Spoiler alert: we really can make a significant impact on our future skills shortage.

Automation, AI, robotics, digital… from the civil service to the NHS, entertainment to commerce, construction to energy, advancements and adoption of these technologies is an irreversible trend that is only going to accelerate. They are creating extensive opportunities in the industries that our future economy will be built upon, demanding new skills in STEM-related subjects; yet, according to UK Government statistics, in the 2024/25 academic year, STEM subjects represented just 15% of enrolments in higher education across the UK.

If we are to develop these industries here in the UK, and benefit from the ensuing investment, jobs and economic activity, we have to ensure the future talent pipeline and that requires engaging young minds early and enthusing them with the opportunities.

Since 2016, I have been fortunate to work closely with one particular school in Fife where they have made extraordinary progress in increasing the take-up and continuation of STEM subjects.

From the windows of Levenmouth Academy, you can clearly see the enormous Levenmouth Demonstration Turbine, where ORE Catapult supports UK companies to develop the next generation of innovative technologies for offshore renewable energy. And while they are doing so, the constant rotation of its giant blades are turning the winds coming off the Firth of Forth into green energy, feeding directly into the grid and generating income that the company reinvests into research and development. And a portion of that income goes to supporting STEM activities at the school.

With the invaluable support of Foundation Scotland, who oversee the governance of the fund and ensure that it is compliant with industry and Scottish Government good practice principles, the investment has delivered a wide variety of activities and facilities, from participation at the NASA space school and robotics clubs to virtual reality headsets that make education more exciting and engaging.

But, of course, it all only comes to life when put into the hands of the extraordinary teachers who translate it all into inspiration. The laws of friction and resistance are illustrated through air hockey and Scalextric; programming relates to music creation and design; 3-D printing enables development of drones and robots; Lego becomes a model of the solar system.

One all-girl team last year came third in the UK wide Hydrogen Grand Prix, racing the car that they had built. Now all in S4 and part of the cohort of girls that started attending Stem Club in S1, they aspire to be engineers, a marine biologist, a prosthetic designer and a criminal psychologist. “The STEM Club inspires and gives girls more opportunities”, one of them reports.

A team of boys from S2 came 2nd in a Scotland wide competition flying the drone that they designed and built.

Recent analysis has shown that such investment really is making a lasting difference. When ORE Catapult first started working with the school, Scottish Government statistics reveal that just 6.3% of leavers were going into a STEM destination (employment, training, further or higher education). That figure has increased every year since then, with evidence that the more time that pupils are exposed to the increased opportunities in STEM-related activities, the greater their engagement and desire to explore its potential.

In 2023/24, 36.7% of Levenmouth Academy leavers went into a STEM destination.

What is also clear from the statistics is that the increased provision of engaging activities in safe spaces is having a positive impact on the number of young women pursuing STEM subjects. During that same period, 2016 to 2024, the percentage of female leavers going into a STEM destination has increased year on year, from just 9% to 35%.

It is not just ORE Catapult that is supporting Levenmouth Academy to achieve such a transformation. The school has worked hard to build multiple industrial partnerships, facilitating experience and routes into employment with equally supportive companies such as Raytheon, SGN, Donaldson Timber Engineering and Quality Precision Engineering.

The author Michael Morpurgo rightly said, “It’s the teacher that makes the difference, not the classroom”, and Mr. Webster, Mr. Spears, Mr. Paterson and their many amazing colleagues at Levenmouth Academy are making that difference. But providing them with the tools to inspire the next generation of engineers and scientists really can deliver positive destinations for young people and go a long way to meeting our future skills needs as a nation.