Partnership Grants

Stage 1 of the application process requires simple, initial details about your project. Please download the Stage 1 checklist for more details. Submitted Stage 1 applications undergo short eligibility checks. If a project is not eligible it can be sent back to the applicant with guidance to edit and resubmit.

What is required at Stage 1?

• School or college details, including the address, school or college type and level
• Lead STEM partner details, including their organisation, job title, their highest level of education and simple details about why they are a suitable partner for the project
• Simple project details, including the title (which must be a question) and a short descriptive summary of the project explaining what the students will be investigating

What is not required at Stage 1?

• A full itemised budget, and project timeline are not required at Stage 1

Which partner is required to complete Stage 1?

• The school partner must start the application and is required to submit Stage 1
• The STEM partner can be invited to contribute to the form but it is not compulsory

Once you have successfully completed Stage 1 and passed the eligibility checks you will be sent a link to the Stage 2 application form. Please download the Stage 2 checklist for more details. Feedback can be provided on draft applications before they are submitted; however once Stage 2 applications have been submitted, they cannot be sent back to the applicant for editing.

What is required at Stage 2?

• Which submission deadline you are aiming for, the term you plan to start the project and how many terms your project will run for.
• Details about your project plan, showing what the students will be doing at each stage, what equipment is needed and how the STEM partner will be involved. This project planning guidance document can help you prepare this section of the application.
• Information about how students will be selected for the project and how many will be involved.
• Details about any additional STEM partners who will be supporting your project.
• An itemised budget, with quotes provided for items over £200.
• The name and job title of a second school staff member who could take over as school partner if required.
• Information about the legacy of the project.

Which partner is required to complete Stage 2?

• The school partner must start Stage 2 and will be sent a link to the form once the eligibility checks are complete.
• The STEM partner must be invited to complete a section of the form, confirming they support the application
• The head teacher of the school must complete a section of the form confirming they support the application. If the lead school partner is the head teacher of the school, then this section must be completed by their deputy or another member of the senior leadership team

The school partner starts the application in FlexiGrant® and invites the lead STEM partner to contribute to the application and either Stage 1 (optional) or Stage 2 (mandatory). If multiple STEM partners are involved in the project, those additional to the lead STEM partner can be mentioned in your application, together with their contact details, but do not need to be invited to contribute to the form. 

The school partner should mention any other staff members who may be involved in the project, for example, other teachers, support staff or technicians.

The school partner will also invite the Head teacher or principal to contribute their details to the form, and to give their approval to the project. 

No, you must apply with a specific project rather than a series of experiments, such as those often undertaken in a STEM club. 

Within your project you can list more than one investigation or experiment but it is crucial that the investigations listed all link to each other and will help your students answer the project title. Please see the project plans for example project ideas and the sorts of investigations that can be undertaken under a specific project topic as well as other guidance.

The lead STEM partner eligibility can be found on the eligibility page.

Although the lead STEM partner must fulfill the criteria on this page, you may find it beneficial to form a group of STEM partners to support your project. This may include Masters and PhD students, retired STEM Ambassadors etc. who do not need to fulfill all the criteria.

While your lead STEM partner must be involved throughout the lifetime of the project, you can work with multiple STEM partners, as many as makes sense for your project.

You may choose to work with different STEM partners at different times during your project, depending on the expertise and experience required.

Besides giving students a wider experience of STEM careers, involving multiple STEM partners means there is less time pressure on any one individual

While education outreach or public engagement personnel cannot be the lead STEM partner for a project, they could support the facilitation of a group of STEM partners.

You can involve as many students as is feasible for the project, but we look for the involvement of as many as possible. The students involved in the project should be representative of your student population.

If capacity is limited due to space, equipment or supervision, think about if you could run multiple sessions concurrently or repeat the project with specific groups across the course of the grant. If you normally involve a STEM club or set, think about how you could broaden the engagement, maybe include additional classes, year groups or even the whole school. If working on a whole school project, make sure it is clear in your application which aspects the different year groups will be involved in and how the different year groups’ work will feed into each other

You do not need to know which individual students will take part in the project but you will be asked to state the number of students and which year groups will be involved in Stage 2 of the application.

Ideally your project should involve as many students as possible but it is appreciated that some projects can only involve a small number of students. In this case, make sure it is clear in your application why this is the case. It is also crucial that you carefully consider how you will select the students to take part and that this selection process is clearly explained. Ensure your selection process takes into consideration diversity, including the gender and ethnicity of students.

As well as the selection of your students, make sure you include some detail about how the project and work will be shared with your wider school community. Can you share your project in assemblies or through the school newsletter etc? 

You must apply with a specific research project rather than a series of independent activities or experiments for a STEM club. The title of the project must be a scientific question that the students are attempting to answer by completing their research. The project can be in any topic (or across topics) of STEM, and we encourage projects that have cross-curricular elements. Your project must be new to the school/college and cannot be part of a third-party scheme or competition.

You can find more information on the eligibility page.

You can view and download a range of project examples via our website. Please see the Example project titles (PDF) document for project topic inspiration drawn from those previously funded. Please see the project plans for example project ideas and guidance on the sorts of STEM partner engagement and investigations that can be undertaken and equipment that the grant could be used to purchase.

More information about previously funded projects can also be found on the case studies page.