Who Will Triumph? Cornwall’s Young Coders Take on First LEGO League Challenge

Hundreds of Pupils Compete at RNAS Culdrose

Around 460 schoolchildren from across Cornwall put their coding and robotics skills to the test in the 2025 First LEGO League South West Regional Final, held at RNAS Culdrose near Helston.

Taking place in an aircraft hangar at the naval base, the annual event was organised by Cornwall Council’s Education Business Partnership and the Royal Navy. Now in its fifth year, and the third to be hosted at Culdrose, the competition aims to inspire children to develop skills in science, technology, engineering, and maths (STEM).

The Competition Heats Up

Over two days, 48 school teams battled through a series of challenges, programming their LEGO robots to navigate a course – pushing levers, releasing blocks, and scooping up LEGO mini-figures. The competition was open to pupils in their final year of primary school or first year of secondary school.

The event saw three teams secure spots in the national finals:

• BB Lego League Girls from Bishop Bronescombe triumphed on Day 1, also winning the robot performance award with a score of 260.
• Jelly Friends from Penpol dominated Day 2, ranking first in core values, innovation project, and robot design, while placing second in robot performance with a score of 290.
• Darite Marine Marvels from Darite secured the best performing runner-up spot, finishing second overall on Day 2 and achieving the highest robot performance score of the event with 310.

Royal Navy Hosts Cutting-Edge Event

Commander Richie Turrell, RNAS Culdrose’s executive officer, praised the teamwork and dedication of all involved, saying:

“We’ve been really privileged to host and welcome schools from across Cornwall here to Culdrose for the First Lego League.

“This is a great STEM outreach event for children in coding and building Lego robots, and running them around a course. The winners from here will go on to compete nationally and possibly to the internationals to represent their country in Lego League.

“We’ve had around 460 children take part over two days and we’ve got Royal Navy personnel here working alongside the team from Cornwall Council as well as our industry partners who are supporting the event.

“One of the core principles of the Royal Navy is teamwork. That ethos is evident here today, not just in the organisation but also in the hard work by the children themselves to compete and take part.”

The competition took place inside the hangar of 700X Naval Air Squadron, the Royal Navy’s drone experts. Pupils also had the opportunity to see a selection of remotely piloted air systems and learn about the latest drone technology.

Industry Experts and Sponsors Back the Event

In addition to the competition, pupils engaged in activities run by leading companies and organisations, including Google, Lockheed Martin, Cornwall Airport Newquay, Kier, UK Civil Aviation Authority, Cognition Learning, Tec Girls, Player Ready, and Cornwall Libraries. A science show by Mad Science and medical support from Western Medical Services added to the event’s appeal.

Sponsorship came from The Institution of Engineering and Technology, Leonardo, Soroptimist International (St Austell & District), Watson Marlow, SERCO, Rowe IT, Morson, Digital Futures, Safran Helicopter Engines, and Ascent Flight Training.

With the national finals ahead, Cornwall’s young coders will now prepare to take their skills to the next level, hoping to represent the region – nd possibly the country – on the international stage.