MORE than 80 schools from across the county took part in the 2025 Worcestershire Primary STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths) finals.
Hosted at Yamazaki Mazak UK in Worcester and at Kidderminster College, the competition engages primary school students in a STEM challenge and gets them to embrace and develop their STEM skills to create an innovative solution to the set challenge.
Created by Worcestershire Local Enterprise Partnership, the contest aims to get young people to develop and enjoy STEM based skills to help inspire and encourage them to pursue STEM careers in the future.
Across the whole competition in 2025 over 3,500 students took part from 83 schools.
The actual STEM challenge students have to complete is also set by Worcestershire companies and this year it was set by Titan Steel Wheels, which manufactures large scale wheels for construction and heavy machinery vehicles.
The company sets the challenge for students to design and build a hauler or loader system for moving materials from one location to another. As well as taking part in the competition, students were also treated to tours of the Yamazaki Mazak building and Kidderminster College centre, to showcase to them how the skills they had been using could be expanded upon in the future.
Westacre Middle School and Pendock Primary School won the Worcester final, with Cropthrone with Charlton CofE First School and Abberley Parochial VC Primary School coming as runners up.
Aston Fields Middle School won the Kidderminster final with Stoke Prior First School the runners up.
Judy Gibbs, Director of Skills for the Worcestershire Local Enterprise Partnership, and head of service for Skills and Employability at Worcestershire County Council, said: “It was fantastic to deliver the Worcestershire Primary STEM challenge for another year.
“To see the growing interest from schools and our business community is brilliant.
“By delivering this competition, we are helping to inspire the next generation to enjoy STEM skills and pursue STEM-based careers which, as a result, will help our local economy to grow.
“I’d like to say a massive thank you to STEMworks, Yamazaki Mazak and Kidderminster College, and all of our judges for making this competition and finals possible.”
Cat Lewis, Principal of Kidderminster College, said: “It was a real pleasure to welcome the Worcestershire Primary STEM Challenge final to Kidderminster College this year.
“Seeing so many young people engaged in hands-on problem solving and creative thinking was incredibly uplifting.
“Events like this show just how powerful STEM education can be in sparking curiosity and confidence.
“We hope by opening our doors and showcasing what technical education looks like, we’ve planted a few seeds for the future.
“Whether it’s construction, engineering, digital technologies, or science, there’s a world of opportunity waiting, and we’d love to see these bright young minds back here in a few years, exploring those paths with us.”
Visit stemworks.co.uk for more information.
