The Defence Academy of the United Kingdom has extended its academic provision contracts with Cranfield University and King’s College London, continuing defence and security education opportunities for military personnel, UK industry, civil servants and international partners to 2031.
King’s College London and Cranfield University are long-standing trusted partners of the Defence Academy, with both universities delivering world-class specialist teaching and research for decades.
Developing the people, ideas and skills that Defence needs
Major General Peter Rowell, Commandant of the Defence Academy of the United Kingdom, said: "This extension provides continuity and confidence for Defence at a time when maintaining our intellectual edge has never been more important. It ensures that our people continue to benefit from world-class academic support whilst we shape the future of professional military education and defence learning.
"King's College London and Cranfield University have made a significant contribution to defence over many years. Their expertise has helped develop generations of military personnel, civil servants, international partners and industry leaders, combining academic excellence with practical relevance to the challenges Defence faces today.”
Specialist graduate skills to support UK resilience
Cranfield University is a long-term partner of the Defence Academy with teaching informed by the latest research and innovation spanning across the university’s specialisms of technology, engineering and management.
Using its unrivalled technical facilities and operating from the Defence Academy site at Shrivenham, Cranfield University brings innovation and academic rigour to courses alongside a focus on applied practical application. Cranfield offers a range of specialist defence master’s courses, apprenticeships and short courses that reflect the changing demands of the sector, and which draw on its globally renowned academic expertise in defence, technology and leadership.
Professor Dame Karen Holford DBE FREng, Chief Executive and Vice-Chancellor of Cranfield University, said: "For over forty years Cranfield has provided world-class education for the UK Defence community, developing this to keep pace with leading academic practice and sector needs. We remain focused on delivering the highest standards of graduate skills across defence, security, technology, engineering and leadership to support UK resilience. I’m very pleased that we will continue to work closely with King’s to deliver the best possible education to the Defence Academy.”
Combining strengths from two institutions
King’s will continue to provide academic support and teaching through the Defence Studies Department (DSD) in the School of Security Studies. Through the partnership, King’s academics will contribute to professional military education at the Royal College of Defence Studies (RCDS), the Joint Services Command and Staff College (JSCSC) and the Land Command and Staff College (LCSC) supporting the development of defence and security professionals from the UK and allied nations.
King’s College London and Cranfield University recently announced a proposed merger to bring together both institutions into a global university that will support UK national capability and resilience. While these contract extensions are independent of the proposed merger, the merger will allow the two institutions to combine their considerable strengths in these domains and create new strengths for the UK’s national capability and resilience.
Main image: UK Ministry of Defence © Crown Copyright 2026
