
The Royal British Legion (RBL) is the largest welfare provider in the UK Armed Forces charity sector, and one of the UK’s largest membership organisations. We recognise, remember, and support the Armed Forces community, and ensure their unique contribution is not forgotten.
We support serving personnel, veterans, and their families, including the bereaved, across a wide variety of areas, including finance, housing, wellbeing, care needs, and health. RBL conduct research, influence policy, and run campaigns to ensure that the voices of our community are heard, and that services and support meet their needs.
Why the British Social Attitudes survey matters
The BSA is run annually by the National Centre for Social Research, tracking the social, moral, and political attitudes of a representative sample of UK adults.
In 2025, RBL funded a small set of survey questions, including asking whether someone was a member of the UK Armed Forces community, and whether they were aware of and agreed with the principles of the Armed Forces Covenant Duty.
We commissioned analysis of this data by the King’s Centre for Military Health Research; findings from responses to these questions are already having a practical impact on RBL’s work.
About the British Social Attitudes Survey
BSA 43 ran from September to October 2025. RBL funded questions on Armed Forces community status, and awareness and perceptions of the Covenant Duty, which were asked to ~4,000 respondents.
The percentages in this blog post use the sample of everyone who was asked these RBL-funded questions (i.e. the ‘funded sample’), including those who responded with ‘Don’t know’ or ‘Prefer not to say’.
Findings from previous BSA releases are available on the UK Data Service’s Data Catalogue.
Using research to shape local action
A total of 431 BSA respondents (13.9% of the funded sample) identified as members of the UK Armed Forces community – including serving personnel, veterans, their family members, and the bereaved community.
Note: The figure of 431 BSA respondents identifying as members of the UK Armed Forces community has been weighted to compensate for biases in the sampling, aiming to more accurately represent the wider UK population. The raw number of respondents who identified as members of the UK Armed Forces community was 446.
The survey revealed a significant awareness gap. Out of the whole BSA sample, representing the general UK population, nearly two-thirds (65%) had never heard of the Armed Forces Covenant (‘the Covenant’).
Awareness of the Covenant was higher among those who were in the Armed Forces community (50%) compared to those who were not (31%).
The Armed Forces Covenant
The Armed Forces Covenant is the nation’s promise to members of the UK Armed Forces community – including serving personnel, veterans, their family members, and the bereaved. It consists of two key principles:
- That members of the Armed Forces community should not face disadvantage as a result of their Service
- That members of the Armed Forces community who have given the most, such as the injured and bereaved, should receive special consideration where appropriate.
This evidence, which suggests that the majority of people in the general population are unaware of the Covenant, means we can more strongly justify our ask that the government should put more resources into promoting awareness and understanding.
Awareness matters because the commitments of the Covenant – respecting and supporting the Armed Forces community – are relevant to all public services, businesses, and communities. Being aware of these commitments helps to increase understanding of the Armed Forces community, their needs, and their contributions.
We shared this finding in our Councillor Network newsletter, reaching more than 1,100 of our local government supporters. We advocated for councils to receive improved guidance and more funding to support the Covenant, and we called upon the newsletters’ recipients to present these arguments as a motion to their council.
Building our case with evidence
Looking at the Covenant’s individual principles, 73% of the overall BSA sample of the UK population agreed that no member of the Armed Forces community should face disadvantage due to their Service, while 78% agreed that, in some cases, members of the Armed Forces community should receive special consideration.
This research, indicating that the general public supports the Covenant’s principles, supports our case that the Covenant Duty should be more widely implemented, including through the Armed Forces Bill 2026.
The Armed Forces Bill 2026
Local public bodies and services, including local authorities, NHS providers, and schools, are currently legally obliged to pay “due regard” to the Covenant principles when they are making decisions and developing policies and services – this is called the Covenant Duty.
The Armed Forces Bill 2026, which is currently progressing through Parliament, proposes to:
- Expand the Duty to cover a wider range of policy areas such as social care, childcare, and pensions (it currently only covers housing, healthcare, and education)
- Bring UK and devolved governments into scope (at present, it only applies to specific local public bodies)
We cited our findings from the BSA survey in RBL’s written evidence submission to the Armed Forces Bill 2026 to highlight that the public agree with the Covenant Duty’s principles, and that the Ministry of Defence should implement and monitor them effectively.
Our Director General, Mark Atkinson, also referenced the evidence during oral testimony to the Select Committee on the Armed Forces Bill.
These findings supported RBL’s argument that our sector’s priority should not be improving public agreement with the Covenant’s principles but should instead be raising awareness and holding public bodies to account.
RBL continues to engage closely with the Bill as it moves through Parliament.
Looking forward
The BSA survey has given us unique insight into perceptions of the Covenant across both the UK Armed Forces community and the general public, based on a representative sample.
This evidence is essential to supporting our policy recommendations and campaigning advocacy, being used at the highest level of our organisation.
And this is just the start. RBL has commissioned the King’s Centre for Military Health Research to conduct deeper analysis of BSA data – including trends in Covenant awareness, differences across subgroups, and areas where understanding is lowest.
We are also exploring the potential of including further questions in BSA in future years – for example, to understand more about public perceptions of the Armed Forces community. These insights will help us target future campaigning and support efforts where they are most needed.
Find more updates on RBL’s research work, and how it informs our campaigning advocacy and service provision, on our website and our LinkedIn. You can also reach out at policyandresearch@britishlegion.org.uk.
About the authors
Morgan Brown is a Research Officer at the Royal British Legion.
As part of the Campaigns, Policy and Research team, she brings together research and evidence to inform policy recommendations, enhance service provision, and ensure the voices of the Armed Forces community are heard.
Morgan has a background in psychology and behavioural science, and enjoys communicating research and insights for use in policy development and decision-making.
Ellen O’Connor is a Research Manager in the Campaigns, Policy and Research team at the Royal British Legion.
As a Research Manager, she works to understand the demographics and needs of the Armed Forces community.
She uses these insights to ensure that the organisation’s policy, campaigning, strategy and service design are grounded in high-quality data and robust evidence.
Comment or question about this blog post?
Please email us!