Team Phoenix from the American School in London have won FIRST Tech Challenge UK’s top two awards for the third year running at their regional qualifying tournament.

The small but mighty team of three will now compete at the UK Championship.

Team Phoenix won the Inspire Award and was crowned Winning Alliance Captain at the event on Saturday. The Inspire Award is FIRST Tech Challenge UK’s most prestigious award. It goes to the strongest team across a range of categories, including engineering, STEM outreach and developing innovative solutions.

As Winning Alliance Captain, team Phoenix led their alliance with another local team to victory, with their robots forming the strongest-performing duo.

Teams competing at the South East regional qualifier on 15 March 2025.

placeholder image — Teams competing at the South East regional qualifier on 15 March 2025.

This year marks the third year running in which the team has taken home both the top awards. They have high hopes for this year’s UK Championship.

The event’s panel of industry judges shared, “This team has truly impressed us with their broad knowledge of robotics. Their influence within the STEM community is felt across the globe and their robot stands out not only for its aesthetic design but also for its remarkable robustness. Their passion for engineering stood out through every aspect of the competition.”

The event’s six top-performing teams will progress to the UK Championship, set to take place at London’s Copper Box Arena on 26-27 June 2025. Joining them include teams from St Paul’s School, St Paul’s School for Girls, Pimlico Academy, the London Academy of Excellence Stratford and the London Academy of Excellence Tottenham.

This year’s game, Into The Deep, presented by RTX, challenged teams to design, build and code robots for a water-themed game where they have to complete various complex tasks.

Team Phoenix from the American School in London.

FIRST Tech Challenge UK empowers young people aged 12-18 with the technical knowledge and soft skills to thrive in STEM and beyond. From September to March, working like teams in industry and often supported by a mentor, they design, build and program a robot to compete at progressive events.

Teams hone new skills such as communication, teamwork, programming, project management, fundraising, design and engineering.

The programme is run by charity, FIRST UK, which aims to make STEM less intimidating, more diverse and inclusive. Supported by Arm, XTX Markets, RTX, Gene Haas Foundation, Bloomberg, Salesforce and Qualcomm, the charity is part of the global FIRST movement established in 1989, which reaches 650,000 young people worldwide each year.