Sponsored by the military in the form of an undergraduate cadetship, he graduated from the University of Hull in 1985 with a BA (first class) in politics.

[7] After graduating he began his full-time military career as a second lieutenant (on probation) in July 1985, with the service number of 517900.

From 2006 he worked at Durham University and from 2011 held the positions of deputy vice-chancellor and honorary professor of politics.

[15] In November 2024, shortly after he stepped down, the University announced they'd cut 200 jobs due to a £29 million 'shortfall', blaming government decisions on funding an internationals students.

[17][18][19] Forster is an Executive Board Member for the Young Universities for the Future of Europe Alliance (2019-) and the Joint Information Systems Committee (JISC) (2020-).