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Leaders from industry, education and government joined us to discuss findings by our partner, Primary Engineer, on how to cultivate a vibrant skills landscape in the Scottish rail sector.
The report, Keeping Kids on Track: Evaluating 5 Years of the Primary Engineer Rail Programme, sheds light on the significant positive impact that educational not-for-profit Primary Engineer’s Rail Programme has had on primary school pupils across the UK.
Launched in 2018 with Hitachi Rail, the programme embeds engineering at the heart of learning as young pupils collaborate to design, build, and refine their own train models – reaching over 40,000 UK pupils in five years.
Our School partners with Primary Engineer to run the scheme in schools across Fife, Edinburgh and the Lothians and the Borders, and pairs each participating school with engineering academics to support them through the project.
Held on 17 April 2024, the report launch featured a panel discussion in partnership with Scottish Engineering, followed by a celebration event which saw pupils and teachers from our partner schools return to campus to test their model train designs and share what they had learned.
The celebration event gave the rail industry and engineering education panellists an opportunity to see first-hand the inspiring impact that the Rail Programme has on pupils and their teachers.
Professor Gareth Harrison, Head of the School of Engineering, said:
“We were delighted to host this joint event with Primary Engineer and Scottish Engineering to discuss how we can shape the future of Scotland’s rail industry together. Having been proud partners of Primary Engineer for many years, we have seen the positive impact the Rail Programme has on local primary school pupils and the important role it plays in inspiring them about career opportunities in the sector.
“Today also marked this year’s Rail Programme celebration event which brought the pupils, teachers and engineers back together on campus to showcase and test out their model train creations. It was fantastic to see how this initiative ignites a passion for engineering in young minds.”
Dr Susan Scurlock MBE, Founder and Chief Executive of Primary Engineer, added:
“The findings of the report overwhelmingly support that the Primary Engineer Rail Programme is successful in its objectives and shows that our approach has inspired young people to think differently about engineering - it has also helped them realise that anyone can be an engineer and sparked an interest in rail engineering.
“It was amazing to be hosting this with the University of Edinburgh’s School of Engineering, they have been working with us for the best part of a decade and have been a core part of our success in Scotland. Huge thanks to our panellists Louise Shaw, Gordon Masterton, Lydia Fairman and our chair Paul Sheerin for sharing their expertise.”
The event, which was held in partnership with Scottish Engineering, looked forward to the steps Primary Engineer is taking to ensure the Rail Programme continually improves and reaches more pupils across the UK. Over 300 schools and 14,500 pupils are expected to take part in the 2023/2024 academic year.
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