GDST girls soar on the global stage

Our GDST students never cease to inspire me with their passion, determination and the qualities that define them as future leaders – in fact, I often refer to the next generation of young women as the game changers of tomorrow. That confidence was powerfully affirmed recently when four incredible Year 12 students from Oxford High School reached out with news that left me with immense pride.

Amy, Aaron, Casey and Christina wrote to share the news that they had won the Entrepreneurial Innovator Award at the prestigious Conrad Challenge Innovation Summit in Houston, USA – a global competition that attracts thousands of the brightest young minds from over 50 countries to tackle some of the planet’s most pressing challenges. Our GDST students – or team mO=On – weren’t just the only UK team in the finals – they were the only European team to reach the final stage in the Aerospace and Aviation category.

Their pioneering idea? A game-changing solution to support sustainable lunar missions and future travel to Mars. GDST’s team mO=On impressed judges from NASA, academia, and the space industry by tackling a challenge critical to space exploration’s future: how to extract, store and transport liquid Oxygen and Hydrogen on the Moon.

That’s what a GDST education looks like in action.

It is a remarkable achievement to represent the GDST family of 26 schools and the UK on a global stage and excel in this way.

Our students’ achievements in Houston highlight the limitless ambitions of a GDST girl. They demonstrated not only technical expertise and innovative thinking, but also courage, collaboration and global awareness. Their success is a powerful example of what happens when girls are given the space, confidence and support to innovate, create and design the future.

At the GDST, we know that girls thrive when they are encouraged to lead, challenge expectations and think big. Astronaut, Rosemary Coogan, Brighton Girls alumna, has recently proven just this, spending the last six months training at the Johnson Space Centre in Houston, bringing her ever closer to her dream of getting to space.

Rosemary and team mO=On demonstrate the GDST Difference in action: an education tailored to how girls learn best, where every girl knows her voice matters and every ambition is taken seriously.

GDST schools are actively closing the so-called STEM gender gap, which according to the recent Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS), saw Year 9 boys scoring 26 points higher than girls in maths. In 2023, the number of GDST students studying further maths or physics at A-level was double the proportion for girls nationally, while the proportion studying maths and computing at A-level in 2023 is nearly 50% higher than the national average.

We are developing world-leading programmes for our students, from a pioneering Space Technology Diploma developed with NASA through to GDST LEAD, a partnership with the London School of Economics, where we empower girls to become entrepreneurs and launch their own businesses. We are intent on changing the narrative that only 2% of start-up funds are ever invested in female start-ups, and this is the generation to do that.

I was so proud to hear from the girls about the highlights of their time in Houston – from the invaluable opportunity to be fully immersed in the space industry for a week, to the confidence-building experience of networking with other like-minded people from across the globe. What stood out most was their fearlessness to embrace this experience and their appreciation for the extraordinary opportunities they have had through their GDST education—and their excitement for what comes next.

Across our family of 26 schools, we see the same drive, talent and imagination in every classroom—from Newcastle to Norwich, Cardiff to Croydon. These young women will be the changemakers, the problem solvers, the pioneers of tomorrow. In fact, Amy, Aaron, Casey and Christina are already global trailblazers. And GDST is where their journey has begun.

Because when girls learn without limits, they go on to lead lives without limits.

Find out more

Read more about team mO=On and their plans to expand their innovation on their website.

Oxford High School’s success is just one of many examples of how our fearless students confidently immerse themselves in STEM subjects, free from gender-stereotyping. Learn more about how the GDST family of schools is supporting and empowering young women to close the STEM gender gap.

Discover more about the GDST