Five Schools Unite at Silverstone to Tackle STEM Skills Gap and Inspire Next Generation of Diverse Talent
More than 500 Year 8 and Year 9 students from across the region took part in a major STEM engagement initiative at Silverstone Park on 28 April, designed to broaden access to careers in engineering, technology and motorsport at a time when the UK faces a growing skills shortage across advanced industries.
The Silverstone Park Futures Schools Programme brought together five schools and gave students direct exposure to employers, engineers and innovators working across the Silverstone Technology Cluster – one of the UK’s leading hubs for high-performance engineering and advanced manufacturing.
The initiative comes against a backdrop of long-term structural challenges in the engineering sector, including an ageing workforce and persistent underrepresentation of women, who currently make up around one in six of the engineering workforce in the UK. Programmes such as this aim to help address that imbalance by opening clearer pathways into STEM careers for young people from a wider range of backgrounds.
Hosted in collaboration with Silverstone Circuit at The Wing, the event featured interactive workshops, live discussions and panel sessions with industry leaders, offering students insight into the breadth of careers available across motorsport, engineering, clean technology, advanced manufacturing, and commercial roles.
A key focus of the programme was showcasing the scale and diversity of opportunity within Silverstone Park and the wider ecosystem, which is currently expanding to more than 90 businesses and over 2,700 people working on site. The park includes high-performance engineering companies as well as Formula 1 and Formula E-related organisations, alongside a wider supply chain deeply rooted in motorsport innovation and technology transfer into other sectors.
The initiative also reflects wider national priorities around innovation-led regional growth and skills development, following the recent visit by Sir Patrick Vallance to Silverstone Park as part of the Government’s Oxford-Cambridge Growth Corridor programme, recognising the area’s role as a key centre for UK engineering, technology and advanced manufacturing.
Silverstone Park delivered the event in collaboration with F1 ACADEMY™, Silverstone Circuit, the Silverstone Technology Cluster (STC), Ahead Partnership and the Women’s Innovation Network, the programme placed particular emphasis on inclusion in STEM. Through WIN, students were introduced to female role models working across the industry, helping to challenge perceptions of who belongs in engineering and technology careers.
Through direct engagement with professionals, students gained insight into a multi-billion-pound industry undergoing rapid transformation and were encouraged to consider career pathways they may not previously have seen as accessible.
Sebastian Hayes, Asset Management Director, Federated Hermes on behalf of Silverstone Park, said:
“Engineering and technology are facing a real and growing skills shortage, and it’s vital that we do more to inspire and support the next generation. Silverstone Park has a responsibility and a real opportunity to help shape the future talent pipeline for UK innovation. By bringing more than 500 students onto the campus and connecting them directly with the businesses and people driving innovation here, we’re showing what a future in STEM can look like and making it feel genuinely within reach.”
The programme forms part of Silverstone Park’s wider commitment to building a more inclusive and sustainable talent pipeline, ensuring the future of UK innovation is supported by a broader and more diverse workforce.