Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, with reference to his Department's press release entitled Student skills investment to boost UK defence industry, published on 5 February 2026, what are the key performance indicators that his Department will use to measure the success of the Defence Universities Alliance.

The Defence Universities Alliance was announced as part of the Defence Industrial Strategy in September 2025 to create a strategic network of UK universities who are publicly committed to partnering with the Ministry of Defence (MOD) and the defence industrial sector.

It aims to advance high quality defence research, encourage more skilled graduates to consider careers within the defence sector and strengthen and promote the partnership between the MOD, academia and defence industry. We are in the process of establishing the Alliance and will work with its founding members to establish a baseline and measure its success. Further details will be announced in due course.