A new school year, a new FIRST Tech Challenge UK season – and a brand-new game: DECODE, presented by RTX. That means fresh robots, ideas and let’s be honest, new problems to solve. But as Friends’ School Lisburn’s robotics lead, Errol Martin, will tell you, those are the best kind of problems to have.  Errol, […]

Picture this: conga lines weaving through the arena, roars of regional pride echoing from every corner of the UK, and high-fives flying across the team pits. The FIRST Tech Challenge UK Championship 2024-25 was more than a competition – it was a two-day festival of innovation, teamwork and energy.  Whether you were on the field, […]

The INTO THE DEEP season was our biggest yet – and it all came to an unforgettable finale at our UK Championship on 26-27 June, hosted at the Copper Box Arena in London’s Olympic Park.  Over two electric days, 64 of the UK’s top robotics teams from all four nations battled it out to be […]

The countdown to champs is on! There’s officially only a month to go until 64 of our top teams come together to compete, showcase their achievements and make themselves proud. Meanwhile, our volunteers are training up to rock their roles and make our event one to remember. And over at HQ, we’ve got a couple […]

The INTO THE DEEP qualifying tournaments have been a whirlwind of innovation, teamwork and engineering excellence. Our teams and volunteers have packed a punch with some standout moments to create an unforgettable season and set the stage for an epic UK Championship.  From the UK’s first level three ascent by team Software Therapy in Northern […]

Across our qualifiers, our Youth Ambassadors have been taking to the mics, hyping the crowd and announcing winning alliances. It’s a new role this year, but our Youth Ambassadors have relished in the opportunity to be Game Announcers. They’ve been our answer to David Croft, Alex Scott and Gabby Logan, injecting sporting action into our […]

At FIRST Tech Challenge UK, innovation isn’t just about robots. It’s about creativity, problem-solving and teamwork. This year, we provided our teams with a brand-new challenge: design the trophies for our regional qualifying tournaments.  Our trophy design competition invited teams to showcase their creative thinking and product design talents. Provided with a brief on size, […]

We’re in the midst of our qualifying tournaments and there’s plenty more for teams to get involved in. Whether you’re preparing for champs or working to improve for next year, our 2023-24 Regional Motivate Award Winners are here to offer their advice to keep the momentum going!   HBK Robodeers – Hinchingbrooke School – UK-328 […]

It’s qualifier season! The big day has finally arrived when we kick off the INTO THE DEEP tournaments and we couldn’t be more excited. They’re shaping up to be our biggest, best and most community-driven events yet. Our electric events calendar From Belfast to Bournemouth, we’re touching down in schools and science centres across the […]

We say the challenge is More Than Robots for a good reason! Outreach is a big part of FIRST Tech Challenge UK and it’s something a lot of teams really thrive at. Every way that teams bring their community into the challenge is unique and we love shouting about it!  Team Subnautics may be a […]

Scrimmages are one of the first opportunities for the community to come together in person and share ideas. During our scrimmages across December and January, teams have been innovating their robots and gaining confidence in their own abilities to compete.  They have well and truly impressed us not only with their engineering approaches but also […]

Our Youth Ambassadors Ben and Jack from DeGreeS of Freedom are whizzes when it comes to social media, branding and online outreach. So far this season, they’ve organised a media workshop to share their top tips and tricks and have collaborated with international teams to create a short film about the challenge. Check out their […]

We’re already a term into the season. Teams are finding their feet, attending their scrimmages and being inspired by each other’s progress. Team Leads can trust their team will have a robot to compete with come Qualifiers. But what about our Champion Org Ambassadors who work away to support teams, not just their own, throughout […]

Our volunteers, who we like to call Game Changers, drive our programme. Without them, our events wouldn’t be possible and our impact wouldn’t be as powerful. They play a huge role in helping us go even further in achieving our mission: to make STEM less intimidating, more diverse and inclusive. We spoke to Joss Benyon, […]

We recently wrapped up our Game Changer Conference at the National Robotarium in Edinburgh! The Game Changer Conference is our annual opportunity to train our A-Team Game Changers in their volunteer roles and prep our Champion Organisation Ambassadors ahead of our busy event season. It was just as much about upskilling them for our biggest […]

During the 2023-24 CENTERSTAGE season, the incredible Blackout Robotics topped the division rankings and captained the Winning Alliance at the UK Championships. Every member of their team had two years of experience competing in FIRST Tech Challenge UK, and now they’re sharing the wisdom that got them to the top. Team unleashed  Team name: Blackout […]

This is one for the books! Team Great Britain has made history and won gold at the 2024 FIRST Global Challenge, marking the first time a UK team has won an individual team award. After winning the National Inspire Award at the UK Championships in June, we surprised team Ultraviolet from Bournemouth School for Girls […]

Our teams are great at thinking outside of the box. They dream big and have the drive to make things happen. They want to show the world what the UK STEM scene has to offer and the time has come for our incredible teams to take to the global stage. We surprised our Inspire Award […]

Our CENTERSTAGE season came to an epic end with teams battling to be crowned national champions at the University of Cambridge. Bringing together the very best youth robotics teams from all four nations, the UK Championship did not disappoint. 42 teams took to the game field to put their carefully designed robots and well-thought-out strategies […]