500 students in Lancashire are now learning the latest defence
digital and tech skills through Government funding to help
keep Britain safe from future cyber threats.
285 new students have enrolled in the latest cohort, taking the
total number of students to 500. This follows an announcement in
October 2025, where the MOD expanded the scheme to 500 fully
funded places for college-age students across Lancashire.
Delivered through partnerships with Digital Skills for Defence
(DS4D) and the Lancashire Skills & Employment Hub, the
bursary is part of the Government's drive to build and inspire
Britain's next generation of cyber talent – delivering on a key
priority of the Strategic Defence Review: protecting Britain from
rising cyber threats.
Minister for People and
Veterans, Louise Sandher-Jones MP, said:
The Strategic Defence Review set out a clear vision for how we
build the workforce our Armed Forces need to meet the threats of
tomorrow. This bursary scheme is a prime example of that vision
becoming reality – creating new pathways into Defence careers and
ensuring we draw talent from a variety of skillsets.
By investing in 500 young people in Lancashire, we're not just
filling skills gaps; we're building a pipeline of cyber
professionals who will help deliver the SDR's recommendations and
keep Britain safe for decades to come. This is what SDR delivery
looks like in practice – strategic investment that strengthens
both our national security and our communities.
Students on the scheme will do A-Level and T-Level qualifications
in computer science, cyber security, engineering,
data science and AI, giving them hands-on exposure to
real cyber challenges, employability workshops, and insights into
technical and business career pathways. These students will be
model candidates for existing early talent programmes, such as
the recently launched Defence Gap Year, The Defence STEM &
Undergraduate Scheme (DSUS), Cyber Direct Entry, and Technical
Defence Graduate / Apprenticeship schemes.
The scheme has adopted a fully inclusive approach, with students
from nontraditional backgrounds succeeding and thriving through
the initiative. This is helping to drive greater social mobility
and gender equality across Defence.
Claire Fry, Director Functional Integration for Defence
Digital, marked the milestone at a student open day
at Ewood Park, Blackburn on 21 January 2026. She
said:
Defence offers some of the most exciting and rewarding digital
and cyber careers available anywhere. The bursary scheme gives
young people the opportunity to develop specialist skills and
explore career pathways across Defence and its partners, while
they study, with real routes into roles that truly matter.
We are committed to developing the next generation of cyber and
digital talent to strengthen Defence's Digital Backbone and
support delivery of key SDR recommendations. Working in Defence
and particularly in digital, means contributing directly to
national security while building a futureproof career.
Already, 25% of participants have applied for Defence STEM
programmes, demonstrating strong progression into
national security careers.
Through Armed Forces insight days and GCHQ early careers
programmes, it's hoped the scheme will be part of an
ecosystem connecting local talent, education and
national security capability, feeding talent directly into
National Cyber Force capability, helping to address the daily
cyber threats facing UK networks and infrastructure.
General Sir Jim Hockenhull Commander of Cyber Specialist &
Operations Command, said:
Defence offers some of the most exciting and rewarding digital
and cyber careers in the country, with pathways for young people
at every stage of their journey. Through the Defence Digital and
Cyber Bursary Scheme, we're supporting 500 students to develop
specialist skills while they study, giving them a head start in a
field that is vital to our national security. We're committed to
growing cyber talent right across the UK, including here in the
North-West, and we want our workforce to represent the people we
serve.
A career in Defence cyber means more than just a job – it means
contributing to something that matters, protecting the country
while gaining skills that will be in demand for decades to come.
We're investing in the next generation of cyber professionals,
and I'd encourage anyone with an interest in cyber and digital
technology to find out how they can be part of it.
The bursary scheme supports Recommendation 16 of the Strategic
Defence Review to create new entry routes into Defence careers
and demonstrates how Government investment is creating
high-value skills opportunities in communities, thereby
supporting both regional prosperity and national
security objectives.
