Language and cultural awareness training to support operations, intelligence and defence engagement
The International Group is made up of four departments that contribute to the UK’s defence engagement internationally:
- Building Integrity UK
- Defence Attaché and Loan Service Centre
- Defence Centre for Languages and Culture
- International Section
The International Group is a key component in the MOD’s defence engagement process providing:
- workshops on good practices in defence procurement and policy for overseas partners
- defence attaché training
- senior leadership training for overseas partners
- foreign language instruction for UK’s armed forces
- English language instruction for our allies
- training for defence diplomats assigned to the UK’s embassies, consulates or high commissions overseas
Why International Group?
International Group is a main provider of UK defence engagement and language training. Each year, we welcome 2,100 students from overseas. The Defence Academy offers a countryside setting on the Oxfordshire and Wiltshire border with an excellent array of facilities and activities available to students and their families.
The Building Integrity UK team (BI-UK) provides training and education on behalf of defence to our international partners and allies, to enhance their understanding of corruption risks and how to reduce them within the defence and security sector.
BI-UK courses can be residential at Shrivenham, delivered in host countries or virtual. The courses are aimed at senior and middle ranking officers and politicians focusing on transparency, accountability and integrity measures to reduce corruption in the “5 Areas of Risk”:
- political and security sector interface
- public financial management
- procurement and logistics
- human resource management
- complex security environments
As a partner of NATO’s Building Integrity programme, BI UK delivers a range of activities including NATO-certified training courses and capacity building packages.
BI-UK also supports the delivery of International Section’s Strategic Leadership Programme and the Management of Defence in the Wider Security Context courses.
The Defence Attaché and Loan Service Centre (DALSC) trains defence attachés, support staff and loan service personnel deploying overseas.
Personnel nominated will undergo a comprehensive package that includes various training and preparation activities. Each training package is bespoke to the individual, their family and the country/ region to which they are deploying. Training varies from two months to two years depending on the length and complexity of the language which they are required to learn.
This highly specialised training requires a broad understanding of government functions across the UK including:
- DALSC Foundation Studies and Consolidation Studies courses are delivered at Shrivenham and in London
- prosperity training at Larkhill with the UK Defence and Security Exports organisation, part of the Department for International Trade
- driver training delivered at the Defence School of Transport based in Leconfield
- intelligence training at the Defence Intelligence Training Group based at Chicksands
- language training at the Defence Centre for Languages and Culture at Shrivenham
- immersion in international policy and security in MOD, London
The Defence Centre for Languages and Culture (DCLC) delivers language training to defence personnel in accordance with NATO standards.
There are two wings within DCLC: the Foreign Language Wing (FLW) and the English Language Wing (ELW).
Within FLW, Burnham lecturers (specialised civil servants) and external contractors deliver language training to British service personnel. The core language portfolio includes French, Arabic, Russian, Farsi, Chinese Mandarin and Spanish.
English within ELW is taught by Burnham lecturers and military staff. ELW runs British military English courses, train the trainer courses for international English language instructors and bespoke English language courses.
Awareness of local customs are incorporated into the language lessons and cultural trips are essential elements of all courses.
DCLC also provides preparation courses for international service personnel attending the Royal College of Defence Studies and the Advanced Command and Staff Course, part of the Joint Services Command and Staff College at the Defence Academy, and also for those attending the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst.
The International Section provides post-graduate level courses to our international allies on the strategic leadership and management of defence within the security sector.
Working in partnership with Cranfield University, the International Section focuses solely on strategic leadership and management issues from an academic perspective, delivering training to priority countries or regions, 12 to 16 times per year.
Each course garners up to 35 senior defence and security figures together, to generate discussions and improve understanding of the importance of leadership and management across the full spectrum of security: from internal to international, physical to human.
With a global reach that spans five continents, the International Section provides short vocational courses internationally, often operating in unstable and dangerous environments. Our training develops the capacity of strategic leaders, senior military officers and national defence and security sector officials to further enhance international cooperation and bilateral relationships.
Previous participants include ambassadors, parliamentarians, civil servants, civil society, as well as the military (up to chief of army level). Throughout, greater diversity and inclusivity is encouraged by promoting greater female delegate participation.
