That’s a wrap on our busiest British Science Week yet! It’s flown by, but with so many great moments shared, we couldn’t let anyone miss out on the highlights. Here’s a quick rundown of how the week went…

📊 BSW: by the numbers

Over the course of British Science Week 2025, students from almost 250 classes at 82 different schools across the UK joined in, from Fife to Cornwall. 79% of participating schools were from priority groups. Over half of the schools that took part had more than one Chat each, but special mentions go to:

• King’s Academy returned for a second BSW, with 11 different Year 7 classes 🏅
• Runshaw College (a Further Education College) ran a drop-in Chat for students to explore their future careers options 🌟
• Furness Primary’s whole school took part for the 4th year in a row 🏆
• All Saints Catholic College just pipped Sir Herbert Leon Academy to the post for the attendance award, with a total of 15 Chats in 5 days 👏

“This has been great fun, the children have loved this and found it super helpful answering their questions.”

– Teacher, BSW 2025

At least 4000 students engaged in Chats with 265 different scientists. The average scientist made it to 3 different Chats, but some went above and beyond. Thank you (and well done!) to Maria P and Charlotte S, who took part in an impressive 17 Chats each!

…so what was all the chatter about? 🤔 As with any I’m a Scientist activity, students lead the conversations. So as you’d expect, Chats covered all kinds of topics!

🗨️ In the Chats

Plenty of students made the most of the opportunity to ask about what matters to them. Trinity from Barnwell School found out about how to work towards researching the areas she’s interested in, while Alderley Edge’s Year 5s found out how some of their favourite animals can help us understand human disease:

Some students took it a step further, sharing fun facts about things they’re interested in. This Chat with Sir Herbert Leon Academy saw the scientists learning from the students, too:

Some of these conversations led to students uncovering science in unexpected places – scientists really are everywhere! Sir Herbert Leon Academy’s Year 7 and Year 9 classes discovered how scientists are at work behind the scenes of industries they hadn’t necessarily connected with their classroom science topics:

Chats proved a useful chance for students to learn more about working in STEM. These students from Peterhead Academy and Sir William Romney’s School sought advice for their own future study and careers:

“It was great to get answers from real people, not just the internet!”

– Student

Students, like JoyM below, wanted to hear personal opinions, insights, and answers they couldn’t get from a quick Google search. In return, scientists gave authentic, personalised advice to inspire and motivate the next generation in STEM.

🔎 Follow-up questions

The conversations didn’t stop there though! Students left their Chats full of curiosity, and followed up with an impressive 1541 more questions submitted to the Ask page.