Helping young minds take flight: Civil Aviation Authority marks five years of STEM programme

Based in the CAA’s main office near Gatwick Airport, this initiative was initially set up to address the challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic, and to leverage technological advancements in education. The CAA’s STEM programme has evolved and now reached over 300,000 young people across the UK, including thousands of Sussex schoolchildren in the last five years.

The programmes volunteer network now boasts over 230 people across the CAA from regulators to rocket scientists, inspiring young people.

The King’s Trust, Jon Egging Trust and Springpod are just a few of the partnerships that the CAA have formed which have been vital towards the regulators outreach across the country. The partnership with Springpod has attracted over 13,000 students to the CAA’s STEM virtual work experience programme since its inception in 2022 and reached 5,900 students in 2024 alone.

Over the past five years, the CAA has donated 600 laptops and 80 monitors to local school children through the STEM programme to support the annual digital poverty campaign in partnership with STEM learning. Alongside this, CAA STEM programme funding supporting Fantasy Wings has been instrumental towards directly influencing the lives of 250 young people on their programme which aims to support young people entering the aviation industry, particularly those aiming to become pilots.

Brenda Jefcoate, STEM and Aviation Skills Consultant at the UK Civil Aviation Authority has called the five-year milestone “a proud moment and a testament to the passion, innovation, and commitment of everyone involved. Over the years, we’ve empowered thousands of young minds with the knowledge and inspiration to explore careers in aviation and aerospace.

She says the most inspiring part has been “watching students grow in confidence, curiosity, and ambition which has been the true measure of our success.” She says that now she’s “excited to see how we’ll continue to shape the future of this industry.”

The evolution of the CAA’s STEM programme since June 2020 has brought more people who may never have considered a STEM careers, into careers and further education focused on aviation and aerospace.

In the coming five years, the CAA aims to expand and adapt its STEM programme in response to new technology. How will artificial intelligence, and electronic and autonomous aircraft change how we design, build and fly planes, and what skills the next generation needs? This is a question that will be best answered by the next generation.

If you are interested to hear more about the CAA’s STEM programme, and how your children or school can get involved visit https://stem.caa.co.uk/.