JSP 822 and DSAT Training: A Guide for Defence Suppliers

DSAT (the Defence Systems Approach to Training) is the process that JSP 822 says must be used by anyone involved in analysing, designing, delivering, assuring, managing or governing training across Defence. JSP 822 applies to the Whole Force, which includes contractors. If you supply e-learning to the MOD or to a defence prime, expect to work from DSAT outputs such as a Role Performance Statement and Training Objectives, and to show how every screen, question and learner record traces back to them.

This guide is for training managers at defence contractors and programme leads at primes. Everything about JSP 822 here comes from the volumes published on gov.uk (version 7.0, February 2024, plus the Volume 10 glossary).

What is DSAT training?

JSP 822 is the MOD’s policy and guidance on defence training and education, in ten volumes. The ones a supplier needs are Volume 1 (Introduction), Volume 2 (Defence Individual Training), Volume 5 (Assurance), Volume 6 (Technology Enhanced Learning) and Volume 10 (Glossary).

DSAT sits at its centre. It has four Elements: analysis, design, delivery and assurance. Around them sit management and governance activities, and JSP 822 calls the governance, management and assurance of training the Management of Training System (MTS). The goal is training that meets the DSAT Quality Management Standard (DSAT QMS) and is safe, risk-focused, accountable, appropriate to the training need and cost-effective.

Each Element is mandatory, but not every activity inside it. Volume 1 says DSAT should be “applied intelligently rather than followed dogmatically”, and those responsible must comply or explain why not and how they have mitigated the risk.

Does JSP 822 apply to contractors and suppliers?

Yes. The Whole Force covers Regular and Reserve personnel, MOD civil servants and civilians, including contractors. Informal and on-the-job training is out of scope.

Volume 1 notes that many training activities are carried out by Defence contractors. Where parts of the DSAT process are outsourced, the exact requirement should be captured in the contract, so that DSAT work done by suitably qualified and experienced personnel (SQEP) complies with JSP 822. If your customer needs you to see supporting documents that are not on gov.uk, that should also be written into the contract.

The four DSAT elements and what each one produces

Element	The question it answers	Main outputs for new individual training
1. Analysis	Is new or amended training needed, and what kind?	Role Performance Statement, Training Gap Analysis, Training Options Analysis, Training Needs Report
2. Design	What should the training look like, who delivers it and with what?	Training Objectives, Formal Training Statement, Enabling Objectives, Key Learning Points, Assessment Strategy, Learning Specification
3. Delivery	The training is delivered	Lesson plans and assessments, Remedial Training Strategy, scheduling and resourcing
4. Assurance	Is it delivered correctly and does it still meet the need?	Evaluation Strategy, Internal Validation, External Validation, audit

The analysis, design and delivery activities are mandatory for new training. Assurance, management and governance are mandatory for all training, so existing courses stay inside the MTS for as long as they run.

Three roles run through every Element. The Training Requirements Authority (TRA) represents the end user and owns the Role Performance Statement. The Training Delivery Authority (TDA) is responsible for delivery and must be separate from the TRA. The Training Provider delivers the training. A Customer Executive Board (CEB) governs each Training System, and without an endorsed Training Authorisation Document (TrAD), training delivery cannot begin.

What is a DSAT training needs analysis?

The training needs analysis (TNA) is Element 1: a structured analysis of training need arising from new equipment, doctrinal or organisational change, or new policy and legislation. It can be a simple interview or several months of work, it should leave an audit trail for every decision, and it may conclude that training is the wrong answer.

The TNA produces the Role Performance Statement (the tasks, the conditions they are done under and the standard required), measures the gap against existing training and compares options, including methods and media. This is where e-learning first comes into the picture. The result is a Training Needs Report carrying draft Training Objectives, and design cannot start until a TNA Steering Group has endorsed it. If you join at design stage, ask for the Training Needs Report first.

The DSAT documents an e-learning supplier works from

For an e-learning supplier, design matters most. The TRA leads Design Stage 1 and the TDA leads Stages 2 and 3, and either can delegate tasks while keeping responsibility. These are the outputs you are most likely to be handed or asked to write:

• Training Objectives (TOs) state what the trainee must achieve, as performance, conditions and standards. They form the basis of each lesson’s design.
• The Formal Training Statement (FTS) sets out all the training needed for the role. It contains a Training Performance Statement (TOs delivered under the TDA), a Workplace Training Statement (TOs achieved once in the role) and a Residual Training Gap Statement (what is left untrained, and why).
• Enabling Objectives (EOs) describe the knowledge, skills and attitudes needed to achieve all or part of a TO.
• Key Learning Points (KLPs) break each EO into the points to be taught.
• The Assessment Strategy (AStrat) covers summative assessment of each TO, pass and fail rules, assessment records and malpractice, including malpractice involving generative AI. The Assessment Specification (ASpec) gives the detail of each test.
• The Learning Specification (LSpec) pulls it together for each EO, controlling what is taught and how.

Use these terms in your proposal. A customer who works in DSAT every day will notice.

What DSAT means for e-learning

The JSP 822 glossary counts remote, blended, online and virtual learning as e-learning. Volume 6 says formal training delivered online should go through the same quality assurance as any other formal training. That gives an e-learning build four jobs.

Map every screen to an objective

Every screen and interaction should support a KLP, which supports an EO, which supports a TO. A screen that traces to nothing is padding. The map also helps the TRA’s Training Design Review. Our guide to writing effective learning objectives explains how to write objectives you can measure.

Write assessment that tests the objective

Volume 5 expects assessments that are valid, reliable and consistent, with verifiable results showing the trained output was achieved. If a TO asks someone to carry out a procedure under set conditions, a recall quiz will not prove they can. Branching scenarios and simulated decision points, built as custom e-learning, get much closer. Some objectives belong in the workplace, which is what the Workplace Training Statement is for.

Keep records that support validation

Internal Validation (InVal) is run by the Training Provider and measures trainees’ reaction to the training and the learning transfer it achieved. External Validation (ExVal) is the TRA’s job, after trainees have applied what they learned, to judge whether the training is still relevant to the role. Volume 5 also expects completion by individuals to be recorded, and learner performance to be recorded, tracked and reported.

So the module and its platform need to capture completion, scores, pass or fail and question-level results, plus a feedback survey for InVal. Ask early where the records must land. Volume 6 notes that sharing content with NATO allies may need a SCORM version, and its open standards list includes xAPI.

Pilot it and control changes

The Volume 5 assurance framework says new courses must be piloted and reported to the CEB before acceptance, and that change management controls should cover revisions and updates. Version every package, log what changed and plan for updates when equipment, doctrine or policy changes.

What do the MOD and defence primes look for in a training supplier?

Every contract differs, but JSP 822 and government policy point to these checks:

• DSAT competence. Volume 5 expects the competence of everyone working on the analysis, design and delivery of training to be recorded. Expect to be asked who on your team is trained in DSAT.
• Clear responsibilities and quality management. The Volume 5 assurance framework looks for a contract setting out each organisation’s role, the contractor’s quality management system and change control.
• Qualified trainers. If your staff deliver training as Defence Trainers, the minimum external qualification is the Level 3 Award in Education and Training.
• Cyber Essentials. Procurement Policy Note 09/23 applies to central government departments, including the MOD. Where a supplier handles government employees’ personal information, or supplies ICT systems that store or process OFFICIAL data, it must show it meets set technical requirements. Cyber Essentials or Cyber Essentials Plus is the quickest way, renewed every year of the contract, and a supplier without it must show equivalent controls. If your platform will hold learner records, expect the question.
• The MOD Cyber Security Model. Under the Cyber Security Model, each contract gets a cyber risk profile, suppliers must meet the Def Stan 05-138 controls for it, and primes must flow the requirements down to subcontractors.

How Capytech designs defence e-learning

Capytech UK is led by Jason Satterly, who served 24 years in the Royal Air Force as an Aircrew Fighter Controller with 54 Squadron and is a qualified instructor trained in DSAT. We design every defence module the DSAT way, starting from the objectives.

• If you hold a Training Needs Report, Training Objectives or a Formal Training Statement, we build directly from them. If not, we work with your subject matter experts to draft objectives for your TRA or customer to approve.
• We keep a map of which screens and questions support which objective, so your reviewers and auditors can follow the trail.
• Modules are published as SCORM 1.2, SCORM 2004 or xAPI. If you need a platform, the Capytech LMS records completion, assessment and question-level results, and is hosted in the UK on AWS (London) with daily UK backups. Where a course mixes classroom, simulator and online training, our LMS vs TMS guide explains what a training management system adds.
• Capytech UK Ltd is Cyber Essentials certified.

Our defence and aerospace clients include BAE Systems and EDGE. For Eagle Eye Innovations, a CAA Recognised Assessment Entity, we deliver RPC-L1, A2 CofC and UK SORA training on a branded LMS with AI-invigilated remote exams, updated as CAA rules change.

If you have Training Objectives that need turning into e-learning, see our defence and aerospace e-learning page.

Frequently asked questions