V&A launches V&A Innovate competition to champion design as an essential school subject

The V&A, one of the world’s leading museums of art and design, has detailed this year’s V&A Innovate initiative, designed to help ‘inspire the designers of tomorrow’.

The V&A Innovate competition debuted last year, and was created to champion Design and Technology (D&T) as an essential curriculum subject and exciting career pathway.

“With the recent decline in young people taking up arts subjects as GCSEs, we developed V&A Innovate to bring the breadth, diversity and relevance of D&T to life in the classroom and unlock the creative potential of the next generation of designers, makers and creatives,” said Dr Helen Chairman, director of learning and national programmes at the V&A.

“Design education plays a pivotal role in equipping young people with the skills to grapple with our fast-changing world. Design education unleashes imagination and fosters ingenuity – the twin pillars of the V&A. What would our planet look like if people decided they didn’t want to make things, mend things or invent things? Creativity in all its forms and outcomes is essential – and teaching young people key design and technology-based skills is more important than ever.”

This year, the competition is asking teams of KS3 students to respond to one of two themes for the V&A Innovate National Schools Challenge: Home and Community. ‘Home’ asks students to explore the theme of home through the lens of sustainable living, accessibility or homelessness, while ‘Community’ centres on how we can connect and bring people together, issues of accessibility or creating eco-friendly communities.

All students who enter will receive a certificate for taking part and feedback on their design idea. Shortlisted entries will be judged by a panel of industry experts in April 2021.

Selected finalists will be invited to attend the annual V&A Innovate Pitching & Awards Day in the Summer Term 2021. A selection of prizes, including plaques, trophies and workshops with designers, will be awarded to winning teams of students and teachers.

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