FREE online lessons are being launched so school pupils can spend their summer learning while adhering to social distancing measures.

The University of Glasgow-led Summer Stem Academy, now in its third year of operation, is making 26 workshops on a wide variety of science and engineering topics available digitally from today.

Lessons feature worksheets and videos to guide learners on unique projects which can be done from home.

Volunteers from the Universities of Glasgow, Edinburgh, Edinburgh Napier, Heriot-Watt and Strathclyde have crafted workshop activities on topics including robotics, biodiversity and space colonisation.

Margaret Ritchie, of the University of Glasgow’s School of Chemistry, said: “The Summer Stem Academy programme was built from the ground up to create quality partnerships between universities, schools and businesses and find new ways for them to benefit from working together.

“It gives students the chance to see academia and industry up close, student teachers the chance to learn new methods of teaching, and academics and industry professionals the chance to reach out to younger people.

“The coronavirus turned our plans for the third year of the Summer Stem Academy upside-down, but it’s also given us the opportunity to open up our workshops and reach a much bigger audience by putting them online.”

The Summer Stem Academy was launched in 2018 and brought high school pupils from 13 local authorities to locations in and around Glasgow, along with registered and probationer primary and secondary teachers.

The Summer Stem Academy is at www.stemacademyscotland.org.