WORCESTER City Council is on a mission to encourage more young people to consider a career in science, maths, engineering and technology.

The council funded a new hands-on STEM activity zone at this year’s Worcestershire Skills Show including an iPad powered sphero robot assault course, augmented reality t-shirts enabling exploration of internal organs, examples of how maths is used in the automotive industry and a construction challenge.

Zoe Chesher, project leader at STEM Ambassadors Hub West Midlands said: “It was great to have so many young people working with the STEM Ambassadors and finding out more about where the STEM subjects could take them in their future careers.

The Ambassador Hub is looking forward to continuing the collaboration with the council by supporting more STEM activities in local schools in the future.”

The annual event at Chateau Impney in Droitwich attracted a record-breaking 2,300 high school students from across the county.

Now in its sixth year, the Worcestershire Skills Show, which is organised by Worcestershire County Council and funded by the Worcestershire Local Enterprise Partnership and the Careers and Enterprise Company, gives young people the opportunity to ‘have a go’ at job roles they are interested in, with local businesses and training providers on hand to advise on the skills and qualifications needed for different careers.

Cllr Geoff Williams, vice chair of Worcester City Council’s place and economic subcommittee, said: “We were very pleased to be able to support the Worcestershire Skills Show for the first time this year.

“It’s a fantastic event which gives thousands of young people the opportunity to have one to one careers advice with hundreds of local employers.

"There are excellent prospects locally for students who choose to pursue engineering and digital careers, with employers such as Worcester Bosch and Open GI leading the way.”

The manufacturing and engineering sector in Worcester accounts for 11 per cent of employment including Worcester Bosch, Yamazaki Mazak and Southco.

Nationally, 40 per cent of employees have reported a shortage of young people with STEM skills.

Jobs in science, research, engineering and technology are expected to rise at double the rate of other occupations in the next five years.