Students from across the country have put their STEM skills to the test at the annual FIRST® LEGO® League Regional Tournament hosted by Newcastle and Stafford Colleges Group (NSCG). 

Newcastle College welcomed 18 teams, from seven different counties, to take part in this year's challenge, which saw the teams tasked with building and coding a LEGO® robot. This year's theme, Submerged, challenged participants to explore the difficulties of underwater exploration and come up with solutions to overcome them. 

The students, who had travelled from as far as Northamptonshire, were required to research their project, and present their creation to a judging panel on the day of the tournament. They then had to prepare their robot to take part in a range of timed missions and tasks, with scores awarded by the referees for project innovation, robot design and core values. 

Newcastle College welcomes 18 teams from seven counties (NSCG).

Megan Clayton, Schools Liaison Officer and LEGO Coordinator at NSCG, said: "This is the College's 9th year hosting the competition and each year is just as exciting as the last. We are constantly blown away by the outstanding creativity and innovation of the students, as well as their resilience to problem solving and the brilliant teamwork that they show. 

"The FIRST® programme is a fantastic way to get students engaged with STEM subjects for the first time, and I hope the teams all had fun along the way." 

Team End_Tec from Endon High School were crowned this year's Staffordshire Regional Tournament Champions and will now go on to represent the region in the FIRST LEGO League SUBMERGED UK National Final in Harrogate on May 3rd 2025. 

The teams were tasked with building and coding a LEGO® robot (NSCG).

2025 FIRST® LEGO® League Winners 

• Champions Award: Team End_Tec (Endon High School)
• Robot Performance Award: Team End_Tec (Endon High School)
• Robot Design Award: Team Mech Masters (Malbank School)
• Innovation Project Award: Team Caludon 2 (Caludon Castle School)
• Core Values Award: Team Sea Tech (Christ Church Academy)
• Rising Star Judge's Award: Team The Coral Crusaders (RGS The Grange)
• Perseverance Judge's Award: AGSB Team 2 (Altrincham Grammar School for Boys)
• Coaches Award: Mrs Collinson (Caludon Castle School) 

LEGO® Education Innovation Studio sessions are available to book for primary and secondary school students, at both Newcastle and Stafford campuses. To book a group in, please contact Megan Clayton by emailing [email protected] or telephoning 01782 254347. 

Please note, sessions are available during term time only.

------------

READ MORE: New banking hub to open in Stoke-on-Trent as more branch closures announced

Free from clickbait, pop-up ads and unwanted surveys, Stoke Nub News is a quality online newspaper for our city.

Subscribe to our FREE weekly newsletter email HERE - just click the 'SIGN UP' button.

Please consider following Stoke Nub News on Facebook or Twitter.