British Science Week 2026

We are excited to celebrate British Science Week 2026, taking place from 6th–15th March. This year’s national theme, “Curiosity: What’s your question?”, invites children to explore the world around them by asking meaningful scientific questions and investigating the ideas that spark their imagination. The theme highlights how curiosity sits at the heart of scientific discovery and encourages pupils to take the lead in their own learning, connecting science to their everyday experiences. We look forward to a wonderful week of hands‑on activities, investigations and opportunities for pupils to let their curiosity shine.

Competition

The British Science Week poster competition takes place every year and invites young people from across the UK to take part. Each year, the competition is based on a fresh theme.

In 2026, the poster competition is taking curiosity to the next level! We’re working with a team of scientists and researchers who are curious about what children and young people think will make a ‘good’/’positive’ childhood in the future.

The competition is now open for entries; the closing date is 6 pm on Thursday 16 April 2026.

The research behind this year’s poster competition

The UK government are thinking about how to build a positive future for children. They are keen to understand children and young people’s own ideas on this, so they are asking:

What are children and young people’s visions for a good/positive childhood?

The British Science Association and the NUSTEM team at Northumbria University have teamed up with the Government Office for Science to help explore this question.

How will the poster competition entries be used?

Once the competition is closed for entries, all the submitted posters will be considered by a team of judges. We’ll also collect some data, like where in the UK the posters are from, the age of the entrants, and the themes that they reflect. This data will be anonymised before being analysed. The team at NUSTEM will also look in detail at some of the posters, to gather further ideas and insights based on the children and young people’s entries. They will then be able to look for patterns and trends as they analyse the results.

To help with this process we will be asking teachers/educators/group leaders to identify themes within the posters. The researchers will also do this – but you know your young people best and your help will be invaluable in communicating their responses to us. When uploading your five entries, you will be asked to ‘tag’ each poster with up to five theme tags.

What will happen to the findings of the research?

Once the posters have been analysed, the results will be published in a report. As soon as this is available, we will share the results with everyone who takes part in the competition so you can see the outcomes and insights – it should be a fascinating piece of research!

For further information please follow this link:

https://www.britishscienceweek.org/plan-your-activities/poster-competition/

For further curriculum information please click on the following link:

Science week 2023

The theme for 2023 is 'Connections’

We are delighted to announce our theme for the 2023 British Science Week activity packs and poster competition – ‘Connections’!

As we celebrate togetherness, after a period where isolation was a sad but necessary reality, ‘Connections’ is an apt theme for British Science Week 2023.

Nearly all innovations in science, technology, engineering and maths are built on connections between people; two (or more) heads are better than one, after all! But as well as exploring the importance and joy in connections between individual scientists, research groups and institutions, you could discover the different ways connections appear across all areas of science. Evolution, for example, shows us the ways that animals, including humans, as well as well, plants and bacteria are all connected in a family tree stretching back millennia.

Perhaps you could explore the science and technology behind the internet, or delve into the ways technology has changed the world by connecting people internationally at the click at a button.

‘Connections’ as a theme offers a huge range of topics to delve into as part of your British Science Week 2023 activities.

Poster competition

The poster competition is back in 2023!

The British Science Week 2023 poster competition is now open! 

The theme this year is ‘Connections’, so there are loads of STEM topics that could be explored! How about exploring how our body parts are all connected and work together, the connection between our actions and the impact on our environment, or even how internet connection has changed the world.