ETIH Innovation Awards Winners: Samsung Electronics UK and Hark win Best STEM Learning Solution

Solve for Tomorrow was recognized for expanding a national student competition into a flexible classroom program connecting design thinking, STEM careers, teacher support, and wider participation.

Samsung Electronics UK and Hark won Best STEM Learning Solution at the ETIH Innovation Awards 2026 for Solve for Tomorrow

Samsung Electronics UK and Hark have won Best STEM Learning Solution at the ETIH Innovation Awards 2026 for Solve for Tomorrow, a free national education program that has expanded beyond its original competition format to support STEM learning in classrooms, enrichment activities, SEND settings, and alternative provision.

The 2025/26 redesign gives schools several ways to introduce design thinking and technology-led problem-solving. These include curriculum-linked lesson packs, activities that can be completed in 30 minutes or less, independent learning materials, physical ideation tools, teacher guidance, and an animation that explains the design-thinking process.

The resources sit alongside the established Solve for Tomorrow competition, mentoring, work experience, and films introducing students to people working in innovation. Together, they create a route from classroom problem-solving to a clearer understanding of where STEM skills can lead.

The awards entry recorded 71,422 young people reached within the first four months of the refreshed program, including 16,981 young people in need. By the time of ETIH's winner interview, Samsung Electronics UK said reach had exceeded 83,000, including more than 25,000 students from schools with higher levels of disadvantage.

Participation among girls reached 59 percent, surpassing the program's 50 percent benchmark. Student confidence increased from 45 percent to 73 percent, while reported capability across creativity, problem-solving, collaboration, and self-management rose from 43 percent to 65 percent.

For the judges, the strength of the entry was not one resource or outcome in isolation. It was the way Samsung Electronics UK and education agency Hark had connected classroom access, teacher confidence, student participation, and future pathways within one program.

A competition becomes a classroom program

Solve for Tomorrow began with a competition asking students to identify real problems and develop technology-led ideas in response. The competition remains part of the program, but its development over six years led Samsung Electronics UK and Hark to reconsider how students first encountered it.

Jessie Soohyun Park, Head of Corporate Social Responsibility at Samsung Electronics UK, explains: "Solve for Tomorrow started with a simple belief: young people are full of ideas, and with the right support, they can use them to tackle real issues around them. The competition has always been a big part of that, because it gives students a chance to turn an idea into something tangible and to realise that innovation isn't reserved for a certain type of person.

"As the programme has grown over the past six years, we've found ourselves asking a bigger question: how do we make sure that opportunity reaches far beyond the students who choose to enter a competition? If we really want to build confidence and creative problem-solving skills, it has to work in everyday classroom settings too."

The entry placed that decision within a wider decline in access to design and technology education. It cited the 2025 Curriculum and Assessment Review, which found that a significant proportion of state-funded schools were entering no students for GCSE D&T.

Teacher time, departmental budgets, and declining specialist provision created additional barriers. Non-specialist teachers also reported that they did not always feel confident introducing design thinking or creative technology projects without substantial preparation.

The response was a full redesign informed by national teacher focus groups, regional D&T leads, a Youth Advisory Board, the Design Council, and the Design and Technology Association. Tech She Can also contributed expertise to workshop content.

Park recalls: "A lot of that shift came from listening to teachers. They were very honest with us about the pressures they're under: limited time, stretched budgets, and the fact that not everyone feels immediately confident delivering design thinking or innovation-based learning. That feedback really shaped our thinking."

Rather than replace the competition, the team created more routes into it. Teachers could use the resources as a complete learning sequence, select a shorter activity, or introduce the process through independent study.

Emma Thompson, Director of Content and Editor at ETIH, comments: "Solve for Tomorrow was not expanded by simply adding more content around a competition. Samsung Electronics UK and Hark reconsidered who could access the program, how teachers could introduce it, and where it could fit within the school day. That gave more students a route into design thinking without reducing the ambition of the problems they were being asked to address."

Designed around school constraints

The redesigned program includes full lesson packs with slides, step-by-step scaffolding, and SEND-inclusive materials. Imagination Lab: Express provides activities that can be delivered in 30 minutes or less, while Imagination Lab: Independent offers a self-led workbook suitable for home learning and alternative provision.

A new animation introduces design thinking in a more accessible format, and the first 500 registered schools received free Imagination Toolbox packs containing tactile ideation cards.

The resources were aligned with D&T, science, computing, and PSHE curricula, as well as Gatsby Benchmarks 4 to 6. The design brief was that teachers should be able to deliver them without specialist expertise, additional budget, or extensive training.

Park describes the practical thinking behind the redesign: "For us, the starting point was always to build with teachers, not simply for them. That sounds like a small distinction, but it makes a huge difference. We wanted to understand what would genuinely help in real classrooms, especially when schools are managing time pressures, budget pressures, and a lot of competing priorities.

"Very early on, we had some clear principles: everything had to be free, it had to feel usable for non-specialist teachers, and it needed to be flexible enough to work across very different school contexts. That meant thinking not just about the quality of the content, but also about the practicality of delivery."

Neil Almond, ETIH Innovation Awards judge, highlighted the combination of "classroom-ready resources" and "industry experts," saying the approach helped schools introduce core STEM skills "in a way that even non-specialists can deliver."

Catherine Buckler, ETIH Innovation Awards judge, described Solve for Tomorrow as "a fantastic free resource to encourage higher STEM participation" while also responding to the decline in specialist D&T teachers in UK schools.

Evidence submitted with the entry suggested that the practical design was reducing rather than increasing teacher workload. Teachers reported that the animation and structured guidance had improved their confidence, particularly where they were new to design thinking.

Park reflects: "The feedback that means the most is when teachers tell us the programme actually saves them time rather than adding to their workload. That's when you know you're creating something useful, not just something well intentioned. For me, that practical value is just as important as the ambition behind the programme."

Daniel Pledger, Head of Design, described the materials as particularly useful within a busy classroom: "The resources are exceptional: short, snappy schemes of work and clearly structured slides that are easy to follow. This variety of high-quality materials effectively supports different types of learners, allowing students to think creatively while giving teachers the freedom to guide learning more flexibly."

He also pointed to the program's use within SEND provision: "As a school with a SEND/ASC base, we especially value how inclusive it is; it offers an equal platform for all learners to succeed."

Opening more routes into STEM

Solve for Tomorrow introduces STEM through problems students recognize, rather than beginning with a test of technical confidence.

Its 2025/26 themes included a greener future, safer online spaces, and smarter sport. Students were invited to consider issues within those areas and use design thinking to develop a potential response.

Park argues that the framing influences who believes the program is for them: "I think a lot of it comes down to how you frame innovation in the first place. Solve for Tomorrow doesn't begin by asking, 'Who's the most technical?' It begins by asking, 'What's a problem you care about, and what could you do to solve it?' That immediately opens the door much wider.

"That's important because creative problem-solving and design thinking aren't niche skills, and they're certainly not talents that only a small group of students have. They can be learned, practised and strengthened. Once young people see innovation in those terms, more of them can picture themselves being part of it."

That approach contributed to girls accounting for 59 percent of competition entries. The result was above Samsung Electronics UK's original benchmark and represented progress in a subject area where participation remains uneven.

Jack Dowling, ETIH Innovation Awards judge, called the program the "strongest UK career-pipeline play" in the category. He also described it as "easily the best on 'STEM learning that connects to where students go next.'"

Dowling noted that the career pathway was "wired into the curriculum rather than tacked on," pointing to its use of short films, mentoring, and work experience.

Scott Thompson, Co-Founder of ETIH, adds: "Solve for Tomorrow connected the classroom activity to what could follow it. Students could see the relevance of the skills they were developing, encounter people working in technology and innovation, and access mentoring or work experience. The career pathway was part of the learning design rather than an extra message added at the end."

The program's flexibility also enabled teachers to use it outside conventional D&T lessons. Schools reported using the resources during tutor time, enrichment, cross-curricular projects, independent learning, SEND provision, and alternative education.

Park explains: "One of the most interesting things for us has been seeing just how adaptable the programme is once design thinking is introduced as a process rather than tied to one subject area. Students can approach the process in their own way and at their own pace, and teachers have more freedom to adapt it to the needs of their group. That makes the programme feel much more inclusive in practice, not just in theory."

Feedback from SEND educators was particularly influential. One teacher told the Solve for Tomorrow team that the program had given students "an equal platform to contribute and succeed."

Park continues: "It's a reminder that when you create open, supportive conditions for problem-solving, you often get much richer participation.

"What we've learned is that innovation doesn't need to live in one corner of the curriculum. If you make it accessible enough, it can happen anywhere."

From participation to confidence

Within the first four months of launch, the refreshed resources generated 2,273 downloads. A total of 2,185 students used the new materials to produce 985 competition entries.

Those participation figures formed only one part of the evidence. Samsung Electronics UK also measured how students viewed their own skills before and after taking part.

Park continues: "This year, Solve for Tomorrow reached more than 83,000 young people, including over 25,000 from schools with higher levels of disadvantage, and we saw some really encouraging shifts in how young people felt about their own abilities. Student confidence rose from 45% to 73%, while overall capability increased from 43% to 65% across creativity, problem-solving, collaboration and self-management.

"For me, that's when the programme feels most meaningful, when you can see the difference not just in participation, but in how young people see themselves and what they feel capable of doing."

Emma Thompson, Director of Content and Editor at ETIH, concludes: "The evidence went beyond the number of students who encountered the program. Solve for Tomorrow showed changes in confidence and capability, alongside stronger participation from girls and students facing greater barriers. That combination of access, classroom usability, and progression gave the judges a fuller picture of its impact."

The next phase

Winning Best STEM Learning Solution recognizes the combined work of Samsung Electronics UK and Hark in reshaping the program for the 2025/26 school year.

Park reflects: "Winning Best STEM Learning Solution means a great deal to all of us, especially because it comes from people who understand education and what it takes to create something that genuinely works in schools. It's a lovely moment of recognition for the Samsung team and for our education agency team at Hark, who've played an important role in shaping the programme.

"At the same time, awards are never the end goal. What matters most is the impact behind them."

Samsung Electronics UK has set a target of positively impacting one million young people by 2030. The next Solve for Tomorrow competition is scheduled to launch in September for the 2026/27 cycle.

Park outlines the priority for that growth: "So the next chapter is about continuing to grow the programme in a way that keeps equity at the centre, reaching more of the young people who face the biggest barriers and giving them the confidence and skills to shape their own futures. That's what success looks like for us."

Teachers can find the resources and register their interest in the next competition through the Solve for Tomorrow website.