YOUNG engineers of the future made it to the final of a competition after creating their very own 'quadcopter'.

Nova Hreod Academy was one of three teams who made it to the regional final of the Raytheon’s Quadcopter Challenge after schools from all over Wiltshire entered.

Now in its fourth year, the challenge teaches Wiltshire school pupils how to build and fly fully operational quadcopters.

Schools that entered were selected by showing dedication to learning about the subject of flight.

Headteacher Nick Wells said: “It was a fantastic achievement for Nova to get through to the regional finals, we are very proud of the group of 13 Year 9 students who worked hard to create their quadcopters as part of our SuperNova enrichment programme.

“We are grateful to Raytheon for supporting the project and we’re already planning our own competitions in school so that other students will be able to learn about the science of quadcopters and drones.”

The national competition saw more than 40 schools in eight regions go head to head in a series of intricate flying challenges designed to the test speed, agility and accuracy of their creations. Youngsters were also assessed on creativity and engineering skill.

Geoff Wilman, one of the Raytheon’s STEM ambassadors, said: “The team from Nova Hreod were hugely enthusiastic and a credit to their school.

“We were blown away by the effort and the enthusiasm they brought to the competition.

“It was an especially close call for our judges, and we hope this has given all of our competitors a start on the skills needed to develop in to the British engineers of the future.”

Mr Wilman added: “No-one in any industry got where they are without the help of someone else along the way. Being a STEM ambassador is my way of helping someone else get where they want to be, and in some cases showing them a path they never knew existed in the first place.

“Events like this are so important in inspiring the next generation to study STEM and pursue careers within the field. Growing the talent pipeline at a national and regional level will allow the UK

The event took place at The Command and Staff Trainer in Warminster.

More than 250 STEM ambassadors from the aerospace and defence company company have been involved by either co-ordinating the competition, visiting schools or teaching the teams.

Raytheon launched the competition in 2015 and the demand from schools to take part has increased every year.