Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether her Department is taking steps to help tackle the skills shortage in the defence workforce.

This government recognises the critical role that a skilled workforce plays in supporting national defence, including meeting the needs of the armed forces and of a vibrant, innovative and competitive defence industry.

The department funds a range of high quality qualifications and apprenticeships that support learners wishing to pursue a career in technical occupations in areas such as defence. These include, for example:

• A number of apprenticeships in the defence sector to support the development of skilled workforces, including level 2 HM forces serviceperson and level 4 intelligence analyst, with the armed forces offering a range of apprenticeships across the frontline commands.
• 20 T Levels, including a range of science, technology, engineering and mathematics subjects such as engineering, science, and digital, which can open up great career opportunities in the defence sector.
• ​Higher technical qualifications (HTQs), which are occupation-focused level 4-5 qualifications, approved and quality marked as providing the skills demanded in the workplace by employers. To date, 263 have been approved across thirteen occupational routes, covering occupations relevant to defence, such as engineering manufacturing technician, space engineering technician and cybersecurity technologist.

More generally, higher education contributes to defence through technical fields such as aerospace engineering and cybersecurity, as well as social science fields such as politics, military strategy, and international relations.