Free engineering courses for home educated teens in Derbyshire
Fully funded EngineerED Labs for neurodivergent home educated young people
A new fully funded engineering programme is giving neurodivergent home educated young people in Derbyshire the chance to get hands-on with electronics, CAD, coding and product design.
STEM Venturi has launched its new EngineerED Labs programme following a further £15,000 of funding from the Sanjay Mortimer Foundation. The funding will support three six-week courses for home educated young people aged 11 to 16, beginning in Ashbourne, with further groups in Hilton and Belper.
Each course is free to attend and supports up to 15 young people in a small-group setting.
Young people take part in the first EngineerED Lab in Ashbourne. Left to right: Jago Barke, STEM Venturi founder Holly Davies, Harriet Miles and Toby Miles.
Hands-on engineering for home educated young people
The programme has been designed around practical engineering rather than traditional classroom-based learning.
Participants will work on projects involving electronics, product design, CAD modelling, coding and rapid prototyping, following the engineering process of designing, building, testing and improving their ideas.
For home educating families, this kind of opportunity can be particularly valuable. Access to specialist equipment, engineering expertise and practical group projects can be difficult to recreate at home, particularly without spending significant amounts on technology and materials.
STEM Venturi founder and former aerospace engineer Holly Davies said the aim is to give young people experience of skills that transfer well beyond engineering.
“The skills children learn from designing, making and testing projects are transferable across all industries. They build confidence, resilience, teamwork and problem-solving abilities.”
Designed with neurodivergent learners in mind
EngineerED Labs are specifically aimed at neurodivergent home educated young people aged 11 to 16.
A formal diagnosis is not required to take part.
Parents are also welcome to stay during sessions if that makes their young person more comfortable, or they can leave them to take part independently. STEM Venturi says this is entirely up to the individual child and family.
The programme is supported by the Sanjay Mortimer Foundation, which works to help neurodivergent young people recognise their strengths through engineering and making.
Teula Bradshaw, CEO of the foundation, said the partnership would allow more young people to explore where their interests and abilities could take them.
The new Derbyshire courses follow an earlier pilot in Coventry, where 50 young people took part in engineering projects including designing and prototyping custom skateboard decks using CAD software and 3D printing.
Why opportunities like this matter
There is no definitive figure for the number of home educated children across the UK.
In England alone, local authorities recorded around 126,000 children as electively home educated in autumn 2025, while 175,900 were recorded as home educated at some point during the 2024/25 academic year.
Even those figures do not represent every home educating family. Children who have never attended school, or whose home education has not otherwise come to the attention of their local authority, may not appear in official figures at all. Some estimates suggest the true point-in-time figure could be around 20% higher, bringing the number in England closer to 150,000 or more.
Despite the size of the home education community, access to specialist practical subjects can still be patchy. Engineering is a particularly good example. A young person can learn plenty about electronics, design or coding at home, but access to equipment, experienced mentors and collaborative engineering projects is another matter.
That is what makes fully funded schemes like EngineerED Labs particularly valuable.
Ashbourne is already full, but more places are available
The first EngineerED Lab in Ashbourne is already fully booked and has a waiting list, but there are currently places available on the Hilton course.
Dates for the Belper course are due to be released shortly.
Families can book or find out more through STEM Venturi’s website.
Importantly, STEM Venturi is also encouraging families to register their interest even if a local course is full or there isn’t currently one in their area.
The organisation is actively looking for funding for future EngineerED Labs, and areas where there are sizeable waiting lists or groups of home educating families expressing interest may help shape where future courses are developed.
That means families elsewhere in Derbyshire and the wider Midlands can still make their interest known rather than assuming the opportunity has passed them by.
Plans to expand beyond Derbyshire
STEM Venturi is already looking beyond the first three Derbyshire courses.
The organisation is seeking partnerships with engineering companies, manufacturers and technology organisations that could sponsor future labs, contribute industry expertise or help bring the programme to more communities.
Holly Davies said the longer-term aim is to make engineering opportunities more accessible to home educated young people across the Midlands and potentially further afield.
For families outside Derbyshire, that may be the most interesting part of the project. If enough families make their interest known and further funding can be secured, the model could potentially be replicated in other areas.
How to take part
Age range: 11 to 16
Cost: Fully funded
Who it is for: Neurodivergent home educated young people. No formal diagnosis is required.
Parents: Welcome to stay during the session or leave, depending on what works best for the young person and family.
Ashbourne: Fully booked, with a waiting list
Hilton: Places currently available
Belper: Dates due to be released shortly
Booking and further information: https://stemventuri.org/book/
Families are also encouraged to register their interest for future courses, particularly if there is currently no EngineerED Lab near them.
The Home Ed Daily will update this article if further locations or dates are announced.
