The aim of DTUS is ‘to educate and develop selected individuals to prepare them for further training and careers as engineer or technical officers in the Armed Forces or as graduate entrants to the MOD Civil Service’.
As a result, DTUS was created whereby sponsored students study at eleven partner universities (Aston, Birmingham, Cambridge, Imperial College, Loughborough, Newcastle, Northumbria, Oxford, Portsmouth, Southampton and Strathclyde).
Whilst at their partner university, all students belong to a support unit who are responsible for their leadership development, mentorship and administration.
The majority of entrants on the DTUS were graduates of the Defence Sixth Form College (Welbeck) near Woodhouse, Leicestershire until its closure in 2021.
However, students studying or scheduled to study an approved degree at either of the partner universities may also apply to join the scheme as a Direct Entrant (DE) The scheme is to shut down over a five-year transition period following the announced closure of Welbeck Defence Sixth Form College (DSFC), closed in 2021.