24th May 2021
IET FIRST® LEGO® League partners with Coding Success to inspire the engineers of the future
- IET FIRST® LEGO® League in the UK and Ireland is run by The Institution of Engineering and Technology (IET)
- The Coding Success programme is funded by BAE Systems, the Royal Navy and the RAF
- The IET is providing up to £96,000 worth of LEGO® Education SPIKE™ Prime expansion sets, to support 600 non-selective state schools to boost robotics and coding skills
IET FIRST® LEGO® League is joining forces with Coding Success, the free STEM educational programme fully funded by BAE Systems, the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force, to help students take their science, technology, engineering and maths (STEM) skills to the next level in an interactive, global competition.
Run by The Institution of Engineering and Technology (IET), the FIRST® LEGO® League Challenge programme encourages 9-16 year olds to get creative and act like real-life engineers and technologists, as they work together to build LEGO® Education robots and solve real-world problems.
Coding Success, developed in partnership with The Smallpeice Trust (an educational charity) and Raising Robots (an authorised LEGO® Education partner), is working to boost coding and robotics skills amongst students. The initiative provides free teacher training sessions, engaging lesson plans and LEGO® Education SPIKE™ Prime kits to help ignite a passion for STEM in non-selective state schools.
The IET is offering up to two free LEGO® Education SPIKE™ Prime Expansion Sets, worth up to £160, to each of the 600 schools taking part in Coding Success, so that students can challenge their thinking in the competition. The hands-on activities enable students to develop key future-facing skills and see how STEM is helping to solve today’s big social and economic challenges.
A recent study of 2,000 young people by BAE Systems found that healthcare, engineering, science and technology and digital are among the top industries which young people believe hold the best long-term career opportunities, in light of the Covid-19 pandemic. However, research by Engineering UK demonstrates that knowledge of future STEM career opportunities continues to be limited among young people. Coding Success and IET FIRST® LEGO® League aim to close the gap and equip young people with the knowledge to realise their potential and become digital and technology pioneers.
The Smallpeice Trust and the IET are working together on delivery of this joint initiative as signatories to the Tomorrow’s Engineers Code, which pledges to increase diversity and the number of young people entering engineering. With an annual shortfall of 124,000 engineers in the UK industry, initiatives like these are essential to the future of engineering.
Lucy Owen, IET FIRST® LEGO® League Education Manager, said: “FIRST® LEGO® League allows young people to experience engineering in action. As well as bringing excitement to STEM subjects, the students get hands-on experience with robotics, and designing innovative solutions to real world problems. There is a great need for young people with STEM skills to fill the next generation of engineering roles and we are excited to launch this new partnership with Coding Success which will see more bright young engineering minds taking part in IET FIRST® LEGO® League.”
Dr Hilary Leevers, Chief Executive of EngineeringUK said: “It’s great to see collaborations like these – with Coding Success working in partnership with the IET FIRST® LEGO® League Challenge, to create a more sustained STEM journey for young people with the aim of increasing the impact of individual inspirational STEM programmes.”
Providing free access to STEM resources in schools, the partnership gives all students the opportunity and skills to thrive in future careers.
Registration for the IET FIRST® LEGO® League Challenge competition opens on 1 June 2021 and extends into the new academic year. Coding Success schools only need to pay the Registration Fee (£150 + VAT for the first team) to enter IET FIRST® LEGO® League Challenge to then receive the free LEGO® Education SPIKE™ Prime Expansion set. More information will be made available at codingsuccess.co.uk in June.