Encouraging Signs After Year One: STEM Horizons' First Evaluation

The first-year NFER evaluation of STEM Horizons is in, and it's encouraging: the evidence shows our core model is working.

At its heart, the idea is simple. Expert Computer Science teachers, funded by the Hg Foundation and based in seven regional independent school hubs, deliver sustained, face-to-face teaching in 35 partner state schools, supporting pupils while strengthening the teaching already in place.

A strong response from schools and pupils

The response from schools has been particularly positive: every respondent rated our Core GCSE programme good or very good, all found it engaging, and every partner school said they'd recommend STEM Horizons to others.

Pupils have engaged strongly too. Attendance at core lessons averaged around 87–92% where we have data, and pupils described the sessions as challenging and stimulating.

Early signs of impact, for pupils and teachers

Most importantly, we're seeing promising early signs of impact. Schools report improvements in programming fluency, independence, resilience and behaviour, and we're beginning to see pupils learning more and doing better in class. Confidence, critical thinking and problem-solving stand out as particularly strong gains.

The benefits go beyond pupils, too. Partner-school teachers value observing specialist colleagues, sharing expertise and developing their own practice. Schools tell us STEM Horizons has strengthened their Computer Science provision, and they want to keep going.

Where we've been able to deliver them, BrightSparks enrichment events have also generated excellent pupil engagement, introducing young people to robotics, cybersecurity, AI and computational thinking.

What we're focusing on next

As with any new programme, Year One has shown us where we need to improve, particularly around recruitment, logistics, workload, curriculum resources and consistency of delivery. These are implementation challenges, not doubts about the value of what we're doing.

The Year One story is a positive one: our core model is valued by schools, engages pupils, and is beginning to show real impact. Our priority now is to refine and strengthen that model as the programme grows.