Aerospace Events

Kilmarnock Academy win 10th annual RTX Quadcopter Challenge 2025

Posted 28 November 2025

A group of students from Kilmarnock Academy in Prestwick have been crowned champions of the 2025 RTX Quadcopter Challenge, held at London’s historic Honourable Artillery Company.

Image courtesy RTX

Coming in second and third places were London East Cadet Wing and Abbeygate College.

Now celebrating its 10th anniversary, the RTX Quadcopter Challenge is one of the UK’s leading STEM competitions. Over the past decade, it has brought together more than 2,000 young people from over 200 schools and cadet teams, inspiring the next generation of scientists, engineers and innovators.

Participants are mentored by leading STEM professionals from across the RTX businesses Raytheon UK, Collins Aerospace, and Pratt & Whitney Canada. To mark the competition’s 10h year, Kilmarnock Academy were awarded £10,000 to support and enhance STEM education amongst their students.

“Our flagship RTX Quadcopter Challenge is a vital and fun pathway into STEM careers for young people across the UK,” said Alex Rose-Parfitt, director of engineering at Raytheon UK. “It helps students build valuable skills and offers a unique opportunity to experience the aerospace and defence sector in a hands-on way. Over the past ten years, I’ve seen this in action, with former participants now joining me as colleagues at RTX.”

The theme for this year’s challenge, ‘Local Heroes’, invited students to design quadcopters that addressed the real needs of their communities, demonstrating how STEM innovation can drive positive change. Rising to the challenge, teams developed creative solutions to tackle issues such as mountain rescue, elderly care and medication delivery, showcasing how technology can help keep communities safe, supported and connected.

Thomas Campbell, a teacher at Kilmarnock Academy, said: “This is the fourth year we have entered the Quadcopter Challenge and each year it has been bigger and better. It’s a privilege to be involved; I just can’t quite believe the students have won it. As a teacher, it is a huge joy. Some of the students are in tears of joy.”

A record 112 teams and over 500 students took part in this year’s competition, with 14 teams reaching the national final representing their regions. Kilmarnock Academy stood out for showing exemplar teamwork and innovative STEM solutions to design their quadcopter in a way that would support the police force, with a particular focus on mobile phone thefts.

Robbie, a student in the winning team, said: “It’s amazing to win the Quadcopter Challenge, it has inspired me to be an engineer.”