Question

I would like to understand the relationship between the Ministry of Defence (MOD) and King’s College London (KCL).

Answer

• The MOD does not have a direct contractual relationship with KCL in relation to the Defence Academy of the United Kingdom (DAUK) at Shrivenham.
• KCL does provide academic services to the DAUK through the Joint Services Command Staff College (JSCSC) Private Finance Initiative (PFI) contract with Defence Management (Watchfield) Ltd (DM(W)L).
• DM(W)L sub-contract all services provided under this contract to Serco.
• Serco in turn sub-contract KCL for the provision of military education to the Defence Academy’s JSCSC.
• The scope of academic activities provided by KCL under this contract can be found in Table 1 below.
• The DAUK also have a direct contract with KCL for the provision of academic support at the Royal College of Defence Studies (RCDS) in London.
• RCDS operates independently from the JSCSC PFI.

Table 1: The Scope of the Academic Activities (Include but not Limited To):

Description
Contributing to course development and scheduling, in accordance with JSP 822 and subject to a validated requirement, overseen by the JSCSC’s Customer Executive Board.
Preparation and amendment of designated study material, including students’ notes.
Lecturing whole courses, or portions thereof, on designated subjects within the individual’s specialist ambit.
Conducting group discussions and seminars.
Marking and assessing students’ written and verbal work where appropriate.
Advising individual students in producing major papers.
Providing advice and support to other of the Authority’s organisations.
Research in direct support of designated subject areas and the JSCSC’s wider research objectives and to sustain its required international status.
In consultation with the Authority’s staff, evaluating courses to ensure that course and student objectives are continually met.
Provide expertise in broadly the following areas: 1. Policy, strategy and military doctrine. 2. Historical perspectives and lessons drawn from past military operations. 3. Principles of individual and group behaviour in organisations, military and other. 4. UK political, social and economic structures. 5. Formulation of UK foreign and defence policy. 6. International relations. 7. Alliances and supranational organisations 8. Principles of strategic and financial management. 9. Maritime strategy, airpower theory and practice and the strategy of land warfare. 10. Defence economics.