Global STEM Award

Yes, you can do your project completely independently from school in your own time at home, or perhaps part of a STEM hobby that you have (maybe you like to build and design things or you have a fascination about space exploration) or you could do it as part of a family trip or activity club outside of school – for example: perhaps you have been on a visit to an animal park or zoo that has inspired you to do a project on animal or wildlife conservation.  If you do your project at home, independently from school or an organised youth club a parent or carer will need to validate your project to claim an award.

No, you can claim an award at any level as long as you meet all the criteria in your project to claim an award.  For each level: You will need to meet 2 out of the 4 outcomes in your project for each of the 3 sections (global location, STEM and careers) for bronze; meet 3 for silver and all 4 for gold.

If you are between 15 and 18 years of age – you can do the Global STEM Award – platinum award.  Click here for details of the criteria that needs to be met to claim an award for your project.

You can do your project on anything at all that relates to Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths – you could choose something that you have always been interested in but don’t know too much about – a Global STEM Award is all about doing some research, exploring and finding out about challenges that we face in the world today. Or perhaps you already have some knowledge on a particular STEM topic – you could do a project on this topic and think about how this could be applied to a challenge that a particular part of the world has to try to overcome.  For example – if you are interested in renewable energy, you could consider which global locations are best suited to wind energy rather than solar energy? 

If you are still stuck for ideas – check out some of the examples of Global STEM Awards projects that have already been done on our website or check out the Global STEM Awards Pathways resources. At the moment there is a Conservation Pathway resource book available to buy from our website, but coming soon are Coding Pathway and Exploration Pathway resource books.

Whether you are a children’s activity club leader, a schoolteacher or a parent that is home educating your child – the Global STEM Awards can be adapted to all situations and environments for learning.  

You can allow the young learners to come up with a project idea of their own – there needs to be a STEM context to the project (examples could be: energy, transport, shelter and buildings, health and nutrition, exploration or conservation); there will need to be a global location associated to the project – this can be anywhere in the world including space or marine; and finally the project needs to include some research and learning about careers that are relevant and linked to the project – this could be who in the world would look into the challenge of the project in real life?

Alternatively, the project could be based upon a theme set by the club leader, a visit somewhere (eg a visit to a science museum) or maybe a visitor to the club who has either done some activities with the children or given a presentation.

A Global STEM Award can be completed on an individual basis, or the children/learners can work as part of a small team of up to 4 members. All members of a team will need to make a claim individually to demonstrate that the project work as been completed equally.  A club, for example, could have multiple teams of children working on a project.

If you have finished your project, you will need to ask your teacher, a parent, carer or your club leader to validate your award. This means that an adult will need to check that your project has met all the criteria for an award and decide what level award you are able to claim.  Information on validation criteria can be found here

As soon as your project has been checked and validated, you simply need to contact us and we will send you a claim form which is completed online by you and your adult supervisor.  When you have paid the fee for your award, we will then send you your certificate and you can celebrate that you have achieved a Global STEM Award!  You could then do another award – there are no limits to the awards that you can do – you could progress onto the next level, up to platinum award if you wish to.

If you have completed a Global STEM Award and preparing to apply to college or university, you could refer to your project in your application as you will be able to demonstrate that you have developed lots of skills as well as deepening your knowledge of your project topic.  More information on this is available on our website here

Global STEM Awards cost £7.50 each (bronze, silver, gold), and £15.00 for platinum for UK residents. For international learners all awards are £15.00 each. 

The cost includes your certificate but not the cost of postage and packing/shipping.

If you would also like to buy a Global STEM Award lapel badge – we have bronze, silver and gold badges that you can also order. These are £2.50 each and are an optional extra.

If you are a school or club/group leader, we offer discount for Global STEM Award for claims in groups of 10 or more – please email sally@ukstem.uk for more information. 

Yes you can!  The Global STEM Awards validation framework will provide an excellent framework to support your STEM subjects curriculum. Activities can take place in curriculum time, can incorporate school visits that are relevant to STEM learning as part of an ongoing school topic or can relate to external visitors in school, presenting to students – for example STEM Ambassadors activities.  

As an example: we have had several primary schools that have claimed a Global STEM Award as a reward for Year 6 students working on a science topic over the course of an academic year – this has included support and visits from a local business (careers and skills elements of the award completed). Certificates were presented to students as part of the primary school leavers assembly.

The Global STEM Awards support the Gatsby Benchmarks and is endorsed by The Careers & Enterprise Company as a verified activity.  Students are required to complete some careers related learning as part of their Global STEM Award project as well as reflect upon the skills that they have been developing whilst doing their project.  The Global STEM Awards incorporates the language and terminology on skills within the Skills Builder framework.