Inspire a love of STEM at The Big Bang Fair 2024

The popular Big Bang Fair is returning for another year and, from today, schools can register for free tickets to attend.

The annual Fair is the UK’s largest celebration of science, technology, engineering and maths (STEM) for young people and will take place from Wednesday 19 to Friday 21 June 2024 at the NEC in Birmingham. Teachers can once again ignite a passion for STEM in their students and help them to discover the exciting career possibilities in these sectors.

Young people will have the opportunity to meet STEM professionals from some of the top employers in the UK. There will also be plenty of hands-on activities for students to get stuck into including testing their driving skills by putting powerful robots through a series of challenges, experiencing piloting a submarine, discovering how different materials are used in sports and space exploration and much more. Students will also be able to join exciting live shows and inspiring career panels and earn stickers as they go, with Big Bang Explore.

Almost 16,000 students attended The Fair last year, along with 2,300 teachers. One of the teachers who attended, said:

“I loved the performances that they put on and I love the activities because they are not only fun but also educational. It has overall been an amazing experience and I would love to come again.”

Other teachers commented; “Amazing variety of stalls and activities to keep students engaged. Really purposeful trip to get students thinking about careers in STEM and the variety out there.”

“The interactive activities to get the students involved brings STEM alive. Our students were really excited about trying everything!”

Phillip McShane, Associate Director – Big Bang Programme at EngineeringUK, commented:

“We’re on a mission to enable more young people from all backgrounds to be inspired, informed and progress into engineering and technology careers. The Big Bang Fair is a brilliant opportunity for teachers to ignite a passion for STEM among their students and raise their career aspirations. I’d encourage all schools, and particularly those with students from diverse backgrounds, to book their free tickets and end the school year with a big bang!”

Also taking place at The Fair, will be the awards ceremony for the popular Big Bang UK Young Scientists & Engineers Competition. Winners will be announced, including the crowning of the prestigious Big Bang UK Young Engineer, UK Young Scientist and UK Young Technologist of the Year, supported by Siemens.

The Competition, which is free to enter, is open to young people in the UK aged 11 to 18 in state funded education, who are home educated or who enter as part of a community group. There’s still time for young people to get involved – with The Competition open for entries until 27 March.

With tickets for The Big Bang Fair always booking up quickly – schools are advised to book their free tickets early, to avoid disappointment. The Fair is open to all state funded schools for pupils in year 6 – year 8 (England and Wales), P7 to S2 (Scotland) and year 7 to year 9 (Northern Ireland). Following a successful trial of a new format in 2023, schools will once again be able to book half-day sessions – either morning (9am to 12pm) or afternoon (1pm to 4pm).

Find out more about The Big Bang Competition and enter a STEM project on the website.