British
Science
Week
2025
Discover and celebrate careers in science, technology, engineering and maths (STEM).
British Science Week runs between 7 and 16 March 2025 and is coordinated by the British Science Association.
You can get involved with events taking place during British Science Week, as well as discover stories from individuals and teams that challenge STEM stereotypes.
This year's theme is 'change and adapt'. This applies across all areas of STEM, but can also link directly to your career journey.
Sometimes, changing and adapting is important to getting the skills, experience and career you want.
The importance of STEM
Careers in STEM cover a lot of sectors, including:
Most sectors have a link in some way to STEM. Explore all sectors to learn more and discover roles which may interest you.
With developments in industry happening all the time, there are lots of careers which need new skills, for example:
- teaching new information to machines for artificial intelligence (AI)
- development of new biotechnologies to keep up with recent discoveries
- improving industry understanding of sustainability and green careers
Examples of STEM careers
Lots of careers across all sectors involve work in STEM. Here are some careers to show the variety of roles possible.
Working in a STEM role
Jobs in science, technology, engineering and maths may cover a wide range of environments, including laboratories, offices, hospitals or even fields.
A career in STEM can cover a range of roles, including:
- conducting research
- helping customers in a variety of businesses
- working with data and graphs
- design and management
- testing and building
Hear from real people working in science
To celebrate British Science Week, we spoke to some real people working in STEM.
Ella and Paul are both biomedical science apprentices at the University of Salford.
1 minute 35 second watch
View transcript
Paul: Hi I'm Paul.
Ella: Hi I'm Ella.
Paul: And we are biomedical science apprentices at the University of Salford.
Ella: About three years ago, I started working in a histopathology lab, which is like a cancer diagnostic lab. Absolutely fell in love with the work that I was doing, because I have family members that have experienced cancer before. So I really felt like I was helping the patients. The natural step forward was to become a biomedical scientist. Hence, I applied for the apprenticeship within the NHS.
Paul: I've been working in microbiology. I joined at the peak of the Covid pandemic. Through a discussion with my manager in one of my personal development reviews, I mentioned about being interested in becoming a biomedical scientist. But I didn't have the right qualifications. So I felt like at the time, I'd maybe hit my limit of where I could go. But then the option of the apprenticeship degree was discussed.
So there's been a lot of support from the university and my workplace with being given the study day and the guaranteed time that we need to work on our studies, because obviously, studying and working a full-time job in the NHS can be very demanding and putting pressures on ourselves really with what we need to do. So it's important just making sure that we get that balance right.
Ella: I'm able to take the material that I've learned so far and apply it to when I'm training people, because I have a greater understanding, a deeper understanding of the material that we're actually dealing with and what it could mean for the patient.
Paul: These bugs that I work with, and organisms I work with day in, day out, I'm actually learning more about what they mean.
Ella: I feel like I'm benefiting in helping the patients through bettering myself through this apprenticeship.
STEM skills and qualifications
You might start gaining STEM skills in your early education. Even if you do not get the grades you hoped for in maths or science, that does not mean you cannot begin a career in STEM.
You might already have transferable skills like communication, project management or leadership. Or you might need specific technical skills and qualifications.
If you want to develop your skills, you could:
- find a course if you want to learn a new skill or get a qualification
- do a free Skills Bootcamp if you're over the age of 19 and eligible
- take a skills assessment to help you understand what sort of roles you could do
Speak to an adviser about a career in STEM
If you want to work in STEM but are not sure what's best for you, a careers adviser can help.
They can help you to explore your options and find a STEM career that's the right fit for you.