LJMU encouraging schoolchildren into engineering

LJMU is a key partner in an initiative encouraging schoolchildren across the Liverpool City Region and Cheshire to get involved in engineering.

Primary Engineers is an annual cross-curricular programme which asks pupils aged 3-19 the question, ‘if you were an engineer, what would you do?’.

The pupils are tasked with interviewing an engineer, identifying a problem in the world around them and coming up with a creative solution to that problem.

LJMU will host the judging day for entries on 15 May 2025 and then the awards and exhibition on 24 June.

How you can support the programme

LJMU colleagues can help support Primary Engineers in a couple of ways.

School promotion

Please share details of the programme with schools you engage with across the Liverpool City Region and Cheshire. You can find out more here.

Engaging with local businesses

We are looking for engineers from local companies to get involved in grading the pupils’ entries and would welcome staff sharing details with contacts in the industry.

Having come up with their creative solution, the pupils create an annotated drawing of their idea and write a letter to an engineer explaining why it should be built. The engineers will then help to grade the entries.

There will be a briefing in the morning to explain the grading system. There is no preparation required – the engineers can simply arrive and enjoy the day. Find out more.

Dr Denise Lee, programme leader in Civil Engineering at LJMU, said: “We’re delighted to be supporting Primary Engineers. It is a fantastic initiative which stimulates schoolchildren’s interest in engineering and STEM more broadly. We’re looking forward to working with our local schools and engineers and we can’t wait to see the creative ideas put forward by the pupils.”