Glasgow Science Festival

Application

Applications to the competition are made as a school cluster. Primary schools host the Classroom Challenge and the secondary school host the Cluster Challenge for their primary schools. Only only one application per cluster should be submitted, with a nominated 'cluster contact' appointed. The cluster contact will liaise with the GSF team and will receive any relevant communication from the GSF team. 

Please note that not all schools in the cluster need to participate in order for the cluster to apply, however we are unable to accept entries with only 1 school. If your school belongs to a cluster with only one school please contact the GSF team directly at sciencefestival@glasgow.ac.uk.

Teams must be made up of two pupils only and can consist of P5 pupils, P6 pupils or a mix of the two. It is up to each participating school who they want to involve in the competition. It is also up to the cluster to decide how many classes will participate, traditionally all classroom winners participate in the cluster challenge but some clusters may prefer one team from each primary school is selected. This will need to be decided prior to entry as it may affect how many Classroom Challenges the cluster can run. 

Applications will open during the Autumn, link to apply will be here once applications are opened. Applications must be submitted through this page in order to ensure participation in the competition. 

Stage 1: The Classroom Challenge

Once your cluster has entered you are free to arrange the Classroom Challenge. The cluster contact will co-ordinate and decide how many P5 and/or P6 classes participate in this stage of the challenge. 

The classroom challenge is chosen and set by the teachers. All the resources including judging criteria, certificates and some example challenges can be found in the Classroom Challenge Pack. This can be downloaded from this page once the competition opens. 

There are two example classroom challenges in our 'Previous Creating Engineers' section that were set as part of the digital offering for GSF 2021 and GSF 2022. 

Practicing for the Classroom Challenge

Before you hold your Classroom Challenge we recommend holding a practice session with the pupils. Use the worksheets below to gain a working knowledge of the K'nex pieces and the different ways they can be used.

Teacher practice worksheet

Pupils practice worksheet

Whilst the above worksheets will be very useful for the intial stages in the competition, as the winning teams progress through the competition, each level will present a tougher challenge. To prepare the pupils for this progression it would be a good idea to explore / practice the following:

• Pulley systems
• Steering mechanisms
• Use of handles
• Gears

As the pupils progress throught the stages of the competition, there will be at least one of the elements above in each challenge.

Another useful resource for designing a Classroom Challenge, or practicing different techniques is the K'nex user group which provides access to 125 K'nex challenges.

Creating Engineers Kit Loan

If your school doesn't have access to K'Nex Kits to run your Classroom and Cluster Challenges, Glasgow Science Festival (GSF) have a class-worth of kits available on short-term loan for a period of one week or longer. This booking system allows you to select a kit loan slot of between 7 and 13 days, during the period November 2025 to end of March 2026. One slot only should be booked per Cluster. Booking link will be available on this webpage once the competiton launches. 

Next Stage

The next stage of the GSF Creating Engineers challenge is the Cluster Challenge. This will be hosted by the secondary school, it is up to each individual cluster if all classroom winners participate in this challenge or if one team is selected per primary school. 

Stage 3: The Semi-Final

Regional Semi-Finals will be taking place during April and May 2026. Each cluster will be invited to one of three regional finals.

Invitations to a Regional Semi-Final will be sent to the Cluster Contact and Primary School contact of the Cluster Challenge winners. 

Each of the Cluster Challenge Winning teams will invited to the Regional Final. For larger Clusters, both the Cluster Challenge Winners and Runners Up will be invited. Glasgow Science Festival will contact the Cluster contact and Primary School contact directly in late November, early December to let clusters know how many places they will have at the Regional Finals. 

Creating Engineers Kits

Glasgow Science Festival will provide all K'Nex and other kit required to complete the challenge.