GUH Organizes 8th STEM Challenge for UK Schools, Focusing on Marine Protection

A national, environmentally focused educational initiative organized by Global Underwater Hub gets underway again next month as it aims to inspire another group of school students about careers in underwater engineering.

Now in its eighth year, Global Underwater Hub’s annual STEM Challenge competition tests and develops the science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) skills of pupils aged 13-14 years of age. The initiative offers pupils an opportunity to learn about the UK’s USD$12.59 billion (£9.4billion) underwater industry, which includes the offshore energy, marine science, maritime robotics, aquaculture and defense sectors.

Up to 60 schools are expected to participate in the environment themed STEM education program over the coming months. Ten schools will take part in each of the six regional heats, which are held in Bristol and Southampton in April, followed by Blyth, Manchester, Inverness and Glasgow in May. The winning school from each heat then has the chance to travel to Aberdeen to compete in the national final.

With an environmental message of marine stewardship and protecting the world’s oceans and seas from plastic pollution at its core, the technology project is built around the premise of creating a new ROV capable of navigating the marine ecosystem to retrieve plastics. The teams of pupils are tasked with designing, building, coding, operating and marketing a model wheeled ROV constructed using Lego Spike sets, with the concepts pitched to a judging panel of industry experts who then decide the winner of each heat.

 Alongside applying the skills pupils are being taught at school, STEM Challenge develops their problem solving, project management, presentation and teamworking skills, while they also receive insight into a range of potential career paths. 

The initiative also broadens the knowledge of teachers who attend with their pupils. It demonstrates how the skills they are teaching in class can be applied in the workplace, particularly in an industry they may have had limited awareness of, and one that employs around 52,000 people across the UK.

Since it was first held in 2018, Global Underwater Hub’s STEM Challenge has seen nearly 2,000 pupils from over 190 secondary schools across the UK broaden their skills and learn about careers in the underwater industry.

Pupils from schools in Newcastle, Sheffield, Norfolk and Inverness are among previous winners of the national final. In 2025, a team from Bristol Free School joined that list. The team of 13 and 14-year-old students proved victorious over peers from Millburn Academy, Inverness, St Ninian’s High School in Giffnock, Walker Riverside Academy in Newcastle upon Tyne, Manchester’s Philips High School and Medina College on the Isle of Wight. 

Run by Global Underwater Hub, the leading trade and industry development body for the UK’s underwater sectors, the hands-on, team-centered program is held with the support of educational charity The Smallpeice Trust. The success of the inspiring initiative and the opportunity it affords the pupils is only possible through the support of industry, with organizations such as BP, Energy Central Campus, Opito, Saab, Subsea7 and Viper Innovations among the sponsors.