Reaching 80 schools in Scotland, Wales, Midlands, London and the South East
We are delighted to be partnering with Volvo Cars to expand the reach of our Energy Quest programme in UK schools to help get young people to think like engineers.
The Volvo For Life Fund is a global philanthropic initiative supporting projects that aim to empower people, restore and preserve our planet, and provide protection when natural disasters strike.
Energy Quest is a curriculum-aligned workshop filled with fun practical, hands-on experiments, getting students aged 11 to 13 to think like engineers. Through real-world scenarios, the programme introduces the problem solving and team working part of engineering, with a clear link to current and future careers.
The partnership with the Volvo For Life Fund will allow us to expand Energy Quest to reach 80 schools and over 20,000 students directly or via their teachers across Scotland, Wales, Midlands, and London and the South East.
Science Education Tracker research, published earlier this year by EngineeringUK and the Royal Society, found doing practical science is the key motivator to learning science (52% of year 7 to 9 students), with girls statistically more likely to say this. Yet, opportunities for hands-on practicals are in decline in school, with only 26% of GCSE students doing practical work at least once a fortnight.
Through our partnership with EngineeringUK, we can help inspire the next generation of engineers and energy technicians and help them develop skills they need for the jobs of the future. This goes well in line with our vision for the Fund, which is to extend our commitment to safety beyond just the road.
— Louise Thompson, Head of Volvo For Life Fund
We’re excited to team up with the Volvo For Life Fund to expand our popular Energy Quest programme. We know that students are motivated by practical work but that it’s on the decline in the classroom and by giving them hands-on experiences in real-world settings, we hope to spark their interest and help them see what a varied and rewarding career engineering and technology could offer them in the future.
— Kim Biddulph, Head of Engagement Programmes, EngineeringUK
