Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, with reference to page 68 of his Department's Strategic Defence Review, published on 2 June 2025, what progress his Department has made on whole force by default training.

Since the publication of the Strategic Defence Review (SDR) work on the Whole Force by default training and education is progressing across a number of strands. This includes the strategic work around the Pan Defence Skills Framework (PDSF) launched in March 2026 which aims to ensure that skills are transferable across Defence, allowing improved workforce management, as well as helping individuals to better shape their careers. PDSF is the first skills framework spanning military personnel and civil servants. The framework provides a common approach to defining, recording and validating skills, creating greater visibility of workforce capability across Defence and supporting a more integrated, whole force approach to workforce planning, training and career development. A key enabler is Defence-wide onboarding to the framework, which is continuing through to spring 2027.

Further work is continuing to look at areas of training and education to consider Whole Force and integrated training solutions that will improve productivity and increase efficiency. Areas that are currently being reviewed include Defence Engineering training, supporting the development of science, technology, engineering and mathematic skills across Defence, which in the longer term also addresses broader skills shortfalls across society. Further areas under consideration include the training and education of our Reserve Forces, and the outcome will inform future work.

In line with wider Defence Reform transformation introduced in April 2026, significant reform of Defence training and education has taken place. Defence has established clear responsibilities and authorities for training and education within the Military Strategic Headquarters (MSHQ), supported by new governance structures designed to improve decision-making and coherency across Defence. As part of the clarification of ownership, the MSHQ is in the process of writing a new Defence Training and Education Strategy, and supporting plan, that will provide a vision centred around improving adaptability, driving integration and enabling readiness through reform of training and education across Defence.

As a result of these changes, the lived experience of our sailors, soldiers, and aviators have been impacted by reform in several areas. One example is in the Defence Accreditation Review which is piloting AI-supported tools to help expand opportunities for Defence personnel to gain recognised civilian qualifications from their military training.