The Ministry of Defence’s Defence Academy appoints Sterling Training for development programme

The Defence Academy of the UK has appointed Sterling Training to deliver specialist trainer training programmes, supporting the continued development of instructional capability within defence training.

The Defence Academy of the UK, the Ministry of Defence’s professional military education and training institution for the UK Armed Forces, is working with Sterling Training to enhance trainer delivery across its training programmes, specifically to enhance the experience of its international delegates. 

This appointment reflects a defence and commercial shift towards boosting internal training capability due to higher demand for adaptable instruction, as a result of the changing needs of a more diverse and multicultural workforce.

Founded by Managing Director Emma Lacey and headquartered in Southampton, Sterling Training delivers rapidly deployable training solutions through in-person and online programmes, nationally and internationally, spanning defence and business training environments.

“To now be appointed by the Defence Academy of the UK is a real validation of everything we've built, and reflects our commitment to excellence, innovation and long-term impact in defence education and training,” said Emma.

The organisation was originally established to deliver rapidly deployable training solutions for military organisations.

"I started Sterling Training in 2015 to meet the demand for high-quality, rapidly deployable training solutions for international military organisations. Beginning in Oman, we quickly earned a reputation for delivering outstanding bespoke training, tailored to diverse operational requirements. 

“TILT (Train the International Learner and Trainee) was born from that experience - designed to ensure our own trainers could deliver in any cultural context - but what happened next surprised even us. It was identified as addressing a critical gap within the British Army's own framework, adopted as a solution and has since been delivered to more than 2,000 serving personnel,” added Emma.

The TILT programme was developed in 2016 to support effective, consistent and adaptable training delivery across varied learning environments and a wide range of learner profiles. It is embedded within Sterling Training’s trainer development approach and used across defence-related training contexts.

The appointment comes as defence and commercial organisations increasingly focus on strengthening internal training capability in response to changing learning environments, including the growth of hybrid and digital delivery models.

Within defence training environments, there is a continued shift towards developing internal instructional capability as organisations modernise training systems and adapt to evolving workforce requirements.

“Synthetic training environments come with inherent dangers”, says Emma, “if we simply bolt technology onto poor trainer practice, we simply have more expensive, less effective training.”

In addition to its international defence work, Sterling Training has held a continuous contract with the British Army since 2016, including the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst, with 6–10 TILT courses delivered annually. Further details on trainer training courses for UK Forces personnel available online.