Since 2020 we have invested £1bn in skills and education - including in our state-of-the art skills academies.

We offer a comprehensive programme of lifelong learning to ensure a strong pipeline of specialised design, engineering, manufacturing and cyber skills that the UK needs to develop combat aircraft, warships, submarines, munitions and integrated security systems. Focused on developing our people as well as future talent in the communities where we operate, this includes:

  • education outreach projects to inspire school pupils to study STEM (science, technology, engineering and maths) subjects;
  • apprenticeships, industrial placements and graduate training;
  • continuous professional development opportunities, coaching and mentoring for all levels, career stages and career pathways; and
  • a focus on specialist digital skills and data fluency incorporating retraining and upskilling.
Apprentices in Samlesbury ASK

Skills for tomorrow

We’re investing today in the skills we need to deliver tomorrow’s defence and security technologies. In the last decade, we’ve opened three new skills academies at Barrow-in-Furness in Cumbria, Samlesbury in Lancashire and Glasgow, Scotland. Our digital academy offers virtual and in-person training and in 2025 helped more than 8,000 employees develop their digital skills. 

Learning and development
Anastacia, Movement to Work

Supporting social mobility

We support social mobility by creating employment opportunities for young people facing socio-economic barriers to work. In 2025, almost a third of the apprentices who joined us came from the most deprived local authority districts in the UK. 

Since 2014, our Company has been committed to supporting the Movement to Work programme, offering over 1,000 work placements  to young people facing barriers to employment or education. In 2026, we are increasing the number of placements we offer to 135. The programme has proven highly successful, with over 60% of participants advancing to full-time roles, further education, or training. A significant number, more than a third, have secured permanent positions at BAE Systems, primarily through apprenticeships.
 

Movement to work

Our skills and training academies

We have invested in a number of academies across the UK which provide education and training opportunities for our employees. Our investments have enabled the creation of multi-million-pound skills academies to upskill thousands of employees each year to maintain the advanced science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) capabilities critical to the UK’s sovereign defence.

Applied Shipbuilding Academy, Scotstoun

The academy is a key training facility for apprentices and graduates in our Naval Ships business and provides life-long learning and skills development activities for around 4,500 employees across the workforce, from new starters to senior leaders. It measures over 5,500 square metres and comprises a modern trade hall and a flexible learning hub. The hall offers a high-quality, hands-on training environment where learners are fully immersed in realistic ship mock-ups. The adjacent hub houses over 30 teaching spaces, a cutting-edge STEM innovation lab, an exhibition area and conference space.

Submarine Academy for Skills and Knowledge, Barrow-in-Furness

The state-of-the-art training academy was built to develop the world-class engineering skills required to design, build and deliver complex submarine programmes for the Royal Navy. The academy covers 8,300 square metres and features 20 classrooms, 10 workshops, a virtual reality suite and scale-model-sized submarine units to support the provision of bespoke training to around 12,300 employees including nearly 800 apprentices, undergraduates and graduates.
Three apprentices outside a skills academy building.

Academy for Skills and Knowledge, Samlesbury

The academy is the learning hub for continuing development of all employees in our Air sector. We have invested more than £20m in the academy to ensure our people have the skills ready to continue engineering and manufacturing military aircraft of the future, and more than 300,000 people have walked through its doors since opening in 2016. The academy covers 7,400 square metres and includes 43 learning spaces across laboratories, training rooms, practical workshops and a virtual reality cave. The academy’s education station offers an exciting learning area to inspire visiting school children to consider STEM careers.
An image of two workers wearing work clothing. One is stitting in a cockpit listening. One of them is talking and showing the other the cockpit.

Aircraft Maintenance Academy, North Lincolnshire

The training academy is where we develop the next generation of aircraft maintenance technicians in our Air sector to ensure our customers have the right people for the job of keeping aircraft ready to deliver air power. In 2025, the academy celebrated a decade of providing training at the facility, which covers 5,500 square metres including five workshops, 11 classrooms and an aircraft hangar.
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