Robot Uprising at Charterhouse
By andrew thomson, Head of design engineering
21 january 2026
charterhouse news
Robots took over the School last week, with Year 6 pupils from local prep schools and Sixth Formers from Charterhouse and other senior schools each taking part in their own robotics events. From local partnerships to national competition success, the focus was on learning through doing.
Year 6 Robotics Partnership Competition – Thursday 15 January
On Thursday, we had the pleasure of hosting our annual Robotics Event, welcoming 120 Year 6 pupils from ten local primary schools (independent, state, and SEND specialists): Busbridge, The Chandler CofE, Talavera Junior, Merrow Juniors, Holy Trinity Guildford, Aldro, Windlesham House, William Cobbett, Barrow Hills, and Edgeborough.
The event gave pupils the opportunity to design, code, and build their own robots, developing key skills in teamwork, problem-solving, coding, and iterative design. In advance of the event, Mr Thomson trained the participating teachers, who then worked with their pupils to prepare for the challenge.
On the day, our Specialist (Sixth Form) pupils provided invaluable support by helping to run the activities and mentoring the younger pupils. One of the highlights of the event was the STEM poster competition, judged by Ms Hughes from Proactive, a local prosthetics company. This year’s theme focused on designing a robot to support elderly people living independently at home. The Judges’ Award was presented by Mr Cooke, Assistant Head (Under School) at Charterhouse.
The event was a great success and was thoroughly enjoyed by pupils and staff alike. We are already looking forward to welcoming another 120 pupils to take part again next year. A good time was had by all.
andrew thomson, Head of design engineering
VEX Robotics Competition (Year 9-13) – Friday 16 January
For the first time, Charterhouse was delighted to host a national robotics competition, welcoming 13 teams from schools across the UK to take part in the VEX Robotics game Push Back.
It was a fun yet challenging day, with teams continually refining, rebuilding, and coding their robots as they quite literally pushed their ideas to the limit. We were incredibly proud of all the teams who competed, especially our three Charterhouse teams.
Two of these teams built their robots during their A Level Design Engineering lessons in First Year Specialists (Year 12), while the third team – Leo, Max, and Kin, all current Fifth Form (Year 11) pupils – developed their winning robot in our Wednesday after-school robotics club (4.00–5.30pm). With support from Cranleigh School, their hard work geared them up for success, and they drove away with the overall win.
As a result, they have now qualified for the UK National Championship at the end of February in Telford, and we wish them the very best of luck. Should they win there, they will go on to compete at the World Championships in St Louis, Missouri, USA.
Further highlights from the day can be found on the departmental Instagram account:
