Whitmore High School pupils win Cardiff and Vale College Aero Challenge 2025

A team of six Year 10 pupils from Whitmore High School in Barry has won the Cardiff and Vale College Schools Aero Challenge 2025.

Now in its 13th year, the Aero Challenge sees Year 10 pupils from schools across south Wales compete in a series of activities which this year included piloting a drone, a flight simulator, building an electronics circuit using parallel circuits, making dog-tags, an egg-drop challenge and jacking up a Bulldog plane. The competition is based at CAVC’s renowned International Centre for Aerospace Training (ICAT) at Cardiff Airport and is designed to raise awareness of training in the Aerospace industry and of STEM subjects.

This year 22 teams from 13 schools competed and it was Whitmore High who emerged victorious. They win a trophy and £250 of vouchers towards STEM equipment for their school.

Whitmore high School Head of Design Technology Allen Fitzpatrick said: "The event was well organised and had a great structure for the students to experience all of the activities. Staff were welcoming and helpful as always.

“Having taken part in the event for several years it is fantastic to finally win the overall school category! A massive thank you to all at CAVC and ICAT for organising and delivering such a fantastic event. Students get a real taste of the type of activities they could go on to do should they choose this area of engineering."

Whitmore Year 10 pupil Olivia said: "This was an incredible experience, the organisation was immaculate, the activities that took place at the College were very engaging. Personally, my favourite activity was the flight simulator, being tasked with landing the plane safely. I am truly grateful to have been given this opportunity to take part in this event.”

Fellow Year 10 pupil Oniya said: "Going in, I didn’t expect it to be nearly as educational and intriguing as it turned out to be. I had a rare chance to talk with staff about what courses you can take and what qualifications you could study at the College and it’s fair to say that I enjoyed the day thoroughly and would do it again if I was asked."

Cardiff and Vale College Principal Sharon James-Evans said: “Congratulations to the team from Whitmore High School for winning the Aero Challenge!

“At CAVC we are strong believers in in the value of skills-based competitions and the talents they help develop. It is especially important that we encourage young people, especially young girls, into careers in Aerospace and STEM and fun competitions such as this Challenge do a great deal to help with that – a huge thank you to all of the CAVC colleagues who organised and ran this year’s Aero Challenge.”