From robot wars to sculpture, engineering learners battle it out to win 2026 National Apprenticeship Week challenge

Gen2, a City & Guilds Training business specialising in the Engineering, Nuclear and Manufacturing sectors, celebrated its annual National Apprenticeship Week (NAW) Challenge on Friday 13th February, bringing together apprentices from across Cumbria for a day of innovation, teamwork and industry-inspired competition.

Learners battled it out in a series of technical and creative challenges this year, from designing multifunctional robots for Robot Wars to engineering showcase sculptures that demonstrated their trade skills. Additional tasks included volunteering projects and developing interactive school resource kits and explorer boards. Together, the challenges highlighted apprentices’ technical ability, creativity, teamwork, and leadership – key skills for life and work.

This flagship event saw apprentices from all three Gen2 centres come together to take part in a series of challenges designed to showcase the skills, knowledge and behaviours they develop through their programmes. The Challenge forms a central part of NAW, celebrating the value of apprenticeships, highlighting progression pathways, and demonstrating the positive impact work-based learning has on individuals, employers and the wider community.

This year, Gen2 welcomed its largest-ever audience, with almost 400 attendees, including staff, apprentices, and more than 65 external guests. Visitors included students from St Benedict’s School and Netherhall School, who joined to learn more about apprenticeship routes and career opportunities within industry.

Gen2 was proud to be supported by a wide range of employer partners and community organisations who attended and contributed to the day. This year’s supporters included:

• Cavaghan & Gray / 2 Sisters Food Group
• Ewanrigg Junior School
• Futamura Chemical UK Limited
• James Walker & Co Ltd
• Bransty School
• Mayfield School
• FORTH Engineering
• Netherhall School
• DWP
• Leo Group
• Energy Coast UTC
• M-Sport
• Kimberly-Clark
• St Benedict’s
• Sellafield

Their involvement not only enriched the event but also highlighted the vital partnership between employers, education providers, and the community in supporting Cumbria’s future workforce.

Destiny Hanlon, Engineering Step in2 apprentice at Gen2, said:

“The challenges were fun, interactive, and gave us a chance to be noticed by local employers. They put us out of our comfort zone, which is good because we’ve learnt new skills we didn’t have originally.”  

Cameron Fisher, Challenge Judge at MSPORT, said:

“It’s great to try and attract new people to apprenticeships and its been a very insightful day. Some of the work created in such a short space of time shows how much time and effort they put into this and its mind blowing how much they can do in a day let alone in the rest of their life.”