What the experts say…
INDUSTRY-LED INITIATIVES ARE STEM EDUCATION’S BEST FRIEND Comment by JITEN KACHHELA, President at PA Consulting D
espite a relatively high number of STEM graduates, there is a significant STEM skills gap in the UK labour market. At the end of 2023, almost half of all vacancies in the UK were in STEM-related fields. As the working world shifts towards digital, tech-infused roles, there’s an urgent need to build these skills earlier and more consistently. Schools are a critical starting point, but they cannot do this alone in increasingly constrained environments. Businesses and public sector employers must play a far more active role in engaging with schools – helping young people understand the breadth of STEM careers, the pathways into them, and the skills they will need to thrive in a rapidly changing, AI-enabled world. In constrained school environments, industry-led initiatives can level-up STEM education. PA Consulting’s Raspberry Pi Competition, for example, invites students across the UK to find ingenious answers to big problems using a Raspberry Pi mini-computer. Now in its 14th year, the competition engaged more than 350 schools to create solutions to build a positive human future.
Year on year, the competition highlights the magic that can happen when young people have the right tools, encouragement, and safe spaces to experiment with technology. And by putting a ‘real world’ spin on it, students can conjure up incredible solutions including safety tech, neurodiversity aids, and AI voice navigation for the visually impaired. With renewed attention on digital skills, AI literacy and future employability, industry-led initiatives can support STEM education, and prepare students for a world that increasingly demands strong STEM skills. The benefit of industry-led support means industry can play a constructive role without dictating curriculum or adding pressure.
Set a relevant North Star
Digital skills and AI literacy are fundamental to future employability. But the future job market is an abstract concept for most young people – even those who take part in work experience. Encouraging students to “work hard and get a good job” becomes far more powerful with the right North Star. A clear problem statement turns encouragement into real, tangible frameworks that show how STEM can really change lives. When these challenges directly relate to the lives of students and their families, the real impact becomes clear. Examples include how to look after elderly relatives, boost wellbeing in school environments, or protect biodiversity in local green spaces. These are the challenges that focus young minds.
Widen access to equipment
We can all remember watching make-shift rockets hurtle into the sky, or seeing the ions in a copper compound flash blue-green above a Bunsen burner. But many schools operate on shoestring budgets, with teachers themselves buying equipment often without reimbursement. The equipment needed for effective, practical STEM learning is becoming more sophisticated, and these tools make all the difference. Small but powerful computers such as the Raspberry Pi are affordable ways of stepping into the world of coding. This access is what makes children curious, opening up doors to digital-first problem-solving. The next generation of innovators needs to know how to use technology, particularly AI, to solve problems quickly, creatively, and responsibly. And this is no longer just an issue for future engineers or software developers. From construction to care, from manufacturing to creative industries, digital confidence and AI literacy are becoming as essential as Maths and English. Schools should increasingly reflect that reality, embedding these capabilities across learning and not just as a specialist skill for some.
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www.education-today.co.uk
Provide wrap-around support
Giving a school a challenge and a computer might set the right direction, but it misses one key ingredient. Mentoring. Teachers do this every day with the time they have available. But staffing issues and curriculum pressures make it much harder to mentor effectively. This is where industry can help with big names willing to support schools and impart their knowledge and experience to teachers and their teams through coaching sessions. This kind of engagement should become more commonplace. Employers have a critical role to play in opening up schools to the realities of modern work – not through one off interventions, but through sustained partnerships that give students exposure to role models, real business challenges and emerging workplace skills.
Mentoring is also a great opportunity to tap into fresh thinking. Young minds aren’t constrained by the process-focused, risk-averse mentality that inevitably comes with business environments. Students can think bigger, and in many cases, better. For example, one solution from this year’s Competition was a medicine-sharing platform that redistributes medicines nearing expiry, saving lives and money. This solution could be implemented today using existing networks and technology. The ingredients are there, but it takes fresh thinking to find a path forward.
Creating the conditions for success
At a time when schools face tightening budgets, staffing challenges, and overloaded curriculums, it’s easy for STEM and coding to slip down the priority list. But as digital technology and AI become embedded in almost every career, hands-on STEM learning and digital fluency are no longer optional – they are foundational to future employability. If we want young people to be ready for the jobs of tomorrow, industry must do more now: working with schools to bring careers to life, widen access to technology, build confidence in AI and digital skills, and make pathways into modern careers visible to every student.
July/August 2026
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