Explorer Scouts, frequently shortened to Explorers, is the fifth section of The Scout Association in the United Kingdom for 14- to 18-year-olds. The section was introduced in 2001 and formally launched in February 2002, alongside Scout Network, to replace the former Venture Scout section for fifteen-and-a-half to twenty-year-olds.

Following on from the Scout section, Explorer Scouts are run in Units at a District level as opposed to the more local Group level that run the younger sections. In addition to earning activity badges in common with younger sections, Explorers are able to attain the highest awards in the movement such as the King's Scout Award.

Part of the programme for the section is the Young Leader's scheme, which trains Explorer Scouts in leadership methods and allows them to volunteer with the younger sections of the movement.

The Explorer Scout section was established in the early years of the 21st century. The previous decade had seen a decline in the Scout Association's membership, with an annual loss of 30,000 members, prompting a programme review that commenced in 1995 and was implemented from 2001 onward. The section officially launched in February 2002 with the previous sections, notably Venture Scouts, and age ranges being phased out by December 2003. The new Explorer Scout section is run at the district level, with units strategically placed to cover the entire area, unlike the younger sections and the former Venture Scout section, which were run at the local Scout Group level. When it was set up, the activity programme for the section followed eight programme zones that matched those of the Scout Network section. This was to change however in 2008 when the first four sections began using six programme zones covering the same themes (even if the names differed to be age appropriate for the section).

In 2003 the programme for the section was expanded with the launch of the Young Leaders scheme, allowing Explorer Scouts and those of a similar age to volunteer with the younger sections as part of the leadership team. The scheme was an unexpected success and the number of Explorer Scouts volunteering as Young Leaders had reached 10,394 by 2012, within the first 10 years of the scheme. In 2012 the section, along with Scout Network, celebrated their tenth anniversaries with a uniform badge available to celebrate the occasion.

Between August and December 2013, a youth consultation was held into the future of Scouting under the title of Be... initiative. While not making any specific recommendations about the Explorer Scout section, the consultation focused on increasing community action and youth input into all sections and changing the perception of Scouts to encourage more people to join. The report fed into the Scout Association's strategy for the next four years which had key aims matching the outcomes of the Be... report. In 2015 the programme for Explorer Scouts was updated along with the logo and visual identity for the section. The programme now focused on 15 challenge areas around three broad themes concurrent with all the other sections.

In 2018 the Scouts published their Skills for Life plan which acknowledged that young people drop out of the Scout's 6-25 programme between 14 and 25 years. In response, they planned a number of changes to the Explorer Scout provision before 2023 including "review[ing] the Explorer Scout programme to increase retention", "ensur[ing] that Young Leaders are well supported, recognised and can articulate the benefits of their experience" and "review[ing] our uniform starting with the Explorer Scout uniform."

Unlike the younger sections and the Venture Scouts before them, Explorer Scout Units are controlled by a Scout District covering a larger area than the more local Scout Groups. Districts are able to have as many Explorer Scout Units as they see fit with members able to participate in the programme of other units in their area. Some units have formal partnership agreements with local groups, where access to equipment and meeting places are negotiated, while other units may be more specialised with a focus on a particular activity or a certain part of the programme such as providing a Young Leader unit to deliver the Young Leaders Scheme.