GCHQ has participated in the Cheltenham Science Festival for the last 7 years. For us it is an opportunity to get involved in the local and wider community and explain our vital role in protecting national security. We also take it as an opportunity to demonstrate the unique skills of our workforce and reach out to young people to show that science subjects have relevance beyond the classroom and can be applied in all sorts of fascinating ways in the world of intelligence and information security.

 

GCHQ's Director of Engineering and Technology said; "running an active and successful education outreach programme is part of our commitment to our local communities. Numbers choosing to study Science Technology Engineering and Maths (STEM) at schools and universities are reducing and at GCHQ we're keen to help change this. We want to stimulate the curiosity of young people and help them to understand how STEM subjects can affect their lives on a daily basis, and also offer the opportunity for stimulating and successful careers."

 

 

In association with the Science Festival we have launched the new GCHQ Code Cracking Challenge. This six-part conundrum is guaranteed to stretch even the most agile minds! The six solutions will be released one at a time on each of the six days of the Science Festival (7 - 12 June). For younger quiz lovers (or the less ambitious), there is also a Junior Challenge.

 

A prize will be awarded to the first person to unravel the clues, work out the final word solution and send it in before 3 June. The prize is VIP tickets to a talk of the winner's choice at the Festival. Details of where to send entries are on the Science Festival website.

 

The creator of the Code Cracking Challenge will be available at the Science Festival on Sunday 12 June to provide help and solutions.

 

For the first time this year one of our technologists will be giving a talk to discuss online security and privacy. This will provide useful tips and pointers to keep children, computers and money safe.

 

This will take place on Saturday 11 June.

 

In conjunction with STEMworks, which helps promote Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths (STEM) in schools, we will again be running our popular interactive workshops for local schools. These will encourage young people to consider how STEM subjects can be applied in the real world. This year our workshops will take place on 8-9 June at St Andrew's Church, Montpellier Street, Cheltenham.

 

We will also be fully participating in the Discovery Zone each day at the Festival and in addition to our displays, running a series of smaller hands on demonstrations. These will be aimed at children aged ten and over. Our main themes this year will be communications, cyber threats and codes.