School team is celebrating after Code Quest win

The competition, called Code Quest, took place on September 23 and required college students and senior school pupils to work together to solve different coding problems in under 2.5 hours.

Groups worked their way through 23 challenges at the Whiteley event, created by the global security and aerospace company’s engineers and computer scientists.

The firm created its Code Quest initiative to promote the development of science, technology, engineering and maths skills (STEM).

The Confederation of British Industry reports 44 per cent of engineers, science and hi-tech firms face difficulty when attempting to recruit candidates with the right STEM skills.

The initiative plans to tackle this shortage.

Participating students could be offered the opportunity to join the firm’s IT apprenticeship programme or apply for work experience.

Schools competed against each other and the winning group from Brookfield in Sarisbury Green impressed the judges with their speed and ability to problem-solve.

Brookfield computer science and ICT teacher Victoria Rudd said: ‘They worked really hard and it has proved to be a really valuable experience.

‘Bring on the next competition!’

Chief executive of Lockheed Martin UK Peter Ruddock said: ‘The team did a fantastic job and their enthusiasm for completing the challenge was noteworthy.

‘Code Quest is a fun and effective way to encourage students to develop their problem-solving and analytical skills. Lockheed Martin is passionate about inspiring the next generation of British innovators, engineers and space explorers.’