Northumbrian Universities Air Squadron is a unit of the Royal Air Force which provides basic flying training, adventurous training and personal development skills to undergraduate students of the University of Durham, University of Newcastle upon Tyne, Northumbria University, Sunderland University and Teesside University. The idea behind all University Air Squadrons is to allow potential RAF officers to experience life in service and to allow them to decide whether they are suited to it. There is no obligation to join up, unless a bursary is successfully applied for. NUAS is parented by RAF Leeming where it flies Grob Tutor aircraft. NUAS Town Headquarters (THQ) are in Newcastle upon Tyne.

The Grob G 115 is a general aviation fixed-wing aircraft, primarily used for flight training. It is built in Germany by Grob Aircraft. The E variant with a 3-blade variable pitch propeller is in service with the Finnish Air Force, the Royal Navy and Army Air Corps for Flying Grading and in the Royal Air Force as part of No. 6 Flying Training School which provides flying to both University Air Squadrons and Air Experience Flights to Cadets of the Royal Air Force Air Cadets. As of 2020, the Tutor is still being used by the RAF for some Elementary Flying Training (3FTS) but is due to be phased out in favour of its replacement, the more advanced Prefect T1.