British Science Week 2026: spark curiosity and turn questions into action

British Science Week 2026 runs from 6 to 15 March, and it is a brilliant excuse to put big questions centre stage in your classroom. This year’s theme, Curiosity: what’s your question?, is a strong prompt for getting learners to notice more, ask more and explore more, whether through science, computing, engineering, maths or careers linked to STEM.

For teachers, that does not have to mean planning a huge event or collapsing the timetable. British Science Week can be as simple as choosing one strong activity, building a lesson around a question that grabs your learners, or using the Week as a springboard into something bigger.

Start with one strong activity

A great place to start is the British Science Week 2026 secondary activity pack. It is packed with ready-to-use ideas that can help you bring the theme to life in a way that feels manageable, purposeful and engaging. For busy teachers, that can be the difference between wanting to do something for British Science Week and actually making it happen.

You do not need to do everything. One well-chosen activity, delivered well, can be enough to spark discussion, get students thinking differently and create a real sense of momentum.

Take it further with ESERO challenges

If British Science Week gives you the spark, you could use it to launch something that runs beyond the Week itself. The ESERO challenges are a great example of that, giving learners the chance to apply STEM in exciting, real-world space contexts.

Moon Camp invites young people to design a habitat on the Moon or elsewhere in the Solar System, bringing together science, engineering, computing and creativity in one challenge. Astro Pi gives learners the chance to write code that can run in space, making it a fantastic way to connect computing, data and problem-solving with a genuine sense of purpose.

Together, they offer a brilliant next step for students whose curiosity has been sparked and who are ready to turn questions into projects, designs and solutions.

Bring STEM careers into the conversation

British Science Week is also a great moment to connect classroom learning with the people, pathways and possibilities behind STEM. Inviting a STEM Ambassador into school can help bring learners’ questions to life and show where STEM study can lead. Sometimes the biggest shift comes when a young person meets someone using STEM in the real world and starts to see themselves in that story too.

That links neatly with The Big Question Hunt, a new campaign highlighted by STEM Learning through the STEM Ambassadors programme. It is a strong fit for this year’s theme, encouraging young people to ask ambitious questions, explore ideas and think about where curiosity might take them next.

You could also make use of the STEM Ambassadors webinars for schools. These online sessions are a simple way to bring role models, career insight and real-world STEM stories into the classroom without the logistics of organising a visit. They can work particularly well during British Science Week, whether you use them as part of an assembly, a lesson, a careers session or a wider enrichment offer.

Make British Science Week work for your school

One of the real strengths of British Science Week is its flexibility. You might keep it simple with one standout classroom activity, use it to launch a longer challenge, or bring in careers inspiration through a STEM Ambassador or webinar. However you approach it, the aim is the same: create space for learners to ask questions, explore ideas and see STEM as something active, creative and relevant.

So as British Science Week gets underway, this might be the moment to ask a few questions of your own. What are your students curious about right now? Which question could become the spark for a lesson, a project or a wider conversation? And how might British Science Week help you turn that curiosity into classroom action?