Get the most out of your Blueprint
Start your Big Bang at School Blueprint journey with our event planning guide, packed with insights, content, guidance and connections for educators and career leads. This step-by-step guide will help students learn the range of STEM roles and routes available, and the technical and non-technical skills needed.
The Blueprint aims to inspire and engage young people by:
bringing the curriculum to life
including skills development
being inclusive and representative
embedding careers inspiration
containing active participation
offering sustained engagement
Step 1: Set up your event
A little planning goes a long way. These steps will help you create an engaging event that fits your school and inspires more young people to explore STEM.
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Pick a structure that suits your school's space, timetable and goals:
carousel day: classes rotate through multiple workshops across the day
STEM fair day: fair-style event with stalls and stands of activities. Ideal for larger spaces and whole-school involvement.
hybrid: combine formats. For example, have a fair as an activity within your carousel day.
See how other schools have formatted their events in our case studies.
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What space do you have available outside of the science department? Make the most of all of the spaces you have available that best suit your range of STEM activities. This way, all students will have the best opportunity to engage with the event.
Space
Activity ideas
Top tips
Science/computer labs
include practical, hands-on activities
add an immersive theme
Sports hall
use tables as stalls for a fair-style day, arranging them to map out a floor path
create a 'careers trail' map to help students navigate the event
Assembly hall/auditorium
host an awards ceremony or project showcase to celebrate Big Bang Competition project entries
deliver an assembly, show or live demo to a larger audience to reach more students
Outdoor spaces
check the weather forecast and have a backup plan
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Choosing your event date is one of the most important early steps. A date helps to secure external providers, volunteers and internal support.
plan ahead: the earlier you confirm your date, the more likely you are to access high-quality outreach and resources
let us know: please inform us of your chosen date as soon as possible so we can help connect you with our networks and partners
consider avoiding busy periods: British Science Week (March) is a popular choice, but also the busiest time for external providers. If you’re planning for March, make sure to book early and prepare in advance to avoid disappointment
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We encourage you to expand the reach of your Big Bang at School Blueprint event to engage as many students as possible. A key aim of our programme is to inspire all young people into STEM careers, not just those who already have a passion for science and engineering. Please ensure that all students are encouraged to participate, not just those already interested in engineering and technology or other STEM careers.
We are particularly keen for schools to include the following groups (as we know these groups are underrepresented in engineering and technology):
girls (at least 50% if possible)
disabled young people and those with special educational needs
students from UK minority ethnic backgrounds, including in particular Black, Black British, Caribbean or African young people
Students
How to engage
Whole year group
fair-style day with each class group assigned a period of the day to attend the fair
carousel day with each class rotating between activities
Whole school
assembly or show in a hall repeated for multiple year groups
fair-style day with each year group assigned a period of the day to attend the fair
one week of carousel days with each year group off timetable for one day of the week
peer-to-peer activities where older students support young students with activities
External schools
invite feeder schools and celebrate what your school has to offer
invite local schools to attend your fair-style day
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Teamwork makes everything easier. We strongly recommend involving a few other members of staff so you can build a support team around you and share responsibility for planning and delivery.
involve your careers leader and department heads from the start. They can help champion the event, support delivery and connect activities to Gatsby Benchmarks and the Skills Builder Framework. You may also wish to engage your local Careers and Enterprise Hub.
build support across departments to help the event run smoothly. Consider involving colleagues from maths, design and technology, food and nutrition, geography, music and other subject areas. Regular planning meetings can help share careers messaging, strengthen curriculum links and create a consistent narrative throughout the day.
bring in early career teachers, teaching assistants and parents or carers where appropriate. Sharing leadership responsibilities can reduce workload, provide fresh ideas and contribute to your own professional development.
Step 2: Build your activities and workshops
It's time to think about the activities you'd like at your event. Start with what works for your school, and we can help you build on it each year.
You could invite external organisations to deliver workshops. We can help you find free, high-quality activities and STEM outreach through Neon.
Alternatively, you could run your own cost-effective workshops. Our DIY teacher-led activities can be adapted to suit your students, timetable and available resources. You could also invite your STEM club or older students to help lead them.
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Find inspiring enrichment activities with Neon
Book high-quality workshops and activities via Neon. Just search for your school and see which experiences are available for you. All our activities and providers from across the UK meet the Neon quality criteria. You can find:
assemblies or shows
talks or speakers
workshops
events
shows
volunteers and ambassadors
Big Bang Blueprint supported workshops
We have collaborated with 2 organisations to co-create workshops designed for Big Bang at School Blueprint events. Get an exclusive 10% discounts on these workshops if you book them for your Big Bang at School event:
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Browse our teacher-led activities
We have a range of STEM activities and resources that you can use in your event. These include teacher guides and student guides, with content linking to STEM careers throughout.
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A Big Bang at School should showcase the breadth of STEM opportunities available to young people, including university, apprenticeships and T Levels.
Our careers resources can help you prepare for the event and support meaningful conversations about STEM careers with students, colleagues, parents and carers.
Here are some ways to build careers education into your Big Bang at School:
Before the event
Use these resources during planning to create a progressive, engaging and impactful STEM careers programme.
On the day
Bring STEM careers to life by showcasing real role models and career journeys.
discover real jobs in engineering and technology through short videos. Find out what STEM professionals do, what they enjoy about their work and how they got started
explore This is Engineering role model posters and resources
Get inspired by real job stories
Take the Meet The Future You Quiz
Help students discover STEM careers that match their interests and passions.
our Meet the Future You quiz asks students about their interests and suggests future careers that may suit them
After the event
Keep the conversation going by sharing resources for students and families to explore at home.
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The Big Bang Competition
Bring your students’ ideas to life with the UK’s biggest STEM competition for young people. Enter a STEM project to be in with the chance of winning life-changing prizes.
Free and open to students aged 11 to 18, The Competition helps build confidence, practise STEM skills and receive feedback from real STEM professionals.
Got a project idea? Entries close on Friday 12 March 2027 at 4pm.
Enter The Big Bang Competition
The Big Bang Challenge
Build your own STEM project and help solve real-world issues using our handy, step-by-step guides. The Challenge supports project-based learning and helps young people explore real-world issues through STEM. Whether you have a single lesson, several days or a few weeks available, The Challenge can be adapted to suit your classroom, STEM club or enrichment day.
Other wider STEM Project work
CREST: these challenges are led by the British Science Association. They have a cost, however they also run a grant to cover costs. The challenge titles are also worth a read through for ideas.
Solutions for the Planet: the award-winning Big Ideas Programme begins conversations around the climate and sustainability issues and gives young people a platform to have their ideas heard. Get in touch via their contact form.
Celebrate your projects
Make project work feel special by showcasing and rewarding students' achievements. A simple awards ceremony can help build confidence, recognise effort and inspire future participation.
invite local businesses, STEM Ambassadors, parents or alumni to help judge projects
create awards that reflect your event, such as Innovation, Sustainability, Teamwork or Best STEM Communicator
display projects, posters and prototypes around the school to share students' ideas with the wider community
include a STEM careers talk or guest speaker to help students explore future opportunities
share photos and highlights on social media using #BigBangatSchool and @EUKEducation
Step 3: Get inspired
See how schools across the UK have brought their Big Bang at School events to life. Explore real examples to discover different formats, project ideas and approaches to engaging students with STEM.
Find out what activities schools ran, how they worked with employers and volunteers, the support they accessed, and the lessons they learned along the way. Whether you're planning your first event or looking for fresh ideas, these case studies can help shape your own Big Bang at School.
I really like the resources that we got from EUK Education. The booklets and posters about STEM careers were really useful as they were something we could give the students. Especially when some year 11 students were interested in knowing more about careers in engineering.
— Teacher
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