How 3D Printing Can Help Children Suffering From Serious Illness or Injury

Published on: 7 Oct, 2026
Updated on: 8 Oct, 2026

Under a new, national scheme, 3D printing will be used to help hospitalised children rebuild skills lost to illness or injury.

The University of Surrey is part of a coalition working to give staff in hospital schools the skills and confidence to run hands-on design and engineering projects with pupils who cannot attend mainstream schools.

3D printing is a process that creates three-dimensional solid objects from a digital design file.

It can help children by transforming abstract educational concepts into tangible, physical objects, which significantly boosts engagement and understanding. By moving from digital design to a physical product, children develop a wide range of cognitive, creative and practical skills.

The three-year project, backed by a Royal Society Science Community Grant, will initially involve 25 schools and a coalition of universities working alongside the National Association for Hospital Education (NAHE). The scheme has received funding from the Royal Society and the Julia Rausing Trust.

At the University of Surrey, the partner setting is Surrey Teaching Centre at Tadworth Court, near Epsom, a referral unit that educates children and young people admitted to the Children’s Trust for rehabilitation following an acquired brain injury.

Schools taking part are being provided with a 3D printer and a national training programme delivered through their local partner university.

Robert Dorey, Professor of Nanomaterials at the University of Surrey, said: “This programme provides the opportunity to help children, who for different medical reasons are not being taught in a conventional school setting, develop valuable engineering insights and skills. This not only provides knowledge but also helps them to develop critical reasoning skills that will support them in later life.”

Each school runs the programme across a term. Pupils begin by examining their own environment and identifying something that could work better for them, which in a hospital setting might be a practical aid for a task they find difficult, or a personalised item to make the space feel more like home.

They are then guided through capturing design requirements and defining a design challenge, before learning to contribute to solutions themselves, from sketching and ideation through to computer aided design skills and 3D printing.

Beyond the educational benefits, participating schools have identified potential to support pupils’ medical recovery. Teachers have highlighted opportunities to aid cognitive rehabilitation after acquired brain injury, rebuilding skills such as attention, memory, sequencing and problem-solving.