A sustainable F1 helmet, an automated pill dispenser and an eco-friendly water filter are just some of the impressive and diverse student projects through to the final round in this year’s Big Bang UK Young Scientists & Engineers Competition.

Almost 1,000 young people aged 11 to 18 from across the UK have entered The Big Bang Competition. Just over 100 projects have now been shortlisted from hundreds of entries. Judging rounds will take place over the next few weeks to determine who the winners are.

Up for grabs is the coveted Big Bang UK Young Engineer, Big Bang UK Young Scientist and Big Bang UK Young Technologist of the Year awards, (with thanks to Siemens who are supporting the technologist category). Each of these categories is awarded a prize of £1,000.

There are also special category awards on themes from AI to healthcare and wellbeing and inclusivity. In total, there are 22 awards.

Mark Wood, Social Sustainability Lead, Siemens, Great Britain and Ireland, said, “The Big Bang Competition is an opportunity for aspiring designers, technologists, engineers and problem solvers to showcase their ideas using science, technology, engineering, and maths to improve our lives. As digitalisation becomes more crucial and sustainable living more important, the ideas from our young people are inspiring, limitless, and practical. Each year, I am amazed by the brilliant ideas and genuine passion they demonstrate.”

Winners of the Big Bang Competition, will be announced at The Big Bang Fair at the NEC in Birmingham from Tuesday 17 to Thursday 19 June 2025. The annual Big Bang Fair is the largest celebration of science, technology, engineering and maths (STEM) for young people aged 10 to 13 in the UK. Through hands-on activities, incredible shows and career panels, the fair inspires students about the diverse careers in STEM.

Schools through to the final:

Greenhead College, Huddersfield
Tapton School. Sheffield
Kingswood Academy, Hull

Phil McShane, Associate Director of The Big Bang programme, comments “Once again, we’ve been blown away by the volume of entries which is up from last year, and the levels of creativity and innovation of the projects. Also, it is fantastic to see so many entries – 61% - from underrepresented state schools.

“I know our judges are extremely excited to get going on the judging – but they will have their work cut out, as it's not going to be an easy with such impressive and high-quality entries.”

A full list of schools taking part from England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland can be found on the Big Bang website.

Good luck to the finalist schools!

Visit the Big Bang website to stay up to date and to find out more.

Yorkshire secondary students make it through to finals of the Big Bang Competition!