FIRST Tech Challenge UK - funding page - header 01
FIRST Tech Challenge UK - funding page - header 01

More than funding

Our bursaries make STEM accessible to those who’ll benefit most.

Making STEM inclusive

We’re on a mission to give every young person the chance to “go pro” in STEM. Together with industry partners, we remove barriers to participation by:

  • Providing bursaries covering the cost of robotics kits
  • Ensuring our events are free for everyone
  • Offering travel grants

If you’re a government-registered school or nationally recognised youth and community group, you can apply for a bursary, providing your organisation with access to our programme’s STEM provision, worth £5,000 for 15 young people.

“These students come from areas where there are not a lot of opportunities, but this challenge gives them life experience. They get to do things here that they’d only do at university, and this experience is also inspiring many of them to pursue further studies at a university.”

Karl Mahon, Teacher, Chiswick School

The kit that keeps on giving

Our robotics kits squeeze in over 1400 parts – plus a control hub for programming and a driver station with controllers. Kits are reusable and upgraded annually with game pieces. Robotics kits can normally cost thousands of pounds and our bursary scheme issues them for free. 

Download kit contents*

*does not show the control hub or driver station

FIRST Tech Challenge UK - funding page - reusable kit 2

Grab a bursary

For just £399 you can join the More Than Robots community.

What's included


Organisations awarded a bursary will receive £5,000 worth of STEM enrichment:

  • Robotics kit (worth £1200) and all hardware for up to 15 students
  • This season’s game pieces
  • Educational content and resources
  • Support from a local Champion Organisation
  • Help securing an industry mentor
  • Participation in community engagement activities
  • Free events – local practice, regional tournament and a UK champs
  • Access to training and CPD
  • Awards and accreditation
  • Opportunity to apply for travel grants


Who's eligible

Bursaries are available to non-fee-paying DfE/DoE/Education Scotland registered schools, SEND and Alternative Providers serving young people aged 12 to 18 and youth organisations with a safeguarding policy.

Organisations must agree to our EDI pledge and meet our inclusion criteria, demonstrating how they will encourage participation amongst underserved young people (gender, socioeconomic status, ethnicity, SEND), drive social mobility and promote inclusion.

To maximise the programme’s impact and sustainability, approval from a member of the SLT is required to participate. The name and email of the sponsoring staff member must be submitted at registration. 


Types of bursary

The charity offers two tiers of bursary:

  1. Full – no kit contribution required (only the £399 commitment fee to pay)
  2. Partial – a kit contribution of £300 required (total of £699 to pay)

Teams not eligible for a bursary pay £1200 for the robotics kit, and a £399 commitment fee.


Likelihood of success

In 2025, we have at least 150 bursaries to award. 75 full, 75 partial. An eligible organisation that demonstrates how it meets all bursary assessment criteria is likely to be granted a full bursary. Our final round of bursary applications is assessed on 26 September – so don’t hang around!


What is the commitment fee?


All teams, including those awarded a bursary, must pay a £399 (incl VAT) commitment fee to participate. This fee ensures the charity is not misdirecting its resources and £5,000 of STEM enrichment provision per team. Robotics kits, game pieces and access to the online learning management system will only be provided once the commitment fee has been paid.

What do I pay and when?


Existing team
If you’ve participated previously and have a robotics kit, you simply re-register your team and pay the £399 commitment fee.

New teams
New teams will be issued with an invoice for either:

  • Full bursary £399 (incl VAT)
  • Partial bursary £699 (incl VAT)
  • No bursary £1599 (incl VAT)

Invoices are issued from May onwards when our bursary scheme opens and must be paid within 30 days of receipt, or the bursary/participation may be forfeited. Team registration closes on 30 September 2025. Any bursary applications must be submitted by 26 September.


Fundraising

Community outreach is a development opportunity for teams. Fundraising missions and resources are embedded within the programme to encourage teams to drum up support from local businesses for travel, team enhancements and sponsorship. We strongly encourage all teams to set up an online fundraising page on or before the point of registration. Many within our community have raised thousands of pounds to support their robotics club and broader STEM activities in their settings.

Register your interest

You can sign up now to let us know you’re interested in participating in the 2025-26 More Than Robots season.

Register interest

Inclusion Partner

If you haven’t heard of Arm, you’ve definitely held their technology in your hands. Their chips make our robots intelligent, their generosity powers bursaries to make STEM more inclusive and their people mentor our teams.

Arm

  • We build More Than Robots

    We use robots, role models and competitions to make STEM less intimidating, more diverse and inclusive, empowering young people to make informed choices about their future.