FIRST Tech Challenge UK - Our mission page - header image
FIRST Tech Challenge UK - Our mission page - header image

Our mission

We’re committed to making STEM less intimidating, more diverse and inclusive

Making young people future-ready

Automation, data, artificial intelligence and digital technology are driving change at an unprecedented rate. We’re not evolving how we educate young people at the same pace. As the STEM skills gap widens, we risk leaving young people unequipped to take on tomorrow’s challenges.

At FIRST UK we bridge the classroom with the workplace – using robots, competitions and industry role models as a vehicle for change.

Discover our programmes

10

unfilled STEM roles per business in the UK

STEM Learning, 201

£2bn

potential increase in UK’s labour market value if more women enter STEM

Women In Tech Gender Pay Gap Report 2020

200,000

more engineers required in UK by 2030

Engineering UK

71% 

FIRST UK participants wish to now pursue a STEM career

FIRST UK season evaluation 2023

65%

of STEM workforce are white men

APPG Diversity & Inclusion in STEM 2019

44%

FIRST UK participants are girls

FIRST UK full season evaluation 2024

Scaling our impact

We’ve made excellent progress agaist our inaugural 3-year stratgey articulating intent to move from mass STEM enrichment to well-targeted provision for those who will benefit most. Leaning on three decades of programmatic evidence, six years of testing and iterating, and built on insights of young people, educators, and advisors we’ll be publishing our first 5-year strategy in 2025. Watch this space.

Read our 3-year strategy

Mission

To make STEM less intimidating, more diverse and inclusive, empowering young people to make informed choices about their future.

Vision

A world where young people are empowered to explore, challenge and grow into innovators, who will take on tomorrow’s challenges.

Values

Learn, adapt, repeat
Drive change, don’t wait for it
Focus on outcomes
Collaborate with pioneers
Deliver efficiently

Partner with us

“Out-of-school programs are a really important part of the ecosystem for supporting young people. They offer a chance for sustained engagement that isn’t a one-off session in a day, involving problem-solving, teamwork and other skills, which are really valuable.

STEM is not just a destination but a really important and empowering vehicle that can really help young people and communities achieve their potential, in a more cohesive, productive and socially just society.”

Prof. Louise Archer – Karl Mannheim Chair of Sociology of Education, Institute of Education, UCL

  • We build More Than Robots

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