Young Green Briton Challenge design workshop

The Young Green Briton Challenge (YGBC) is a fully funded programme that is open to state schools across England, as well as specialist and alternative provision. Each participating school selects a whole year group (Years 7–10) to participate in the challenge. Students start by exploring real-life sustainability topics including biodiversity loss, food, the future of transport, green energy, the circular economy, and fast fashion. They then work in teams to select an issue and design entrepreneurial solutions to address this issue locally. These may include awareness campaigns, community projects, or mini-businesses. The most promising teams go on to put their ideas into action, creating real change in their communities. One team from each school then has the opportunity to compete for further investment and showcase their ideas at regional and national events. The YGBC volunteering programme enables students to collaborate with a diverse group of industry professionals, helping to bridge the gap between education and the real world by showcasing practical experiences, demonstrating green jobs in action, and serving as role models.

The YGBC aligns with Gatsby Benchmarks 4 and 5, supporting employability skills. Following a successful pilot in 2025 with Pearson Edexcel, it is now also possible to link the YGBC to an accredited Level 2 Higher Project Qualification (equivalent to half a GCSE).

Students who complete the whole programme and implement their solutions develop all eight Essential Skills. However, the Young Green Briton Challenge (YGBC) design workshop is an experience that an entire year group participates in, providing the opportunity to apply and develop five Essential Skills: Problem Solving, Creativity, Teamwork, Listening, and Speaking.

Teamwork is central to the experience, as the whole programme focuses on working together in teams to address environmental challenges. There are several exercises focused specifically on problem solving and creativity, including problem analysis, brainstorming techniques, and an idea evaluation framework.

Students use communication skills throughout the workshop, with listening emphasised to support teamwork and to enable students to give feedback on other teams’ ideas. Speaking is also used throughout the workshop, with students encouraged to build confidence in sharing their ideas with their team before presenting their final concept to a larger group at the end of the day.