FUTURE engineers from a school in Thornbury are set to take on the country’s best at the national finals of a Lego robotics competition.

The team from the Castle School earned the place in the final, to be held at the University of the West of England’s Frenchay campus on March 17, having won a wildcard place from the South West heats.

The “Super Novas”, a team of 10 year nine students will go head-to-head with teams from across the UK to design, build and programme Lego robots to tackle real-world problems as part of the Tomorrow’s Engineers EEP Robotics Challenge.

The heat saw the team create a robot for a series of space missions, also having presented their own solution to the question “How can humans survive in space”.

Teacher Rachel Beddoes said: “Taking part in the Robotics Challenge has been really exciting and we can’t wait to get to the final. The students learnt a lot about the engineering in robotics as well as working as part of a team.

“I am really pleased that all their hard work paid off!”

Research from EngineeringUK, which runs the Tomorrow’s Engineers EEP Robotics Challenge, shows that communicating engineering careers to young people is vital for the future of the British economy.

Paul Jackson, EngineeringUK chief executive, said: “In order to meet the country’s demand for engineers we need to double the number of graduates and apprentices entering the engineering industry.

“Programmes such as the Tomorrow’s Engineers EEP Robotics Challenge aim to help young people from all backgrounds understand the variety, excitement and opportunity presented by a career in engineering.”