We are delighted that our three pilot projects funded through the DfE ERAP Fund are now underway. Two of the projects are delivered by the Royal Academy of Engineering while the third will be delivered by Project Enthuse.

The Northern Ireland Engineering Education Programme is an exciting pilot initiative launched by the Academy in spring 2022. The one-year pilot is planned to run until July 2023.

The Academy will work closely with us to establish an ambitious network of 52 schools and colleges, extending from primary to sixth form and FE provision. Over time, the aim is to create a collaborative culture of engineering across the local community, ensuring that young people can access a continuum of STEM interventions that raise aspirations and enrich the curriculum throughout the whole of their education. By linking these school and college networks to a range of locally-based STEM employers, universities and other stakeholders, we will raise students’ skills levels and aspirations, and provide links to real-world engineering, thus enhancing their knowledge of engineering careers and the pathways available to them.

The programme will provide:

  • up to £3,000 of in-house grants to our network of schools and colleges to purchase resources and provide experiences for students that will enhance the ‘E’ in STEM, and to celebrate national events such as Tomorrow’s Engineers Week and NI Science Festival
  • STEM Challenge Days for students to excite, inspire, and stimulate interest
  • access to a peer-to-peer support network for our STEM teachers, providing the opportunity to share resources and best practice
  • teacher CPD and Academy educational resources to introduce students to real-world engineering
  • 30 Further Education bursaries, each worth £2,000, to incentivise post-16 STEM study among women from low-income households
  • 8 Higher Education bursaries, each worth £15,000, to support women students who will study engineering or related subjects at a UK university
  • industry collaboration to share best practice and engender a supportive, sustainable network

In addition, the Academy is offering generous bursaries worth up to £15k for women students from low income households, and those who are under-represented in the engineering sector, to support their studies. Applications are now open for the Northern Ireland Engineering Education Programme higher education bursaries for students enrolling at university in September/October 2022 Apply by July 25th!

We are also looking forward to working with Lyn Mutch, a social media consultant, to help us set up our new TikTok channel. Lyn is passionate about helping brands show up, get noticed and most importantly create scroll-stopping content online. We’ve brought her on board to help us understand what appeals to 14-18 year olds and how we can use Tiktok to engage with this hard-to-reach group and get them thinking about careers in science and technology. Lyn says:

I’m extremely excited to get started with this project as I believe in shining a light on the opportunities present to young people, plus I’m hoping to learn some new things on the way. Be sure to like the Pulsar TikTok account to keep up to date with this exciting journey!

We are also working with Project Enthuse to establish five ENTHUSE Partnership across Northern Ireland. Each partnership will be a two-year collaboration between STEM Learning, DfE and 6-10 schools or colleges. The Partnerships target the pupils in the greatest need of support, working with their teachers and wider influencers to increase attainment and raise aspirations for STEM careers.