Close
We are involved in a wide range of outreach activities with schools, colleges and adult learners Camden and the London area.
A-COMPS Mentoring Programme
A-COMPS (Apply Competitively into STEM) is a UCL Computer Science mentoring scheme which supports students from disadvantaged or under-represented backgrounds enter higher education.
For learners
We work with partner organisations 3DAmi, In2ScienceUK and Clock Your Skills to deliver our summer schools to a diverse audience in London.
3Dami is a non-profit organisation founded to promote digital art amongst pre-university students, by linking them with each other and industry. The summer school runs for 7 days and is held at UCL. About 27 students aged between 14 and 18 are helped by onsite experts in 3D animated films to create a Pixar style film. Find out more and sign up by following the links on the 3Dami website.
In2science UK is an award winning charity which empowers students from disadvantaged backgrounds to achieve their potential and progress to STEM and research careers. The summer school runs at UCL for about 20 In2science students on the London programme. Find out more and sign up by following the links on the In2science website here.
Clock Your Skills provides freelancers, employees, interns and volunteers in the creative industries with a pathway for gaining Higher Level awards whilst doing their everyday projects and work. UCL and Clock Your Skills run a free summer school for people interested in learning about robotics and the Clock Your Skills qualifications. For further information contact Clock Your Skills.
For teachers
In 2014, Computer Science was introduced as a new academic discipline to all schools in England, both Primary and Secondary and teachers faced the challenge of becoming experts in what might be a brand new discipline. UCL Computer Science continues to provide essential support to teachers in our community by providing training and school projects.
Training
We are part of a national program run by the National Centre for Computing Education (NCCE) offering free training for teachers with generous bursaries for schools. Courses are offered for those teaching GCSE and ‘A’ level Computing and face-to-face training can be provided on-site where there are enough participants. For more information about the training and to book places, go to the NCCE website.
Schools visits
In the summer term, we host visits from schools, giving students and teachers from our world-class educators. The visit is planned with the teachers to ensure that it is suitable for the school and might include:
- A hands-on teaching activity
- A talk from one of our world-class academics about their research
- A talk from one of our students about studying computer science and university life
Bioinspired Robotics
Today’s scientists and engineers draw inspiration from the animal kingdom in creating the next generation of robots to help us to solve some of the biggest challenges facing humankind. We have designed an interdisciplinary project with UCL Culture for schools in Hackney, Newham, Tower Hamlets and Waltham Forest. The aim of the project is to enable students and teachers to explore the links between biology and robotics through a series of interconnected, hands-on activities.
The project runs over a term and includes:
- A twilight CPD session for teachers,
- An animal locomotion workshop in the Grant Museum of Zoology for the school,
- The loan of a bioinspired robotics kit to the school with technical support from our students.
The robotics teaching material for schools is available here.
Booking information is available from UCL Culture here.
Affiliations
In 2014, Computer Science was introduced as a new academic discipline to all schools in England, both Primary and Secondary. Teachers faced the challenge of learning what can be a brand new discipline. We continue to provide essential support to teachers in our community.
We are part of the Computing At School (CAS) working group to promote Computer Science in schools. We are proud to be a CAS hub for London, bringing together teachers and lecturers who wish to share ideas for developing the teaching of computing in their schools, their classrooms and their community.
We also joined the Network of Teaching Excellence in Computer Science. This aims to build a high-quality, sustainable CPD infrastructure at low cost. This will be achieved by nurturing long-term, bottom-up collaboration between employers, universities, professional bodies, schools and teachers.