More than 200 Year 10 pupils from local schools visited Brockenhurst College for British Science Week.

They joined over 300 Brock students for various curriculum sessions led by Brock staff, and listened to presentations from doctors and professors.

The highlight of the week was an inflatable planetarium in the main hall, which could accommodate 25 people and ran an automated presentation about the solar system.

Applemore College pupils were the first to visit on the Monday, attending a presentation about medicine development by Dr Angela May, a freelance pharmaceutical consultant, as well as talks on computational modelling and engineering from Bournemouth University representatives.

On the Tuesday, learners from Testwood School, The Grange School, and Ballard School attended.

They watched a geography presentation by Dr Annabelle Boulay from the University of Winchester, a computational thinking talk by Dr Claire Ancient from the University of Winchester, and an explanation of careers and courses in computing from Dr Shikun Zhou from the University of Portsmouth.

On the Wednesday, pupils from New Forest Academy School and Ballard School attended.

They watched an Earth sciences presentation by Professor Tim Henstock from the University of Southampton, a talk about biological anthropology from Dr Heidi Dawson-Hobbis from the University of Winchester, and a lecture by Dr Keiron Roberts on sustainability in civil engineering.

There were also curriculum sessions about biology experiments, robot programming, the periodic table, coding and encryption, psychology, and cyber security.

Ballard School’s head of science, Aaron Markar, said: "This year's event surpassed all expectations and was even better than last year, which is no small feat.

"Our recent visit was brilliant, with well-organised activities that captivated our students from start to finish – the opportunity to interact with passionate educators and professionals was inspiring."

Further presentations and curriculum sessions took place on the Thursday and the Friday, exclusively for Brock students.

Thursday featured presentations about clinical careers (nursing and midwifery) by representatives of the University of Winchester.

Friday featured a presentation by Dr Hooshyar Assadullahi from the University of Portsmouth about the concept of gravity, comparing the theories of Isaac Newton and Albert Einstein.

The college also hosted its annual STEM Awards ceremony on Thursday evening, recognising and celebrating the achievements of top-achieving students across the range of STEM subjects.