WATCH BACK ON DEMAND – UKROC 2025 – Webinar – What’s it all about?

We’re thrilled to launch the UKROC 2025 ‘What’s it all about’ webinar to help explain all about the competition and what’s involved.

UKROC offers an exciting and unique opportunity for students aged between 11-18 to further learn about science, technology and maths in an interactive and engaging way. You’re in good company, with many teams participating in the challenge for the very first time.

This webinar offers the perfect chance to find out more about the competition. You can also ask questions to our 2024 UKROC international winners and our rocketeers.

The webinar will take place on Tuesday 26 November, 12:30 – 13:30. To register your place to join, please email ukroc@adsgroup.org.uk. If you can’t attend, please register your place and let us know and we will send you the recording of the webinar

Watch back on demand HERE.

WATCH BACK ON DEMAND – UKROC 2025 – Webinar – Building A Model Rocket: Your Step-by-Step Guide

Are you ready to blast off into the world of rocketry but don’t know where to start? Do you already have a prototype and want to improve it? It is a competition after all, and with a chance to compete in an International Final in Paris, the challenge is hotting up.

In this webinar our Rocketeer experts, David Tranter and John Jacomb were on hand to offer guidance and support for building your rocket. Whether you’re a complete beginner or an experienced enthusiast, this webinar will provide valuable insights and practical tips to help you take your rocketry skills to new heights. It will motivate you to get that project started and with time for a Q&A, there’s an opportunity to ask for help with your specific concerns or issues.

The Step-by-Step Guide introduces the key components of the rockets, where to purchase materials from, other resources to consider, such as flying clubs, and goes through the rules to ensure a successful flight.

The webinar will take place on Monday 14 October, 12:30 – 13:30. To register your place to join, please email ukroc@adsgroup.org.uk. If you can’t attend, please register your place and let us know and we will send you the recording of the webinar.

Watch back on demand HERE.

UK retains International Youth Rocketry Championship Title

  • The UK Youth Rocketry Champions, Ampleforth College Rocket Club, have won the international edition of the competition, marking the UK’s second consecutive victory. 
  • The competition, held at Farnborough International Airshow, took place between France, Japan, the UK and the US  
  • The competition is strongly supported by the aerospace and defence industry as a part of combatting the significant skills shortages they face. 

Farnborough International Airshow (26 July 2024) – A team of students from Ampleforth College in Yorkshire has beaten teams from Japan, the USA and France to add the title of International Youth Rocketry Champions to their status at the UK Champions. 

The UK’s participation in the competition is facilitated by ADS, the trade association for the aerospace, defence, security and space sectors, to support STEM engagement in schools. A team from each country is tasked with designing, building and launching a model rocket to carry a fragile payload: a raw egg. 

The UK competition, and the UK’s participation in the international final, is sponsored by Airbus and Lockheed Martin. This is a prime example of industry giving their support to creating the next generation of STEM professionals. 

Skills shortages in STEM are a serious challenge for the UK economy, with the aerospace, defence, security and space sectors consistently reporting over 10,000 vacancies across their businesses. Furthermore, a July 2024 survey of ADS members found that recruitment is the area that the joint highest proportion of businesses plan to invest in or have already invested in across 2024. 

The event took place as part of Farnborough International Airshow’s Pioneers of Tomorrow, a day of the prestigious airshow dedicated to STEM-focused events designed to inspire and engage the next generation of aerospace leaders.   

Kevin Craven, CEO of ADS said: 

“Congratulations to Ampleforth College Rocket Club on their amazing victory, the second year in a row as international champions for the UK. The UK Youth Rocketry and International Youth Rocketry Challenges are fantastic examples of how our sectors are committed to encouraging young people across the UK into STEM careers. We touch more than 5000 young people globally with the Rocketry Competition and it is desperately important as our sectors continue to face significant skills shortages that hold back our ability to provide high skill, high productivity jobs for the economy. That is a challenge industry cannot solve alone, despite great initiatives like this. We must have partnership and adequate support from Government to unlock our full economic potential.” 

Matt Archer, Launch Director at the UK Space Agency, said: 

“As we countdown to the first vertical rocket launch from UK soil later this year, it is more important than ever for the whole of the space industry to be proactive in our support for the next generation of STEM professionals. A strong pipeline of talent is vital for our plans to grow this sector, and competitions like this play a significant role in giving students the chance to learn and to showcase their skills and ideas. Congratulations to Ampleforth College Rocket Club on becoming international champions.” 

UK Youth Rocketry Challenge final back with a blast

On Thursday 7 October 2021, six teams from across the country went head-to-head in a final to be crowned national champions. All they had to do was to design, build and launch a model rocket carrying a fragile payload (usually a raw egg) which is brought back to the ground safely and without breaking! It’s an opportunity for young people to get engaged in STEM in a fun and exciting way.

  • 1st Place: Team Vesuvius from King Edwards School, Bath
  • 2nd Place: Team NHASA from North Halifax Grammar School
  • 3rd Place: Team Icarus from Epsom College.

The honourable finalists were:

  • Physics Nerds from NHGS
  • Gordonstoun Rocketeers from Gordonstoun School
  • Where are My Engines, Holt? from Tiffin School

Congratulations and thanks to our sponsors Lockheed Martin and Royal Aeronautical Society for supporting the event.

UK Youth Rocketry Challenge (UKROC) Cancellation Statement 18.3.20

The welfare of everyone involved in participating and running the UK Youth Rocketry Challenge is of the utmost importance to us.

Following the Government’s advice to avoid unnecessary travel and non-essential contact with other people in support of its efforts to delay and prevent the spread of Coronavirus in the UK, it will no longer be appropriate to run the UK Youth Rocketry Challenge regional events that are due to commence from next week. Therefore, it is with regret that we announce the cancellation of this year’s competition.

We will re-focus our efforts in planning the competition for next year and for those schools involved this year, we will be contacting you very soon about carrying over your registrations. We look forward to welcoming participating schools to future editions of the UK Youth Rocketry Challenge and we will keep you updated on our future plans.

Please take care of yourselves and your families over the coming months.

Thank you for your support.

Best wishes
UK Youth Rocketry Team

Welcome to the new website

This week we – the UK Youth Rocketry Challenge (UKROC) – have launched our new look branding and website thanks to help from event organisers ADS and our sponsors and partners Lockheed Martin, UKspace and the Royal Aeronautical Society.

At UKROC, the UK’s largest youth model rocket competition, we aim to enthuse more young people about the subjects needed in aerospace, defence, security and space industries – science, technology, engineering and maths. We believe – and hope you do too – that it is a fun and engaging way for young people in the UK to learn more about engineering and physics.

Our new website reflects a revitalised approach to the competition, with a focus on greater engagement with you throughout the competition, an easier process to sign up and a more modern design. It’s UKROC as you’ve never seen it before!

You can now meet our rocketeers who will be guiding you through the process of building your rocket with hints and tips along the way! Pay attention to what they say as they’ll form part of the judging panels for the regional and national finals.

We will also be launching an Instagram page where we will be running competitions and hope to showcase participants’ progress throughout the competition.

Stay tuned and be sure to check back to our new website for the latest updates and information!