The Welsh Schools Innovation Awards - 1999 to 2026

The Welsh Schools Innovation Awards - 1999 to 2026

The Innovation Awards were established in 1999 in response to the Welsh Development Agency’s Innovation team’s (WDA now Welsh Government) desire to stimulate a culture of Innovation amongst young people. It is currently organised by WJEC in conjunction with Welsh Government. 

I was asked by the WDA to make recommendations on setting up a new Welsh competition for GCSE, AS and A level students with the aim of stimulating technological innovation in Welsh Schools. 

I had, as a teacher, county education adviser and school inspector been involved in either entering my own students’ work or judging in many of the competitions that were available to schools such as the Young Engineer for Britain, which recognised innovative project work. 

Competitions undoubtedly encourage and celebrate outstanding achievement but fundamentally they reward what has been done, rather than stimulate what could be done and how this might be achieved. They are almost exclusively viewed by the other exhibitors who are at the same stage in their education, they do little to motivate and inspire those who are to follow. There is nothing better than students and teachers seeing what can be achieved on the courses they are following or might follow.

As a County Education Adviser in South Glamorgan, I ran a County based Innovation Awards in conjunction with Cardiff steel makers Allied Steel and Wire (ASW), a company that was a torch bearer for industry/school links and the encouragement of innovation. This competition formed the basis for my thoughts regarding a national event. Its aim was to encourage innovation in the project work school students did in response to the newly developing subject Design and Technology. Schools were able to display their best work and bring their students to see projects from other schools in the county. Teachers sharing ideas and working together collectively was another positive outcome. There were prizes for the most innovative work as an encouragement, but winning a prize wasn’t the central objective. 

Using the ASW event as a starting point for an all-Wales competition I brought together the WJEC and WDA to discuss my proposal.  WJEC has links with all the Welsh secondary schools and mechanisms to contact and influence them through the examination system, making them an ideal delivery partner. In my role as Chair and Principal examiner for Design and Technology I worked closely with the Subject Officer (at the time) Dr Alun McCarthy to highlight the potential leadership of WJEC and how the event could influence curriculum content and the promotion of innovation within Design and Technology while also supporting the teaching, examination and development of the subject.

As the event developed from its embryonic stages, in the succeeding years additional supporting elements were introduced. For example, Abel & Imray Patent Attorneys attended selection meetings and gave students pro bono advice and regularly guided a small number of projects through the stages of gaining intellectual protection.

IP now features in examination specifications. An audio-visual company sponsored the production of a CD for all Welsh secondary schools which contained images of projects each year along with teacher training and pupil skill development training which took place at each exhibition. The partnership with the WDA and subsequently the Welsh government along with WJEC has been crucial in delivering and developing the event the event and its ongoing success.

There are two exhibitions one in North Wales and one in South Wales comprising around 80 student’s innovative project work which is individually displayed. The projects are representative of the most innovative work selected from a long list of projects submitted to WJEC by schools at GCSE, AS and A level. Projects are nominated by school or on the recommendation of moderators who have visited schools. At the selection meeting, representatives from Abel & Imray Patent Attorneys also select a small number of students who will receive pro bono advice to take their projects through the appropriate IP protection.

Pupils and students from Year 9 upwards are brought to the exhibitions by their teachers, often in in large numbers to view the projects and take notes and photographs. They are also able attend talks on aspects of innovation in design and technology conducted by teachers with a track record of success along with lecturers from higher education.

Each year, the event aims to add value by incorporating areas that could benefit students such as hands on IOP training and modelling & sketching sessions. A small number of external exhibitors from Universities and Technology & Innovation organisations are also invited to the event to showcase potential career paths for students. Teachers are encouraged to attend seminars organised by WJEC on aspects of the examinations and teaching methods and post event resources are made available to all schools; this having moved from a CD’s in its early days to online via WJEC website. Even if schools haven’t been able to attend, they can still benefit from the Innovation Awards by making it accessible through the WJEC website. 

A distinguished judging panel convenes on the first day of the first exhibition to choose the winning entries at A Level, AS Level and GCSE. There are financial prizes and trophies at each level and supplementary prizes for the Intellectual property, Creativity and the application of Science. All the student’s whose work is exhibited receive a certificate of achievement. The awards also act as a gateway in other UK national competitions and Awards schemes.

In the December of each year there is an Awards Ceremony conducted in the Senedd in the presence of distinguished guests, students and parents with the prizes usually presented by a Welsh Government Minister.  

While in its early days it was more recognition of the potential rather than the reality that allowed the event to continue, but progress was clear each subsequent year and it increasingly became secure in the school programme. The phrase ‘Rome wasn’t built in day’ comes to mind – changes in standards and teacher approaches take time to show results.  

In conclusion, the Innovation Awards are unique to Wales, and it has helped to foster a culture of Innovation as was the ambition back in 1999, and still remains as one of the priorities in the Welsh Governments Innovation Wales strategy. It has a format that not only rewards outstanding achievement but above all is an inspiration for both students and teachers. The exhibitions now clearly demonstrate how much change has occurred with the display of increasingly outstanding and inspirational work being produced by students in Welsh schools. The standard and depth of the innovative work now being produced staggers me each year and is a testament to the continued longevity of the event and its integration into the school curriculum.

Selwyn Gale