A team of students from Bradford Grammar School (BGS) has been crowned UK champions in the national finals of a global LEGO competition, earning a place at the world championships in Florida next month.
The FIRST® LEGO® League Challenge is a global STEM competition that develops vital future-ready skills in coding, design and research. This year saw over 900 UK teams compete.
The school’s team – The Incredilegos – impressed judges across all areas of the challenge, which includes both a technical robot performance and an innovative research project. This year’s theme, Submerged, focused on ocean exploration.
BGS students designed, built and programmed a LEGO robot capable of completing complex tasks within a two-minute 30-second window, while also pitching a high-quality innovation project to a panel of expert judges, including developers from Bosch.
The school’s LEGO Robotics club is run by Nadeem Asghar, Head of Computer Science at BGS, under whose leadership the programme has gone from strength to strength. Teams, which consist of students from Years 7 to 12, have now reached the Nationals for three consecutive years, with two teams qualifying in 2024 alone.
Having started work on the challenge in September, The Incredilegos dominated at the regional heat in Manchester in March, winning both the Robot Performance Award and the Regional Champions Award.
Mr Asghar said: “At the Manchester tournament, a judge who had been to regional tournaments across the country told us our team was the best he’d seen – that they had something special. It was clear the students had created something exceptional.”
At the UK National Final, BGS outperformed teams from across the country to be named UK champions, securing their place as the sole UK representative at the FIRST LEGO League International Invitational in Daytona in June. The Incredilegos will compete against 96 teams from around the world.
Harry W, a Year 12 student at BGS, said: “It’s amazing! We’ve been doing LEGO for so many years and we never thought we’d get to this stage. We hope to make BGS proud in Florida, what a great year for Bradford!”
“This is a huge achievement for our students and the school,” added Mr Asghar, who joined BGS in 2021. “Lunchtime clubs like LEGO Robotics are just one of the many ways we support STEM at BGS. I want students to have a deep and rich experience of Computer Science – and this competition gives them a real opportunity to explore the subject well beyond the classroom.”
The Incredilegos are now focused on refining their robot and project ahead of the international final. They are also planning fundraising efforts to support their travel and participation in Florida.
Year 9 student Aziza A said: “It means so much to us; we’re humbled by the win and look forward to representing BGS and Bradford in Florida”.
“It’s amazing! We’ve been doing LEGO for so many years and we never thought we’d get to this stage. We hope to make BGS proud in Florida, what a great year for Bradford!”