LJMU supports Primary Engineer competition 2026

LJMU is once again playing a key role in an initiative encouraging schoolchildren across the Liverpool City Region and Cheshire to get involved in engineering.

The Primary Engineer Leaders Award is an annual competition which asks pupils aged 3 to 19 the question, ‘if you were an engineer, what would you do?’.

The pupils are tasked with interviewing an engineer, identifying a problem in the world around them and coming up with a creative solution to that problem.

LJMU is proud to once again host the Liverpool, Merseyside and Cheshire judging day on 2 June and then the awards and exhibition on 7 July.

How LJMU staff can support the initiative

LJMU colleagues can help support the Primary Engineer Leaders Award in a couple of ways.

Promote the competition with your school contacts

Please share details of the programme with schools you engage with across the Liverpool City Region and Cheshire.

Resources for schools on the Primary Engineer website

Help to grade pupils’ competition entries

Staff with engineering expertise are encouraged to get involved in grading the pupils’ entries. You are also encouraged to share details about the grading day with contacts in the industry who could also offer their expertise.

The nearest grading day to LJMU is at CECA North West on Friday 10 April.

Having come up with their creative solution, the pupils create an annotated drawing of their idea and write a letter to an engineer explaining why it should be built.

Engineers will then help to grade the entries and you will be given a briefing on the day to explain the grading system. There is no preparation required – the engineers can simply arrive and enjoy the day.

Sign up to the grading day