Mercia School attends the 'More Than Robots' UK Championship
Sheffield school enters Britain’s largest student robotics competition
Students from across all four nations have spent two school terms designing, building and testing robots - competing in regional heats with hands-on guidance from over 200 industry mentors from Bloomberg, Arm and other leading firms - and reached the national final at London’s Copper Box Arena
Almost half (44 per cent) of participants are girls and over a third (37 per cent) come from ethnically diverse backgrounds - in a sector where women make up just 16 per cent of the engineering workforce - made possible by up to £5,000 of funded STEM enrichment per team, reusable robotics kits, and travel bursaries provided by FIRST UK, an EdTech charity
The championship arrives at a pivotal policy moment: the government’s Schools White Paper (February 2026) signals a new national focus on school enrichment and industry partnerships, while economists warn the UK’s failure to adopt robotics at scale could cost the economy £144 billion in lost growth
Since last September, student teams from across the UK have been designing, building and testing robots guided by engineers from industry partners Arm, Bloomberg and others. This month, the best of these teams arrived at the Copper Box Arena in London’s Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park for the More Than Robots™ UK Championship: part of one of the world’s largest student robotics competitions.
For six months, teams have worked through real-world engineering challenges, competed in regional heats, and iterated on their designs with professional mentorship. The championship is the culmination of that journey and a demonstration of the talent Britain urgently needs to build.
The UK leads the world in robotics research and ranks third globally for early-stage private investment. Yet it sits at the bottom of the G7 for adopting the technology at scale, with just 111 industrial robots per 10,000 manufacturing workers, well below the global average of 151. Economists estimate that continuing at this rate will cost the UK economy £144 billion in lost growth. Eight in ten UK manufacturers report that skills gaps are holding back their ability to adopt robotics.
More Than Robots™ exists to close that gap by building the talent pipeline earlier, in the classroom, and with genuine industry involvement.
Delivered by the EdTech charity FIRST UK, the programme is accessible by design. Every participating team receives reusable robotics kits, structured educator training, and up to £5,000 of funded STEM enrichment, including travel and equipment bursaries, ensuring that cost is never a barrier to entry. This sustained, practical, industry-connected model is what sets More Than Robots™ apart from short-term enrichment programmes.
The championship is supported by the Mayor of London and a coalition of industry partners among them Bloomberg, Arm, Qualcomm, Gene Haas Foundation, Marshall Wace, the Garfield Weston Foundation and the Intuitive Foundation.
Their involvement goes beyond sponsorship: over 200 engineers have provided hands-on mentorship to student teams since September, working alongside them to apply professional engineering practice to competition challenges.
Deputy Mayor for Environment and Energy Mete Coban said: "It’s been great to meet such inspiring young people today and see them use their technical skills to solve real world challenges.
“Through the Mayor’s Inclusive Talent Strategy, we’re breaking down barriers and opening up training and career pathways for young Londoners into London’s growth sectors, including our thriving green economy. STEM skills are at the heart of London’s transformation – from AI and cutting-edge innovation, to tackling the climate crisis and reaching net zero.
“Supporting young people with the right opportunities has never been more important. By investing in their potential, we’re not just strengthening our workforce – we’re helping to build a fairer, greener and more prosperous London for everyone."
The championship arrives at a moment of growing policy momentum.
The government’s Schools White Paper (February 2026) signals a new national focus on enrichment, school-industry partnerships, and teacher professional development - areas that sit at the heart of the More Than Robots™ model. The paper proposes £22.5 million over three years to support enrichment in disadvantaged schools, but this funding will not reach every school. More Than Robots™ provides that access, at no cost to families.
Amelia Gould CEng FIET, Chair of Trustees, FIRST UK, said: “We are at a critical junction in the robotics industry. We have world-class research, but we’re falling behind, and one of the biggest barriers is skills. In the UK, a quarter of all job postings are for engineering roles, yet many young people lack access to such opportunities or do not see themselves in them. If the UK wants to compete globally, we need to inspire and equip young people who will enter the workforce with the skills to engineer better futures.”
Jemma Read, Global Head of Corporate Philanthropy, Bloomberg, added: “At Bloomberg, we believe that access to technology and mentorship is a right, not a privilege. By connecting our engineers directly with students, mentoring participants throughout the programme and at the Championship, we are providing the technical know-how and confidence needed to turn a passion for technology into a career.
“We’ve seen firsthand how this support can take a team from their local classroom to a global stage, then into careers across British industry. Supporting this national championship is an investment in a more diverse and innovative UK tech sector, giving young people a platform to help solve some of the UK’s most pressing challenges.”
Charlotte Eaton, Chief People Officer, Arm, added: “Arm’s technology is at the heart of virtually every connected device on the planet and our continued ability to innovate depends on a steady supply of technically capable, curious and collaborative people. That supply is under serious pressure. The talent deficit in robotics and semiconductors cannot be addressed by graduate recruitment alone: the pipeline must be built earlier, more deliberately, and with genuine industry involvement at its core.
“More Than Robots™ is exceptional because it does not simulate engineering — it demands it. Young people develop exactly the technical and collaborative skills we need. And it reaches young people from backgrounds underrepresented in our industry, not incidental to its value, but central to it.”