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LIDA Open Data Science for Schools (LODSS)

Jump-starting UK STEM skills uptake locally

LIDA Open Data Science for Schools (LODSS) is a widening participation initiative designed to tackle the UK Digital Skills Gap in Early Years head-on (LIDA Strategy E&T objective 2):

  1. Widen participation in STEM and digital from local schools by inspiring them with and role-modelling opportunities in data skills for good for all;
  2. Increase awareness of careers in data amongst schools with a large proportion of groups currently underrepresented in the field of data science;
  3. Demonstrate the value of statistical and analytical skills in creating sustainable employment via careers working with data;
  4. Spread awareness of LIDA’s Data Scientist Development Programme as a data career on-ramping programme amongst our local schools networks;
  5. Develop strong partnerships with our local school communities, industry, and public sector partners to enable a sustainable pipeline for schools engagement work;
  6. Provide opportunities to our DSDP data scientists to develop their leadership skills.

88% of young people think that digital skills will be essential to their careers, yet 75% of them feel they lack the necessary digital skills to thrive and in the last decade alone, the number of young people taking IT subjects at GCSE has fallen by 40%.[i]  When surveyed as part of LODSS in 2023, 60% of secondary-aged students answered that they didn’t feel they could make a positive change where they lived, and although the majority were considering careers in the health sector, many admitted to not feeling they had sufficient digital skills to be able to advance in STEM education.

It’s for this reason that for the last 2 years LODSS has focused its engagement activities towards primary-aged children. This year, 45 students from year five of Victoria Primary School in Keighley attended a Digital Launch Day designed specifically for them and delivered at HELIX interactive lab at the University of Leeds.

LODSS is designed to be a leadership and widening participation opportunity for LIDA’s DSDP data scientists. Recruited with equity and diversity in mind, these data scientists role model digital and data careers as careers that are accessible for all. The DSDP’s focus on alternative credentialing, alignment of curriculum with industry, and inclusive research culture make it the ideal team through which to introduce coding, digital education and, this year, space careers!

Working with the community for change

Two children playing with VR headsets

LODSS 2025 partnered with Leeds’s Educational Engagement Team to deliver a full day of activities for primary aged children at the culmination of their school year. From outside the University, and in line with LIDA Strategy R&I objective 1, Raspberry Pi’s Code Club contributed on-the-day and in-prep expertise to the event delivery team as well as items for the students’ takeaway gift bags.

LODSS remains embedded in community network, Act Locally: Keighley. The 2025 LODSS coordinators, Lynette Linzbuoy and Gauri Venkatachalapathi, attended the inaugural 2024 Keighley Community Together committee meeting and designed their 2025 event in response to critical needs in student, community and family welfare identified by the range of public and charitable sector stakeholders: oral health, physical activity, nutritious diets and celebrating space tech careers.

Key Achievements of LODSS 2025

This is the first year that the event, resource development, and four months of event preparation were coordinated entirely by DSDP data scientist coordinators, representing a landmark moment in DSDP leadership-building.

The July 2025 Digital Launch Day combined:

  • 45 primary students and 6 members of Keighley teaching staff;
  • 2 DSDP event leaders, 5 DSDP event facilitators and 2 student ambassadors;
  • 2 bespoke workshops in support of LIDA’s E&T objective 4: Preparing early years students to undertake meaningful data science that has societal impact;
  • 45 take-home bags with introduction to coding books.

Also for the first time this year, resources developed for the workshops on the day were later shared with Victoria Primary School staff to support their curriculum and space learning:

  • 1 space app was developed which enabled students to toggle between planets and discover fun facts like age on different planets and space missions!
  • 3 follow-on teaching resources were shared with the school.

Case studies

[i] Child of the North, Digital Futures Report (August 2024), p.9: https://www.n8research.org.uk/media/CotN_Digital-Futures_Report_7.pdf.

Find out more about LODSS Return to the Annual Showcase 2025