University Officer Training Corps

(asked on 21st May 2019) - View Source

Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what steps she is taking to promote the university officer training corps at UK universities.


Answered by
Tobias Ellwood Portrait
Tobias Ellwood
This question was answered on 30th May 2019

Royal Navy

The Royal Navy continues to engage with universities in a myriad of ways as part of wider recruiting efforts but also to increase awareness amongst the graduate population as to the presence and purpose of the Navy. A University Royal Naval Unit (URNU) opened in Devon in 2017, making 15 URNUs in total, and the Navy continues to review opportunities to expand this footprint further. The Captain of Navy Recruiting (CNR) delivers three-day awareness packages at a variety of universities which last year resulted in 600 expressions of interest. CNR also runs the Undergraduate Leadership Programme, which this year will offer six-week long placements to 15 successful candidates from 900 initial applications. Lastly, changes to the way the Services recruit their engineers will mean that, under the new STEM Graduate Inflow Scheme, those individuals who have been selected to be Engineer Officers in the Royal Navy, and are sponsored through university as a result, will be able to attend any university, thus broadening even further the exposure of the wider university population to the Royal Navy.

Army

The Army has a total of 15 University Officers' Training Corps (UOTC) and two Officer Training Regiments (OTRs), which welcome enquiries from any individual enrolled in a higher education course at any university or college across the UK. Each training corps regularly engages with the higher education sector through Military Education Committees, the formal mechanism for engagement with affiliated universities. Additionally, the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst engages nationally on their behalf with the Council of Military Education Committees.

UOTCs are actively promoted by the Army online, through the use of the official Army website and via approved social media accounts run by each individual unit. More direct engagement activities are conducted by the UOTCs themselves, along with the Army's specialist engagement teams, within various higher education establishments, such as appearances at freshers' fairs, open evenings and through the delivery of leadership events. UOTCs are also promoted during school and cadet unit visits, to ensure that young people are aware of the opportunities available to them, should they go onto higher education.

Royal Air Force

The Royal Air Force (RAF) currently has 15 University Air Squadrons (UAS) comprising a membership of around 900 undergraduates, from 118 affiliated universities, throughout the UK. The UAS regularly liaise with Military Education Committees; they will also attend university freshers' fairs and use the internet to encourage university student participation. The RAF welcomes enquiries from students and actively encourages students, throughout their university journey, to join the organisation.

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