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.
