Start of main content

FIRST® LEGO® League

We create the spark to ignite a future passion.

FIRST® LEGO® League is one of our flagship education programmes, which has been proven to spark children’s interest in engineering from a young age.

Delivered by the IET across the UK and Ireland, it’s an inspiring programme for young people aged 4 to 16 years, which develops a broad range of STEM and lifeskills including confidence, resilience, problem-solving, teamwork and communication, all of which are crucial for their education and future careers.

How your donations make a difference to aspiring engineers

Listen to Danielle Workman explain how her STEM experience, with FIRST® LEGO® League, has made a difference in her career path.

"FIRST LEGO League has given me priceless skills that I would never have come across anywhere else at my age.

"These skills have massively increased my confidence and belief in myself to know that I am now able to program/diagnose/test at a high level, while able to work efficiently as a team.

"These qualities will benefit me as I move on into the future because FIRST LEGO League has inspired me to pursue a career in robotics."

Ben Ashmore, former participant, FIRST LEGO League

Read Aaron’s story

“FIRST® LEGO® League has prepared me for life as an engineer far better than anything else I’ve ever taken part in.”

Aaron Cuthbertson, Degree Apprentice in Software Engineering

Go to Because participation in this programme can be a transformative experience for competitors

About FIRST® LEGO® League

The costs of the kit and registration for FIRST® LEGO® League can be a barrier to schools in disadvantaged areas, which often lack the resources to meet these costs.

Through the generosity of supporters, we are enabling more disadvantaged children and young people to access the programme, by providing equipment along with training and support, to ensure this programme is accessible to all.

Read about Penpol Primary School showcasing the impact the programme has on young lives

With the help of donations, we’ve been able to grow the programme substantially and are now operating as the third most successful country globally in terms of team numbers (after the USA and China). In 2018 around 9,000 children were taking part, and today, around 44,000 children participate every year across the UK and Ireland.

We couldn’t continue to do this without your support.

Facts and figures

FIRST® LEGO® League takes children from the age of 4 to 16 on a journey through three age groups or divisions.

Each division has been successfully mapped to UK and Irish curriculums with skills progression frameworks in place.

FIRST® LEGO® League Discover (4 to 6 years)

An introductory STEM programme, delivered in class, which develops key habits of learning through play. Children work in teams of four to investigate a real-world theme and design a solution with an exclusive LEGO Education Discover Set.

Discover has also been successfully applied to special educational needs settings.

Go to https://education.theiet.org/first-lego-league-programmes/discover/

FIRST® LEGO® League Explore (6 to 9 years)

Introduces children to coding, design and real-world research, all whilst working as a team and having lots of fun! Each season, teams are challenged to research an annual theme, build and program a LEGO model with moving parts and display their ideas on a Show Me poster.

Teams then communicate and share their ideas at a regional or in-school non-competitive Festival.

Go to https://education.theiet.org/first-lego-league-programmes/explore/

FIRST® LEGO® League Challenge (9 to 16 years)

The global STEM competition that develops key skills for future careers, including coding, design and research.

Young people work together to explore a given topic and to design, build and program an autonomous LEGO® robot to solve a series of missions.

They can do this as a class activity or choose to compete at regional tournaments across the UK and Ireland and have the opportunity to qualify for one of our National Finals with the chance to progress to international events.

Go to https://education.theiet.org/first-lego-league-programmes/challenge/

Futures Fund

Investing in the future of engineering. Your donations make a difference - today, tomorrow and long into the future.

Donate today