Pupils build and race cars at STEM competition

School pupils will race electric cars they designed and built at an international engineering championship.

Students from St George's Academy in Ruskington, Lincolnshire, will compete in the Greenpower Challenge International Finals at the Goodwood Motor Circuit in Sussex on Sunday 18 October.

More than 100 school teams from across Europe take part in the annual event, building and racing single seater electric cars in a bid to travel the furthest distance and complete the most laps.

Max, 12, who will drive one of the academy's vehicles, said it had taken the team two years to build the cars: "It's been a fun process building it together, I love were all working as a team!"

Greenpower is a STEM project run by the Greenpower Education Trust, which aims to address skills shortages through hands on motorsport challenges.

Students at St George's Academy will be competing in the F24 International Final 2026 [Formula 24 Ages 11-16] category.

Max said he was keen to get involved as soon as he heard about the competition.

"I wanted to apply straight away," he said.

"I'm really interested in engineering because you can build cool things like cars."

Max said some parts of the project were tricky, but added: "Once I know what to do, I understand it quickly."

He described taking part in the competition as "very exciting".

Arthur, 13, hopes to become an engineer and said the competition helped him understand "how cars work and run".

"Before the race we look at the car, ensure the bolts are tightened, breaks work and understand how the car feels on the track."

His younger sister Merida, 12, is also part of the team and said the best part was "when you win the race!"

"It's fun and you can learn new things. Whether you're building the car from a kit or from scratch, you use lots of different techniques."

"I love the amount of opportunities and love the sense of being in a team", she added.

St George's Academy has 14 students in its Greenpower team, with 10 travelling to the finals and two cars competing, including one built from scratch.

Supported by sponsors including Ford and Siemens, the competition aims to give students hands on experience of engineering.

Thomas Mitchell, a Design and Technology teacher at the school and a Greenpower ambassador, said: "It gives students an opportunity to see what they can do in the future and put the skills they've been learning into practice."

He added: "We have students come to this school so they can join the Greenpower team."

Max said: "I'm feeling very excited about the competition. Hopefully we'll win."

Listen to highlights fromLincolnshire on BBC Sounds, watch thelatest episode of Look North.

Download the BBC News app from the App Storefor iPhone and iPad orGoogle Play for Android devices