Build and Race a Kit Car – Inspiring Future STEM Professionals

After months of hard work, on Thursday 3rd April 2025, pupils from Queensferry High School participated in the Greenpower Race at East Fortune Race Circuit in East Lothian.

Since September 2024, pupils have been involved in building a kit car, with support from Cala Homes, Edinburgh Airport and Taylor Wimpey, who sponsored the Queensferry High School team.

​Once the car was built, pupils participated in time trials to confirm who would drive the car on track, in a bid to win the Greenpower Race – an event which saw over twenty schools and colleges from across Scotland take part.

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Developing the Skills that Scotland’s Workforce Needs
With races and ongoing projects across the country, Greenpower Education Trust aims to inspire young people to develop transferrable skills which can be applied to a number of job roles and industries. Events Manager, David, highlights the relevance of the project across a wide range of subjects:

“It’s around STEM, so there’s science and technology, but the engineering is obviously a big part of the cars, using their mathematics and also design as well – it’s designing the cars.” – David, Events Manager at Greenpower Education Trust

David, Events Manager at Greenpower. Photo: DYW Scotland

​Whilst Greenpower Education Trust supplies the basic components for building a racing vehicle, the end result is largely attributed to the hard work of the young people who build it:

"What you actually see on track, that’s down to the students you see here at these events – putting the cars together and making them look and perform as best they can.” – David, Events Manager at Greenpower Education Trust

​By sponsoring young people to take part in the Greenpower Education Trust Race, employers can meet their corporate and social responsibility whilst shaping their future talent pipeline and raising awareness of careers within their organisation or industry. Adam from Edinburgh Airport told DYW their reasons for involvement:

"It’s directly engaging children and young people in STEM, which is a really important KPI for us in our greater good strategy.” – Adam, Sustainability Engagement Manager at Edinburgh Airport and Secretary for Edinburgh Airport’s Community Fund

Image: Queensferry High School pupil racing kit car on the track at East Fortune Racing Circuit. Photo Credit: DYW Scotland

Image: Queensferry High School kit car, sponsored by Cala Homes, Edinburgh Airport and Taylor Wimpey. Photo Credit: DYW Scotland

Elaine Doyle, sales and marketing director at Cala Homes East took part in the project as part of their South Queensferry Pledge: 

"We have been able to develop some fantastic relationships with schools in the area through our Land to Life and Stay Safe, Stay Away classroom sessions. We have thoroughly enjoyed getting to know the staff and pupils at Queensferry High School” – Elaine, Sales and Marketing Director at Cala Homes East

Kirsty McGill, Sales and Marketing Director at Taylor Wimpey East Scotland highlights the company’s dedication to supporting young people in the area:

“It’s incredibly important to us to support schools and projects near our developments, and Queensferry High School’s kit car challenge is a great way for us to continue our work with the school to inspire its young people to explore their learning potential in a practical way.  Our contribution to this project also reflects our commitment to invest in the communities where we build and to create developments like Hawthorn Gardens that people want to call home.” – Kirsty McGill, Sales and Marketing Director at Taylor Wimpey

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Image: Queensferry High School pupil waits at pit stop for their turn to race. Photo Credit: DYW Scotland

Increasing Attainment Through Engaging Projects
Whilst the project attracts pupils with an interest in STEM subjects, the excitement of building and racing a kit car appeals to those who may not usually engage in science, technology, engineering or mathematics.
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One pupil from Queensferry High School explained how attending the race was a fantastic way to spend their penultimate day of school before they leave to study construction at college. Building and racing the kit car not only aided the development of transferrable skills, it raised the pupil’s attendance levels and encouraged them to stay in school:

“It kept me quite engaged, aye. To be honest, if I wasn’t working on this car I probably would have walked out the school, like several times.” – Anonymous Pupil, Queensferry High School

Bringing Greenpower projects into school can help increase attainment, particularly amongst disengaged pupils, thus contributing to a higher proportion of positive post-school destinations.


Opportunities to Get Involved
With projects and races across Scotland, and across various ages and stages of education, there are plenty of opportunities for organisations to sponsor a local school to get involved in future events hosted by Greenpower Education Trust and to promote STEM careers.

DYW Edinburgh, Midlothian & East Lothian would like to work with more STEM employers who are interested in sponsoring  a local school to take part in future races, alongside other STEM-related projects.
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If your business or organisation would like to get involved in future STEM-related activities, contact us today. Make sure you sign up for our newsletter and follow us on X, LinkedIn and Instagram to stay up to date on what’s happening across our region. For national employers who would like to operate in more than one region, check out DYW Scotland.