Three North East universities are among 24 educational institutions to share £80mn to provide up to 2,500 more student places and build new facilities to prepare young people for jobs in the defence sector over the coming decade.
Newcastle, Durham and Teesside are among the universities and colleges that will share the investment designed to boost the defence-related and technical skills needed to meet industry needs, bolster national security and deliver the strategic defence review and industrial strategy, according to the government.
However, young people studying in the North East are much more likely than those in other regions to be forced to move elsewhere to take advantage of their opportunities once they have graduated, as the MOD spends far less with industry in the region than in any other part of the country.
First the good news
The new university funding means that thousands more young people will be equipped with the skills needed for a career in defence, said the MOD and Department for Education (DfE) in a joint statement. The universities would use the funding to expand the number of places and improve facilities for courses which were vital to national security including defence-focused engineering and computing.
“The grants will help provide the defence industry with the future workforce it needs and give more young people the chance to secure well-paid careers”, said the government. “For instance, workers in the defence nuclear sector earn a wage premium of on average approximately 20% above the national average wage, based on a MOD survey of the main industry organisations.”
The 24 award winners including the three in the North East – selected from 112 applicants – will receive a share of £50mn to create almost 2,500 new student places over five years starting this autumn. Funding will be focused on engineering and computer science, including cyber security, robotics, autonomous technology, aerospace engineering and advanced manufacturing, where defence has some of its greatest skills needs. A further £30mn will be invested in projects including building brand new teaching facilities to support the capacity growth over the next decade.
The announcement delivered on the strategic defence review’s recommendation to boost the pipeline of skilled workers who could contribute to the UK’s national security, said the government.
Opportunities
Minister for Defence Readiness and Industry, Luke Pollard said: “We are creating more opportunities for young people across the UK to learn new skills and secure good, well-paid jobs in defence. This funding will see 24 superb universities and colleges offer more students places to learn these skills of the future.
“We know our outstanding armed forces are only as strong as the industry that stands behind them, and through this investment we’re strengthening our national security and helping drive defence as an engine for growth.”
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Pipeline of graduates
The funding would support the creation of new undergraduate degrees in areas such as cyber defence intelligence and autonomous systems and increase defence-related industry placements and projects, according to the government. In the coming years, this would create a pipeline of skilled graduates in the defence sector and enable more joint projects between academic institutions and defence industries.
The MOD says it is the largest provider of apprenticeships in the UK, supporting over 24,000 apprenticeships last year. This is said to be the largest single investment within the £182mn defence industrial strategy skills package, demonstrating the government’s commitment to ensuring the defence sector has the workforce it needs for the future.
Defence colleges
Minister for Skills Jacqui Smith said: “A strong defence sector needs a strong skills pipeline. This investment will help thousands more people gain the qualifications needed for rewarding careers in defence, working to protect our national security and boost our economic growth.
“By expanding access to high-demand courses in the defence sector, we are creating new opportunities for learners across the country while helping employers access the skilled workforce they need. This is a clear example of education and industry working together to deliver growth, strengthen Britain’s defence capability and support the jobs of the future.”
The government’s comprehensive defence skills package also includes £50mn to establish five defence technical excellence colleges in Blackpool, Plymouth, Lincoln, Rotherham and Yeovil, training people in the skills needed to secure new defence jobs in this growing industry.
Now the bad news
The latest official statistics, released separately on the same day as the announcement about defence courses at universities and colleges, show that the North East receives only a small fraction of MOD spending. In 2024/25 the MOD spent £31.9bn with UK industry and commerce, or 85% of its global total. Of this, £19.4bn was with UK industry on equipment and equipment support and £2bn on weapons and ammunition. The proportion going to small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) was 4%.
Of this, only £180mn (0.56%) was spent with North East industry. Next lowest regional spend was in Yorkshire and The Humber with £1bn. The highest was in the South, where the MOD spent £7.94bn with industry in 2024/25 followed by the South West with £6.66bn. Defence expenditure in London in 2024/25 was £2.9bn, the highest since reporting started in 2013/14.
Even taking account of the North East’s small population, spending per person was the lowest, with £70, and only half the second lowest, Northern Ireland, with £140. The UK average was £460, the highest for 12 years. Highest spending per person was in the South West at £1,130.
Comment
This announcement, issued by the government and written up by North East Bylines on 9 June in preparation for publication, may look bizarre in the light of the resignation of Defence Secretary John Healy two days later. But as there is little reason to suppose that there will not be enough money in the defence budget for even this modest proposal to go ahead, it is still worth reporting and commenting on. Indeed, it is perhaps even more pertinent.
The MOD regional expenditure figures of the 2020s show what a massive change has occurred in the North East’s industrial base since the era of the Thatcher government. It is almost exactly 45 years to the day (20 June 1981) since the Queen Mother came to Wallsend to launch the aircraft carrier Ark Royal in front of thousands of proud Swan Hunter shipyard workers and (almost certainly) a bowler-hatted Sir John Hunter.
Still, we must recognise that defence is a national effort and not be parochial about it. And nostalgia does no practical good. Three universities in the region out of 24 nationally selected for defence education is not the same as thousands of apprenticeships in shipyard and engineering trades along the Tyne, Wear and Tees, but it is not bad in today’s very different circumstances. Let’s just hang on to as many of those bright graduates as we can.
