Space contexts for education.
Skills development for the space sector.

Expert teachers engaging young people with physics, chemistry, biology and maths using the inspirational context of space, and facilitating pathways into space sector careers by working with industry and academia.

We work with secondary level teachers and their students to boost understanding, attainment and enjoyment in STEM subjects using space contexts as a novel approach to tackling the curriculum. Our student masterclasses can be tailored to support all age groups and abilities, with a key focus on 11 to 19 year olds. We work with GCSE, A Level, Scottish Standards and Highers and International Baccalaureate curricula within the UK and other national curricula overseas. Developing subject knowledge and understanding with memorable hands on activities is a mainstay of our student programmes.

We also train teachers, with our experienced team of Lead Educators able to support subject knowledge enhancement, confidence building, and curriculum development - from one day courses for individual teachers to full consultancy for new schools looking to develop an exciting STEM offer. Supporting non-specialist physics teachers is our speciality.

As well as supporting schools, we work closely with industry and academia in the space sector to support them in finding and developing the next generations of talent that they need so that the sector can continue to grow. We share direct messages from the sector on careers pathways with young people through careers conferences and talks, and broker links for those in industry seeking to engage directly with schools and young people.

Find out more about our programmes for students, teacher training, and careers conferences. You can also see our portfolio of space education resources, and find out more about our award-winning team of teachers and scientists.

Astro Academy: Principia

Current Projects

From December 2015 until May 2016 the first British ESA (European Space Agency) astronaut Tim Peake lived and worked on the International Space Station as part of Expedition 46/47.

His mission, called Principia, included work on a wide variety of education projects alongside his day-to-day work for ESA and in collaboration with other space agencies on the ISS.

For one of these education projects the National Space Academy designed and built a set of kit for a series of simple demonstrations that Tim has conducted and filmed whilst on the International Space Station (ISS) to illustrate fundamental aspects of physics and chemistry curricula, comparing results in micro-gravity with those in classrooms on Earth for the project Astro Academy: Principia.

You can find out more at astroacademy.org.uk, from which site all of the resources are now available to download.

NSA team 2017

An Award-Winning Team

National Space Academy team members from across the UK have won awards for education from organisations such as the Institute of Physics, the Royal Astronomical Society, the Teaching Awards Trust and the Royal Society.  

All of our Lead Educators are outstanding subject specialists with years of teaching experience. Our team also includes numerous Advanced Skills Teachers and a National Expert STEM teacher, working with world class scientists and engineers to bring cutting edge science to the classroom.

Take a look at our team to find out more.

 

Our Team in Action

  • Celebrating ten years of science education and inspiration using the context of space

    National Space Academy - we are 10!

    Since launching in 2008 we've engaged with more than 50,000 students, nearly 6000 teachers and hundreds of industry professionals. We started in Leicester and now deliver all over the UK thanks to our amazing team of Lead Educators and Project Scientists. Not only that, but we've developed our relationships internationally too. We've worked closely with the European Space Agency and UK Space Agency. Education experiments we designed together were conducted on board the International Space Station, and we're working to support space education development in China, the UAE and Malaysia. This is just the beginning!

    We wanted to thank everyone who has been involved in our journey so far, and share our exciting plans for the future with new friends.

     

    Read more...  

  • Space Science Summer School with University of Leicester

    Outside ESA at Harwell Campus

    This August we hosted a Space Science Summer School with the University of Leicester for students from Beihang University.

    During the two week summer school students took part in Masterclasses at the National Space Centre, heard from experts at the Unviersity of Leicester and visited the leading science, innovation, technology and business campus; Harwell Campus.

     

    Read more...  

  • "Science has no borders" - Space Summer School in Beijing

    Beijing Space Summer School July - Watching rockets

    Some of the team flew out to Beijing on 21st July to deliver space science education to 70 students aged 12 - 17 and their teachers from all over China.

     

    Read more...  

 

Find out about our resources in these areas:

ESA Teach with Space ESA ATV NSC Creative We Are Aliens

Thanks to sponsorship from PPG we are offering £300 bursaries for schools towards one of our Masterclasses for 10 - 14 year olds - find out more here.