Burnley pupils win big in annual engineering competition
An awards and exhibition event was held on 18th June at Victoria Mill, University of Central Lancashire, Burnley, which showcased and celebrated local school pupils across Burnley for their engineering ideas submitted to the Primary Engineer annual UK STEM competition.
These pupils had taken part in a national competition, run by educational not-for-profit Primary Engineer, where they answered the question “If you were an engineer, what would you do?”. Pupils interview an engineer, learn how to think like an Engineer and are tasked with identifying a problem in the world around them and coming up with a creative solution to that problem.
Entries were then graded by local industry professionals before going to a regional judging panel were they picked two winners and two highly commended for each year group.
The highly commended and winning pupils were awarded trophies and framed certificates of their ideas, with 25 pupils from schools in the Town being celebrated.
Congratulations to all the pupils, including Year 2 pupil Alayna from Worsthorne Primary School, whose idea “Super Shoe Cleaner stood out for the judges and won the special ‘Judges Award’. Her idea is a multi functional shoe cleaner which washes, dries and polishes with ease.
Every year University and Industry Partners of Primary Engineer select an idea to turn into a working Prototype from the previous year’s winning designs. The “Attaching Suitcase” prototype was unveiled at the ceremony, brought to life by The Civil Avaition Authority, based on the idea of Year 4 student, Anna, from St Leonard’s CE Primary School.
Primary Engineer were joined by Councillor Lubna Khan from Burnley Borough Council and Joshua Lockheed from AMS Neve for the presentation to pupils on the night.
Burnley is home to many trailblazing initiatives, and one that continues to shape future generations is educational not-for-profit, Primary Engineer, founded by Susan Scurlock MBE.
Since 2005, they have been sparking a passion for STEAM-focused curriculum-mapped activities and careers in UK classrooms through their fully-funded programmes, competitions, and qualifications. Primary Engineer offer these educational activities free thanks to the support of their partners, who, like them, share their passion for making sure engineering opportunities are accessible for all children, regardless of background and ability.
Though proudly rooted in Burnley, Primary Engineer’s reach spans the entire UK. In the 2023 to 2024 academic year alone, this not-for-profit organisation engaged 117,047 pupils, 6,630 teachers, and 1,608 engineers across the UK, delivering more than 842,000 hours of hands-on engineering experiences.
“If you were an Engineer, what would you do” is an annual, national competition free to enter for all 3-19 school pupils. Entries are open now for 2025-2026 and schools can register now at www.leadersaward.com
Primary Engineer Public Exhibitions and Award Ceremonies continue all over the UK through to July, with thousands of pupils engineering ideas being displayed for all to see. Find out more: https://leadersaward.com/exhibitions-and-events/
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Editors Notes:
This was distributed by Primary Engineer, if you have any follow up questions please get in touch with their Media Relations and Communications Manager.
Email: steph.shencoe@primaryengineer.com
Any photographs accompanying this Press Release are copyright to Primary Engineer unless otherwise stated.
About Primary Engineer:
Primary Engineer®, since 2005, have developed an engineering curriculum that spans Early Years, Primary, Secondary and Further Education institutions. Its core aims include; the development of children and young people through engagement with engineering, the promotion of engineering careers through inspiring programmes and competitions, the development of engineering skills for teachers and practitioners addressing the inequalities in engineering.
We developed a project-based learning approach to education which enables children and pupils to engage with practical math’s and science alongside creative problem solving and literacy. It has been described as STEM by Stealth® due to the integrated curriculum nature of the programmes which also develop resilience and curiosity.
Strong links to engineers and the industries they work in provides an opportunity for both pupils and teachers to expand their knowledge of careers, career paths and opportunities.