More than 40 students from schools across Hertfordshire and North London, UK, have taken to the skies at London Elstree Aerodrome after completing a seven-month programme that breaks down barriers for state school students to pursue a career in aviation and aerospace sectors.

Organised by the UK's leading aviation and aerospace charity, The Air League, 42 students joined a series of Air Experience Days at the London Elstree Aerodrome. They took part in workshops to help develop team-building and communication skills, before experiencing a half-day flying lesson with powered planes. 

The day marked students completing The Air League's Soaring to Success programme, a careers enrichment course for pupils aged 13-17 at state-funded schools that bridges the gap between education and industry. It aims to inspire, enable, and support the next generation to consider a career within aviation and aerospace. The charity was joined by representatives from the programme's key sponsors including Boeing, the UK's Civil Aviation Authority, the Department for Transport and the Careers and Enterprise Company. 

Cohorts of students from Edmonton Academy in North London, Hertswood Academy in Borehamwood and Birchwood High School in Bishop's Stortford took part in the charity's flagship seven-month programme. Students from schools in Yorkshire and the West Midlands also took part in the programme, bringing the total number of young people who participated in the free course to 200.