2ND OCT 2025
Gloucestershire College at the Forefront of Making the UK a Defence Industrial Leader
We are bidding to be a defence-focused technical excellence college; targeting being a cyber warfare specialist institution. This will equip students with the technical skills and knowledge that are vital to the UK’s future national security.
We currently deliver education in cyber security and are the only college in England that offers a qualification recognised by the National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) – a part of GCHQ. Our Cheltenham campus is home to the £3 million state-of-the-art cyber training centre known as ADA: The Advanced Digital Academy, named after Ada Lovelace, the first computer programmer. These facilities supply industry-critical skills for the cyber-tech industry and the future of our economy.
The college has also forged key partnerships with Cynam, Cheltenham’s cyber security and technology hub, and Plexal, who support Gloucestershire’s cyber and AI startups. These partnerships focus on championing cyber security education across the county and creating a unified approach to future skills development across education and industry.
This makes us well placed to be one of the new Technical Excellence Colleges to be established as part of the Government’s new Defence Industrial Strategy. This strategy marks an important milestone in the UK’s commitment to strengthening defence skills and we want to have a leading role in preparing the workforce of the future.
Matthew Burgess, Principal and Chief Executive, said “The Government’s Defence Industrial Strategy presents an exciting opportunity, and we believe Gloucestershire is ideally placed to host one of the new Technical Excellence Colleges. Gloucestershire College’s Cheltenham campus is in close proximity to GCHQ and the college has heavy involvement with Gloucestershire’s bid to become the cyber tech capital of the UK through the Golden Valley project. Cheltenham also boats a high concentration of cyber defence Employers in our area, such as Raytheon UK, GE Aviation Systems, BAE Systems and Rolls Royce. This means the college is perfectly placed to be the driving force behind the creation of the future cyber security skills needed in the county.”
As threats evolve and technology advances, the demand for skilled defence professionals continues to grow. Gloucestershire College is rising to this challenge by working with industry, investing in innovation, and leading the way in technical education.
