The Bloxham Sustainability Challenge is something I have blogged about before.
It is now live on Pearson's Project Qualifications as an accredited EPQ topic pathway.
Dr. Claire Evans shared more information about it on LinkedIn, but it's worth taking a look at the project's website. The timing feels especially significant with the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) recent interim report stating that:
- 74% of teachers say the curriculum puts too much emphasis on exams.
- 73% say it doesn't do enough to prepare young people for employment.
- 66% believe students are less work-ready than five years ago.
The Challenge was built precisely to address this gap - not by replacing academic rigour, but by embedding it in project-based learning that is real-world and relevant.
Working in teams, students tackle live sustainability briefs using Esri UK's ArcGIS for Schools, including Survey123 and StoryMaps. Over one year, students work collaboratively, present to industry panels and produce a Sustainability Impact Assessment - earning UCAS points through the EPQ Level 3 and developing geospatial, digital and oracy skills that employers urgently need.
None of this exists without the Challenge's industry partners and collaborators - Dalcour Maclaren, Esri UK, the Royal Geographical Society (with IBG) and Pearson.
We are incredibly grateful for their support and looking forward to our next launch event with a brand new Challenge task:
How should East West Railway Company redesign the Marston Vale Line to provide the most sustainable transport solution for the Universal Studios UK development?
- No model answers.
- Students analyse live industry datasets and justify decisions by weighing environmental, social and economic trade-offs.
- Spatial thinking, enquiry, collaboration and evidence-based decision-making, developed through place-based learning and real-world planning contexts.
Free for all schools.
- Open to students aged 16–17
- EPQ accredited and #UCAS recognised (equivalent to half an A-level)
- No prior GIS experience needed
- GIS mentors from Dalcour Maclaren
- Full GIS Toolkit with guided walkthroughs by Lei Koopmans
- Lightning lecture series from industry experts
18th September sees the BSC Launch Event at the Royal Geographical Society (with IBG), London. I'm going to try to be there...
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