August 2025
Repair in the Classroom: Empowering the Next Generation of Fixers
Team Repair is transforming how children engage with science and technology by focusing on the practical skill of repair. Through hands-on programs, children get to take apart real gadgets, explore how they work, and repair them, gaining both practical skills and a sense of accomplishment.
Founders Oscar Jones, Megan Hale and Anaïs Engelman (photo credit: designtechnology.org)
Designed for ages 8 to 14, the programs go far beyond a textbook. They nurture curiosity, problem-solving, and creativity by letting kids get their hands dirty. Whether at school or at home, young people discover the satisfaction of making something work again, learning to collaborate and seeing the value in fixing things rather than throwing them away. Team Repair offers two hands-on options to make this experience accessible: an immersive classroom program for schools across the UK and the at-home subscription, The Fixers Club, for families. The at-home kits are currently available for UK delivery, with plans to expand to the EU and USA in the near future, so make sure you keep an eye out!
The company was co-founded by Megan Hale, Anaïs Engelmann, and Oscar Jones, three Design Engineers from Imperial College London. Inspired by their own childhood fascination with taking things apart and fixing them, they developed a lifelong passion for engineering. Today, that passion drives Team Repair’s mission: to make repair accessible to all children and show how fun and meaningful science, technology, engineering, and sustainability can be.
You can watch the programme in action on BBC London showing young people confidently taking on repairs and learn by working together.
Through the activities, young people gain a wide range of skills, including:
Exploring how components and systems work
Understanding how products are designed and put together
Building sustainable habits by repairing rather than replacing
For a closer look, our Fixers Club Introduction Video shows what’s involved and how the programme can enhance at-home and classroom teaching.
The school programme is a hands-on, 12-week journey for pupils in Years 5–9 (ages 8–14). Every three weeks, students dive into a new faulty gadget, from classic game consoles to remote-controlled cars. To ensure a safe learning environment, all products are meticulously prepared to remove any risk from residual electrical charge or hazardous components.
Students get to truly understand how components function by handling them, learn about product design by observing how things are put together, and grasp the profound value of repairing instead of replacing. The programme is a source of inspiration for all types of learners and fosters a collaborative spirit.
For an immediate, hands-on experience, you can download our Product Teardown Activity. It is a great way to introduce the principles of how gadgets are designed and built.
What Teachers Are Saying:
Teachers consistently report strong engagement and positive outcomes. They've seen pupils develop confidence, strengthen their problem-solving skills, and gain a deeper understanding of how the world around them is built.
“All resources were well tailored to the age groups, with a fantastic range of supporting materials. The children absolutely loved the challenge.”
“The information provided was brilliant and it has been a very easy process from a staffing and logistical point of view. It is a great idea and could work in lessons, after-school clubs, or social settings.”
“Absolutely brilliant. Engaging for all pupils, including those who are harder to reach. They were problem-solving, supporting each other, and discovering talents they didn’t know they had. It was a different way of teaching skills like resilience and perseverance, creative and appealing to the students.”
“Really engaging with excellent resources and equipment. The focus of the children was excellent and the thrill they had when the console lit up was a sight to behold. Great equipment and real-life opportunities for the pupils.”
At-Home Programme - The Fixers Club
The Fixers Club lets families experience the joy of repair together. Open to families with home delivery across the UK, this programme is also designed for ages 8–14. Every three months, a new faulty gadget arrives with all the tools, guides, and challenges needed to bring it back to life. Once the repair is complete, the gadget is returned, and the next exciting challenge begins.
Each kit contains real gadgets with built-in faults, making learning through play both fun and hands-on. As they explore, experiment, and problem-solve, children uncover the fascinating science behind technology by manipulating it directly.
Along the way, children learn how components function, how products are designed, and how repairing contributes to a sustainable lifestyle. The kits spark curiosity and prove that hands-on learning can be a fun, creative, and meaningful experience.
Inspiring Confidence, Especially for Girls
At Team Repair, we are not just tackling the STEM skills gap but also working to make the workforce more diverse and inclusive. 63% of the girls who tried the hands-on repair kits said they felt more confident about repairing things, compared to just 48% of boys. Half of the girls told us it was their first time fixing something, while only 22% of the boys said the same. A recent Microsoft report evidenced that practical hands-on experience has the biggest positive impact on a girl's interest in STEM, yet 39% of the girls that they surveyed said that they were not getting enough of these experiences. These numbers show just how much girls miss out on opportunities to get involved in STEM activities and how the kits are providing more girls with STEM skills and confidence.
Find Out More!
We’re currently only shipping our at-home kits within the UK, with delivery in early September, just in time for the new school year.
Or
If you want to order a classroom pack for your school, contact edu@team.repair or find out more information here.
🌍 Outside the UK? We’re thinking big and planning for international expansion soon. If you’re in the USA, EU, or beyond, join the international mailing list to be the first to hear when we launch in your region:
👉 Visit Team Repair to learn more
📬 Join our International Mailing List to stay in the loop as plans evolve.
Be part of the journey as we imagine what repair could look like around the world.
Zoe Athanasiou is Team Repair’s Marketing Manager. Coming to the company with a background in public relations and marketing, she was graduated from the University of Leeds and University of Oslo.