Teens Turbocharge STEM Skills at Surrey Summer School

Published on: 22 Aug, 2025
Updated on: 24 Aug, 2025

The young ‘engineers’ built and raced their own electric toy cars

By Joshua Brown

Sixty local school pupils have spent part of their summer picking up circuits and soldering irons, taking part in the University of Surrey’s Discover University Summer School.

The four day, three night residential gave the teenagers an inspiring, hands-on insight into university life, without ever leaving Guildford.

Hosted on the university’s Stag Hill campus, the Summer School offered the Year 10 and 11 pupils the chance to stay in student accommodation and gain an insight into varied timetabled academic and social activities.

A standout feature of the event was a workshop run by the Faculty of Engineering and Physical Sciences, where the young ‘engineers’ built and raced their own electric toy cars.

Working in teams, the students built and assembled battery powered vehicles from custom kits designed and prepared by the university’s technicians. Along the way, the students picked up valuable skills in problem solving, creativity and team work – all before testing their creations on a purpose built track.

Myles Jenkinson, Design and Engineering Manager at the university, led the technical team
behind the workshops. He said: “Our Summer School workshops are a brilliant opportunity for young people in the local community, and it was so great to see their excitement and pride as they watched their designs come to life,”

“Experiences like this are so important for sparking an interest in STEM and planting the seeds for future careers.”

For one former participant, those seeds have already taken root. Jaime Chatfield, a former pupil of Kings College secondary school, attended several of Surrey’s Summer Schools, and now works as an apprentice in the university’s Engineering Centre.

“I had no idea what I wanted to do after school,” Jaime recalled, “But when I joined the Summer School and started building and testing structures, I realised I could really thrive in a hands-on environment – and that engineering might actually be for me.”

Now supporting the very outreach programmes that inspired her, Jaime hopes to pursue a career in structural engineering or underwater welding, all whilst encouraging more young women into the field.

Rob Thatcher, Head of Widening Participation and Success at the University of Surrey, praised the initiative: “Opportunities such as these continue to enrich our outreach activity and provide memorable experiences for the young people involved.”

The Summer School forms part of the award winning Surrey Scholars programme, a key section of the university’s commitment to social mobility and inclusion. Applications to the 2026 intake open in January.

For more information about Widening Participation’s Surrey Scholars programme visit: www.outreach.surrey.ac.uk.