Members' Blogs

One million young people are NEET. Can employers actually help?

By Tim Bradbury posted 22-06-2026
As Milburn’s warning sinks in, Generation Logistics Week offers a live test of what sector-led school engagement can look like - starting Monday. The numbers from the ONS, published on the same day as Alan Milburn’s interim report three weeks ago, were stark: 1,012,000 young people aged 16–24 are now not in education, employment or training. It is the first time that figure has exceeded one million since 2013. Milburn warned that without urgent systemic change, the number could reach 1.25 million within five years - and that the UK now has the second-highest youth NEET rate in the developed world. His interim diagnosis placed the burden squarely on ...

Kickstart your term with ESA’s New September Challenges

By Shameel Khan posted 28-08-2025
September is the perfect time to introduce your pupils to new ways of exploring and learning! This year, the European Space Agency – ESA (through ESERO-UK) is once again inviting schools to take part in a series of hands-on challenges that bring space and science to life. From coding experiments on the International Space Station to designing sustainable Moon bases or tracking the effects of climate change, each project connects classroom learning with the latest scientific research. Mission X , Astro Pi , Moon Camp, and Climate Detectives are designed to build skills in problem-solving, teamwork, coding and ...

Important update for those with upcoming STEM Ambassador activities

By Shameel Khan posted 18-07-2025
Hello, We’re excited to let you know that our new STEM Ambassadors platform will be launching in the next few weeks ! As you may have an activity scheduled during this time, here’s what you need to know: Platform downtime The current platform will be offline from 4pm on Wednesday 23 rd July – 9am on Friday 1 st August while we get ready to make the switch. Thanks for your patience during this time. What this means for your activity Any activity you’ve arranged with a STEM Ambassador will still go ahead as planned, but you won’t ...

How assessment tools are driving STEM success in schools

By Tim Bradbury posted 04-07-2025
As schools continue to face growing pressures around academic performance, many are exploring innovative ways to boost student outcomes. One approach gaining traction is the use of digital formative assessment platforms, some showing strong impact on learning and progress. Beyond testing: Building knowledge and confidence Formative assessment has long been recognised as a key ingredient of effective teaching. It’s not just about checking what students know – it reinforces knowledge, identifies gaps, and gives every student the chance to feel successful. The best platforms enable teachers to embed retrieval practice seamlessly into day-to-day ...

Hertfordshire School’s Robotics Team Wins Top Global Award — A Beacon for UK STEM Education

By Tim Bradbury posted 10-06-2025
Elstree students demonstrate the power of hands-on learning as UK teams excel at the 2025 VEX Robotics World Championship. Elstree, Hertfordshire — 4 th June 2025 — A robotics team from Haberdashers’ Boys’ School has been awarded the coveted Excellence Award at the VEX Robotics World Championship 2025 in Dallas, Texas. This is the highest honour in the World’s Largest Robotics Competition and a landmark moment for UK-based STEM education. The Excellence Award is presented to the team that best exemplifies engineering design excellence, coding proficiency, innovation and collaboration. The Haberdashers’ team competed against students from more than 40 countries, ...

Are you 'into film'?

By Linda Crouch posted 20-03-2025
I've just been exploring an amazing FREE resource for state schools https://www.intofilm.org/ I came across it through a link to climate change teaching resources but it is so much more. You could set up an extracurricular film club, or use it complement your curriculum in PSHE, Geography and Science. I do recommend you put aside 15-20mins to register and explore - I'm sure you'll find something useful!

Three-point-one-four-one-five-nine… How many digits can you recall?

By Tim Bradbury posted 14-03-2025
March 14th (or 3/14 in some countries) is known as Pi Day around the world. To help you celebrate, you can find a whole host of brilliant Pi Day teaching resources here: Pi Day - 14th March Pi - represented by Greek letter “π” - is the symbol used to represent a constant: the ratio of the circumference of a circle to its diameter — which is 3.14 to 3 significant figures but goes on forever! At the time of writing Pi has been calculated to over 50 trillion digits beyond its decimal point. One simple way you can celebrate the day is to collect a whole host of circular objects (cup, glass, glue stick etc), a long piece of string and a ruler. Use the ...

Apps for Good Career Series

By Tim Bradbury posted 03-03-2025
The Bite-sized Career Series for Students and Leaders Apps for Good has launched a brand new Career Series for 2025! These ~30-minute conversations connect students and school leaders with industry professionals from leading companies like Spotify and Lego, providing real-world insights into careers in tech. All sessions are pre-recorded and ready to explore on their website, making them ideal for National Careers Week (3–8 March 2025) or as part of careers education at any time. Sign up here. For Students – Four engaging sessions featuring industry professionals discussing creativity in tech, non-traditional career paths, and essential ...

World Engineering Day - Tues March 4th - Resource Review

By Linda Crouch posted 24-02-2025
The STEM Learning resource collection has many engineering resources that you may find useful to celebrate World Engineering Day – or simply to add to your SoW. Have a look here: https://www.stem.org.uk/resources/collection/508594/world-engineering-day-4th-march The resources include This is Engineering from the Royal Academy of Engineering, which has many short videos featuring the work of engineers and the impact they have on solving problems. As ever, these are easy to incorporate into lessons without major re-planning, so a low effort, quick win to celebrate World Engineering Day with your students. https://www.stem.org.uk/resources/collection/448958/engineering ...

Maria in the Stars: Empowering Young Explorers with STEM, Sign Language, and Imagination

By Tim Bradbury posted 16-01-2025
A few years ago, a news story caught the headlines. A group of deaf astronomers had teamed up with an astrophysicist working at the University of Leeds for a unique project - inventing new sign language for terms belonging to outer space. NASA’s Curiosity rover had taken a selfie on Mars, spacecraft were landing on the far side of the Moon and the Hubble telescope was taking photos of galaxies hundreds of millions of lightyears away - but there was only just a sign for ‘black hole’. This gap between humanities’ interstellar knowledge and its ability to share that equally on earth was striking. The Leeds project was created in response to concerns that this lack ...

Weekly news round up: 10/12/24

By Tim Bradbury posted 10-12-2024
Welcome to this week’s summary of key STEM and education stories relevant to teachers in the UK. We’ve compiled updates from leading education news sources, ensuring no duplicate coverage. Here’s what made headlines over the past week. Policy and Funding Updates SEND Funding Crisis Looms A critical report from Schools Week reveals that the UK’s special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) budget could reach a £8 billion deficit by 2027 without immediate reforms. Local councils warn of “financial blackmail” as exclusion levies are imposed on schools. Read more Early Years Pupil Premium Increase The TES Magazine reported that ...

Weekly news round up: 01/10/24

By Tim Bradbury posted 01-10-2024
Education News Highlights for UK STEM Teachers (25th September - 1st October 2024) Over the past week, there have been several notable developments in the education sector that may be of interest to teachers, particularly those involved in STEM education. Below is a comprehensive summary of key stories and insights gathered from various sources. 1. Teacher Pay Agreement Reached (Sky News, Schools Week) The major news story this week revolves around the acceptance of a 5.5% pay increase for teachers in England, a decision welcomed by unions and government officials alike. This pay adjustment is seen as a step towards addressing long-standing issues ...

CyberEPQ Engagement Survey

By Steve Castle posted 27-03-2024
The Cyber Skills Policy team at the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology in partnership with The Chartered Institute of Information Security (CIISec) are carrying out a survey to help inform government policy thinking and decision-making. This survey is for teachers and/or leadership staff working in schools/colleges, who teach young people aged 16-18. It asks questions about the Cyber Extended Project Qualification (EPQ) in order to provide a better insight into engagement with the Cyber Extended Project Qualification (EPQ).     This survey will help DSIT understand why teachers choose to deliver or not deliver this qualification and ...

STEM outreach from the Intellectual Property Office

By Ajay Sharman posted 26-03-2024
We wanted to tell you about some of the great science outreach work we are doing at the Intellectual Property Office (IPO) and share details for our exciting new video going live this week. The IPO not only serves as the official UK government body overseeing intellectual property rights, encompassing patents, designs, trademarks, and copyright, but also actively engages with schools and universities to showcase this work. Aligned with the GSE Strategy, IPO initiated a STEM outreach program to help with this aim. This initiative mobilised a passionate team of volunteers, primarily consisting of patent examiners who hold degrees focused on STEM disciplines. ...

Enter the Royal Society of Chemistry's Emerging Technologies Competition

By Ajay Sharman posted 12-03-2024
There are five weeks left to submit your application to the Royal Society of Chemistry's Emerging Technologies Competition. If you are searching for support, funding and validation to help turn your brilliant idea into a world-changing reality, get your application in before 15 April. We have assembled a panel of partners from established technology giants, including Unilever, bp and AstraZeneca. With their help, and the prestige that comes from simply being named a finalist in the Emerging Technologies Competition, your innovative technology can reach whole new levels of impact. Chosen entrants will be invited to the final on 4 July to ...

Registration for the WorldSkills UK National Competitions is open!

By Ajay Sharman posted 26-02-2024
A message from WorldSkills... Are you ready to showcase your skills on a national platform? We're excited to announce the launch of our national competitions, with registrations opening TODAY, 26 February. Whether you're a student or an apprentice, this is your chance to put your skills to the test and compete among the best in your field. Our competitions are designed based on international standards and focus on sectors crucial to economic growth. By participating, you'll not only hone your skills but also emerge from your training highly skilled, confident, and ready for the workforce. Here's an overview ...

CyberCenturion X Open for Registration!

By Helena Tillyard posted 25-09-2023
CyberCenturion X, the national cyber initiative for 12-18 year olds is back and open for registration! CyberCenturion is a competition designed to encourage students to develop their cyber security skills. Consisting of 2 virtual rounds, hundreds of teams from across the UK and overseas territories compete for a chance to attend the in person final, a head to head battle of problem solving capabilities. The competition is completely free, and applications close on 9th October 2023. Find out more about the competition, see how last year's final unfolded and register for CyberCenturion X by visiting the CyberCenturion webpage here.

Help students explore their STEM future with online mentoring

By Ruth Le Breton posted 25-07-2023
Applications are now open for students who'd like to be mentored by a trained and experienced STEM professional though our online mentoring programme in partnership with Brightside. The programme is open to all 13-19 year olds and will take place over 10 weeks between 9th October and 18th December. The deadline for student applications is 2nd October. If you'd like more information about the programme, visit www.stem.org.uk/secondary/careers/mentoring We'll also be holding a Teacher Information Session via Teams on Thursday 21st September which you can sign up for here

Igniting Creativity and Innovation: Exploring the UK Space Design Competition

By Steve Castle posted 28-06-2023
Space exploration has always captivated our imagination, pushing the boundaries of what is possible and inspiring generations to reach for the stars. In the United Kingdom, a remarkable event takes place every year that fuels the dreams and ingenuity of young minds – the UK Space Design Competition (UKSDC). In this blog, we delve into the fascinating world of the UKSDC, exploring its purpose, impact, and the incredible opportunities it provides for aspiring space enthusiasts. 1. Unveiling the UK Space Design Competition : The UK Space Design Competition is a prestigious national event that challenges teams of students to tackle complex space-related scenarios. ...

New review published on interventions to increase girls’ aspirations for engineering and tech careers

By Steve Castle posted 26-06-2023
As the sector celebrates International Women in Engineering Day (23 June), EngineeringUK has released a new report which brings together the available evidence on interventions that aim to increase girls’ aspirations for engineering and technology careers. Despite some improvements, women are still significantly underrepresented in engineering and technology - making up just 16.5% of the engineering workforce, compared with 47.7% of the overall workforce. Providing high-quality impactful STEM outreach activities for girls is a vital part of addressing this. A summary of existing evidence, the report aims to inform programme ...